New Brunswick Estate of $380,000 in 2026: Probate Fees Under the Probate Court Act, the Deceased\u2019s Final T1, and What Two Adult Children Net After the RRSP Collapses

The Estate: $380,000 in Three Asset Buckets

A 74-year-old Fredericton resident dies in mid-2026. No surviving spouse. Two adult children in their 40s, both working professionals. The estate is straightforward:

This is a common Atlantic Canada estate — modest house, a lifetime of RRSP contributions, some cash in a savings account. No cottage, no investment portfolio, no business interest. The composition looks simple. The tax bill isn't.

Step 1: New Brunswick Probate Fees Under the Probate Court Act

New Brunswick charges probate at a flat rate of $5 per $1,000 on the full value of the estate that passes through the will. There's a $25 minimum and no maximum cap. No tiered discount on the first bracket — it's a straight 0.5% from dollar one.

How does $1,900 compare to the rest of Canada? Here's the same $380,000 estate across five provinces:

New Brunswick sits in the middle of the pack. Not cheap, not ruinous. But probate is the smaller number in this estate. The RRSP is where the real bill hides.

Step 2: The RRSP Collapses — $120,000 Hits the Terminal T1

Under section 146(8.8) of the Income Tax Act, when the RRSP holder dies without a surviving spouse or common-law partner, the full fair market value of the RRSP is included as income on the deceased's terminal T1 return — the final tax return filed for the year of death.

There are only two ways to avoid this full-inclusion hit:

• Spousal rollover: If there's a surviving spouse or common-law partner, the RRSP can transfer to their RRSP tax-free. No spouse here — doesn't apply.
• Financially dependent child or grandchild: A minor child (under 18) or a child financially dependent due to disability can receive RRSP proceeds as a “refund of premiums,” taxable in their hands at their marginal rate or purchasable as an annuity. Both children here are working adults in their 40s — doesn't apply.

That means the full $120,000 stacks on top of whatever other income the deceased earned in their final year. For a retired 74-year-old receiving CPP and OAS through mid-2026, that base income is roughly $20,000–$25,000 (half-year of CPP at the average pension of $803.76/month plus half-year of OAS at $742.31/month for someone aged 65–74).

Read that again: the $120,000 RRSP generates roughly $40,000 in tax. The children inherit the RRSP's face value minus the tax — approximately $80,000, not $120,000. For a deeper look at how RRSP inheritance mechanics work across different beneficiary scenarios, see our inherited RRSP tax rules guide.

Step 3: The Dual-Return Election — Does It Help Here?

The executor has the option to file a separate “rights or things” return under section 70(2) of the Income Tax Act. This second return gets its own basic personal amount credit and its own graduated tax brackets — effectively splitting income across two returns so each one starts at the bottom of the rate ladder.

What qualifies as rights or things:

• Unpaid salary, wages, or commissions owed at date of death
• Declared but unpaid dividends
• Matured but uncashed bond coupons
• Vacation pay or bonuses accrued but not yet received
• CPP or OAS payments for the month of death (if not yet received)

What does NOT qualify: RRSP and RRIF proceeds. The $120,000 RRSP stays on the regular terminal T1 no matter what. For a retired person with no employment income, the rights-or-things return might capture a month of CPP or OAS — perhaps $1,500 at most. The tax savings from running $1,500 through a second return at the bottom bracket is negligible.

Step 4: The Home and the Principal Residence Exemption

Death triggers a deemed disposition of all capital property at fair market value under section 70(5) of the ITA. For the $220,000 Fredericton home, this would normally mean the deceased is deemed to have sold the home at $220,000 on the date of death, with any gain above the original cost subject to capital gains tax.

The principal residence exemption (PRE) under section 40(2)(b) eliminates this gain entirely, provided the home was the deceased's principal residence for every year owned. One property per family unit per year qualifies. With no spouse and no other property, the PRE covers the home completely: $0 capital gains tax.

The executor files form T2091 with the terminal return to designate the home as the principal residence. This is a filing requirement, not optional — skipping the form doesn't automatically grant the exemption, and CRA can reassess.

Step 5: What the Two Children Actually Net

Here's the full accounting from $380,000 gross estate to the amount each child deposits in their bank account:

Each child inherits roughly $163,000–$165,000 from a $380,000 estate — a combined reduction of $50,000–$54,000 from the gross value. The RRSP is responsible for roughly 75% of that reduction. Probate is less than 4% of total costs.

