Ontario legal information · Ottawa and Eastern Ontario
The useful question is more specific than the page title.
The deceased person's estate and surviving relatives do not automatically claim the same losses.2
Coroner, police, medical, employment and insurance records may become important, but access and privacy authority should be handled carefully.
Keep responsibility, available coverage and actual loss in separate columns.
Legal route
Estate legislation governs survival of causes of action and the representative's authority.
Insurance or benefit route
The Family Law Act creates specified claims for eligible relatives.
Practical decision
Auto, life, workplace and other policies may provide benefits outside the negligence action.
Build the record from material another person can verify.
Death, event and responsibility records.
Medical cause and pre-death suffering where relevant.
Dependency, services, income and relationship evidence.
Will, certificate, appointment, policies and benefit decisions.
Protect the next date without pretending every claim follows one clock.
Do not wait for full estate administration before obtaining deadline advice.3
Notice, benefit application and civil limitation dates may run on different tracks.
How a personal injury lawyer may use this information.
General information explains the framework. Legal advice should connect that framework to the event, the people and insurers involved, the available records and the deadlines in the individual claim.
- Confirm legal authority
- Separate estate and family losses
- Locate all insurance
- Preserve sensitive evidence
Not every file requires every step or legal representation. The work should respond to the actual dispute, evidence gap or decision that is approaching.
Sources and legal references
These official sources provide the legal and procedural foundation for this page. Their current wording and the facts of the claim control.
View 3 sources
- Ontario — Trustee Act
Ontario provisions governing claims brought by or against an estate.
Back to footnote ↑ - Ontario — Family Law Act
Ontario claims for specified losses arising from injury or death to a family member.
Back to footnote ↑ - Ontario — Limitations Act, 2002
Ontario's basic limitation and discoverability framework, subject to important exceptions.
Back to footnote ↑