Example

John was 42 when he was killed in an automobile accident. He left a wife and two children and an estate valued at $500,000. John and his wife Sara were joint tenant owners of their home in Calgary. John had neglected to make a will. After John and Sara had married, John had thought about naming Sara as the beneficiary on his Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) and changing the beneficiary on his life insurance policy from "Estate" to Sara, but had never followed up.

Because of the joint ownership, Sara becomes the sole owner of the family home, worth $275,000. For the same reason, Sara also becomes sole owner of the joint bank account (which has a balance of $2,000). Instead of John's RRSP being rolled into an RRSP for Sara as the surviving spouse, a special election would have to be filed to permit the RRSP to be transferred tax-free to her. The life insurance policy is redeemed and the $50,000 forms part of John's estate. Although the $50,000 is not subject to income tax, the RRSP and the proceeds of the life insurance policy are included with John's bank accounts, and other personal assets (totalling $73,000) in the calculation of probate fees.

Additional court costs for naming an administrator to handle the estate further reduced its value. If John had done some estate planning and prepared a will, Sara would have inherited everything directly and avoided the additional court costs, as well as probate fees.