The tax bill arrives first. Is the cash there?
Canada has no tax formally called an estate tax, but death can still trigger income tax. Apart from spousal deferral and other exceptions, capital assets may be deemed sold at market value, with unrealized gains landing on the final return; RRSP/RRIF balances are also usually included as income. The tax has to be paid in cash — and a house can't pay it directly. This tool takes today's asset numbers and runs a deliberately conservative, high-side liquidity stress test, to help you judge whether a closer calculation is worth doing.
The numbers you enter are calculated in your browser only and are never sent to Lucid; no sign-up required.
Taxable appreciating assets
A rough purchase cost is fine
Your principal residence is usually exempt — don't enter it here
Private company shares, crypto, overseas investment property
Registered accounts & liquid assets
Usually included as income at the second spouse's death; qualifying deferral arrangements excepted
Chequing, savings, GICs, money market
Amounts that are usually tax-free at death and can be accessed quickly
Total death benefit of policies already in place
This is a deliberately conservative, high-side stress test
To gauge magnitude quickly, this tool applies BC's top marginal rate of 53.5% to the entire taxable amount (capital gains at 50% inclusion, gains and losses netted) rather than working through the actual brackets — so the result is usually higher than the real tax, especially at lower amounts. BC probate is estimated on the statutory scale (no fee up to $25,000; $6 per $1,000 from $25,000–$50,000; $14 per $1,000 above that); its true base is only the assets that must pass through the estate representative — assets with beneficiary designations or joint arrangements may not count — and this tool estimates high by using everything you enter.
This is a simplified educational estimate: it assumes the second spouse's death, current BC top marginal rates, and 50% inclusion, and it assumes your liquid assets are still intact at that point — in reality they double as your retirement and care reserve. The tax treatment of capital losses varies by asset type (this tool simply nets gains and losses); rental property may involve CCA recapture, which this tool does not include; it also ignores corporate and trust structures, deferral elections, charitable offsets, each person's actual tax bracket, and future legislative change. It exists to help you think about magnitude — it is not tax or financial advice. Your own situation deserves specific analysis.