The Ontario Comparison: Same Assets, Different Province

Province of residence at death is one of the largest single levers in estate cost — and almost nobody plans for it. Let's run the same $380,000 estate through Ontario's fee structure. For more on why this gap matters, see our province-of-residence estate comparison.

Ontario's probate is calculated as $0 on the first $50,000, then $15 per $1,000 above that. On $380,000: ($380,000 – $50,000) ÷ $1,000 × $15 = $4,950. That's 2.6× what New Brunswick charges on the same estate.

The income tax difference is smaller but still present — Ontario's top combined rate of 53.53% exceeds NB's top rate, and the surtax structure in Ontario adds additional load at middle-income levels. On this estate, the income tax gap is roughly $3,000 — less dramatic than the probate gap but additive.

Scale this to a $1,000,000 estate and the probate gap alone hits $9,250 ($5,000 in NB vs $14,250 in Ontario). For a deeper dive into how Canadian estate costs vary by province, see our full 2026 guide.

What Could Have Been Done Differently

This estate paid roughly $50,000–$54,000 in total costs on $380,000 of assets. Not all of that was avoidable, but a significant portion was reducible with planning done before death:

1. Name the children as RRSP beneficiaries

Designating the two children as direct RRSP beneficiaries removes the $120,000 from the probatable estate. NB probate drops from $1,900 to $1,300 — a $600 savings from filling out one form at the financial institution. The income tax on the terminal T1 doesn't change (the $120,000 is still taxable to the deceased), but the proceeds flow directly to the children without waiting for the estate to clear probate.

2. Draw down the RRSP strategically in retirement

If the deceased had withdrawn $15,000–$20,000 per year from the RRSP during their late 60s and early 70s — while in a lower tax bracket — and moved those funds into a TFSA ($7,000/year, $109,000 cumulative room in 2026), the RRSP balance at death would have been substantially smaller. A $60,000 RRSP at death generates roughly $18,000–$20,000 of tax instead of $40,000. The TFSA portion passes to the children tax-free via successor holder or beneficiary designation.

3. Consider joint tenancy on the home

Adding one or both children as joint tenants on the home would bypass probate on the $220,000 entirely — saving roughly $1,100 of the $1,900 probate bill. But this introduces capital gains exposure, potential land transfer tax issues, and loss of the parent's sole control of the property. For a $220,000 home, the probate savings rarely justify the complexity. On a $1M+ property in Ontario or BC, the calculus shifts. For an analysis of the trade-offs of joint tenancy vs will-based transfers, see our worked example.

The Executor's Checklist for This Estate

If you're one of the two children named as executor, here's what you're filing, roughly in order:

1. Apply for the grant of probate at the NB Court of King's Bench. Fee: $1,900. Timeline: 3–6 months for a straightforward estate.
2. Notify the CRA of the death. Request a clearance certificate (form TX19) once all returns are filed and assessed — do not distribute assets without it, or you're personally liable for any outstanding tax.
3. File the terminal T1 return (due the later of April 30 of the following year or six months after date of death). Include the $120,000 RRSP, half-year CPP and OAS, and any interest income from the savings account.
4. File form T2091 to designate the home as principal residence and claim the PRE.
5. Consider the rights-or-things return (section 70(2)). Deadline: one year after death or 90 days after CRA sends the Notice of Assessment on the terminal return, whichever is later. Minimal tax savings in this case, but file it if the accountant recommends.
6. Obtain the CRA clearance certificate before distributing assets. This confirms no further tax is owing.
7. Distribute the net estate equally to the two children per the will.

Bottom Line: The RRSP Is the Expensive Asset, Not the Province

On a $380,000 estate, New Brunswick's probate fee is $1,900 — modest by Canadian standards. The $120,000 RRSP with no surviving spouse generates roughly $40,000 of income tax on the terminal return — twenty times the probate cost. Each child nets approximately $163,000–$165,000.

The same estate in Ontario would cost roughly $6,000 more due to higher probate fees and slightly higher income tax rates. In Alberta or Manitoba, the probate cost nearly vanishes — but the RRSP tax bill stays roughly the same because income tax is federal plus provincial, and no province gives you a free pass on RRSP collapse at death.

The planning takeaway: the RRSP is the most expensive asset to die holding when there's no spouse to roll it to. Drawing it down strategically through retirement, converting to TFSA, and naming direct beneficiaries are the three moves that would have saved this estate the most — regardless of which province the deceased lived in. For the complete provincial comparison on estate costs, see our Manitoba vs Ontario walkthrough.