Form P3 is the short-form affidavit an applicant swears in support of a British Columbia Supreme Court application for a grant of probate or a grant of administration with will annexed. You complete it alongside Form P2 (the Submission for Estate Grant), swear it in front of a commissioner for taking oaths or a notary public, and file it with the rest of the estate grant package at a Supreme Court registry under Rule 25-3 of the Supreme Court Civil Rules. The court uses your sworn statements in the Form P3 affidavit to confirm who you are, who died, and what kind of grant you are asking for before it authorizes anyone to deal with the estate in British Columbia.
When Form P3 Is the Right Form
Form P3 is the short-form affidavit, and it works only when you are seeking a grant of probate or a grant of administration with will annexed in a straightforward case that qualifies under Rule 25-3(6). If the estate is more complex, Rule 25-3 calls for Form P4, the long-form version of the same affidavit.1BC Laws. Supreme Court Civil Rules
Different situations use different affidavits entirely, and picking the wrong one is a common reason applications get sent back:
- Form P5 applies when the deceased died without a valid will and no executor was named.
- Form P6 applies when probate was already granted in another jurisdiction and the deceased held assets in British Columbia.
- Form P7 applies when a foreign administration grant exists but the deceased left no will.
Confirm which grant type fits the estate before you download anything.
What to Gather Before You Fill It In
Form P3 is sworn evidence, so every detail has to line up with the supporting documents in your filing package. Pull these together first:
- The original will (not a photocopy). If the original has been lost, a separate application for permission to admit a copy is required.
- A government-issued death certificate showing the date and place of death.
- Two copies of a BC Vital Statistics wills search certificate showing any wills notice filed by or on behalf of the deceased.
- Form P9, the affidavit of delivery confirming that Form P1 notice was delivered to everyone entitled to receive it, with a copy of the Form P1 attached.
- Form P10 (deceased domiciled in BC) or Form P11 (non-domiciled estate with BC assets), the affidavit of assets and liabilities.2Clicklaw. How Do I Apply for Probate?
- Form P8 co-applicant affidavits from every applicant who did not swear the Form P3.
- Form P12 translator affidavit for any document in the package that is not in English.
- Renunciation forms: Form P17 if a named executor has chosen not to act, or a Form P34 affidavit of deemed renunciation with supporting affidavits of service if the executor was cited and deemed to have renounced.
You also need full legal names and current addresses for everyone entitled to notice: beneficiaries under the will, the deceased’s spouse and children, and anyone who would inherit under the intestacy rules if there were no will. That information feeds directly into the notice step below and into the Form P3 itself.
Deliver Form P1 Notice First
Before you file anything at the registry, BC law requires you to give notice of your intended application on Form P1. The notice, together with a copy of the will, has to be delivered at least 21 days before you file your application with the probate registry.3People’s Law School. Filling Out Your Probate or Administration Forms
Form P1 must go to:
- Any person named in the will as executor or alternate executor whose right to apply is equal to or higher than yours
- Each beneficiary under the will
- The deceased’s spouse and children
- Anyone who would have been entitled to a share of the estate if no will existed
- Anyone who has served a citation on you in relation to the deceased
- The Nisga’a Lisims Government if the deceased was a Nisga’a citizen, or the relevant treaty First Nation if the deceased was a member of one
If a beneficiary or heir is a minor, notice also goes to the Public Guardian and Trustee on the child’s behalf. The same office must be notified if an entitled person is a mentally incapable adult, alongside the adult’s nominee (if one exists) and, in most cases, the adult themselves. You do not generally need proof that notice was received. The exception is electronic delivery by email or fax, which requires written confirmation of receipt.
The 21-day wait gives anyone with a legal interest in the estate time to raise objections or file a competing claim. Skipping it, or delivering notice to the wrong list of people, is a common reason applications stall.
Filling In Form P3
The current fillable PDF of Form P3 is on the British Columbia government’s probate forms page, and hard copies are available at any Supreme Court registry.4Government of British Columbia. Supreme Court Civil Rules – Probate Forms Because Form P3 is a sworn affidavit, you cannot simply complete it at home and mail it in. You must sign it in front of a commissioner for taking oaths or a notary public.
Header and Style of Proceeding
The top of the form asks for the court registry location and the file number. Leave the file number blank on a new application; the registry assigns one when your package is accepted. Enter the deceased’s full legal name exactly as it appears on the death certificate. Any mismatch between this name and the name on the will or death certificate is the sort of thing that triggers a requisition.
Applicant Information and Type of Grant
You then provide your own full legal name, address, and occupation, and identify your relationship to the deceased (named executor, beneficiary, or other entitled person). Next, select the type of grant:
- Grant of probate, when a valid will names you as executor and you are willing and able to act.
- Grant of administration with will annexed, when a will exists but no named executor is available because the will did not name one, or the named executor has died, declined, or is otherwise unable to serve.
Deceased and Will Details
The remainder of the affidavit covers the deceased’s date and place of death, last known address, and details about the will itself, including when and where it was signed and the number of pages. The registry cross-references what you swear to against the will, the death certificate, and the assets affidavit. Small inconsistencies, including a misspelled alias, lead to requisitions.
The Full Filing Package
Form P3 is one document in a multi-part submission. Under Rule 25-3, the complete package is: the Form P2 submission for estate grant, your sworn Form P3, the original will, the Vital Statistics wills search certificates, Form P9 delivery affidavits, Form P10 or P11, and any applicable renunciation or translator forms.1BC Laws. Supreme Court Civil Rules Only one Form P2 is submitted even when there are multiple applicants.
Before you file, check that the deceased’s name is spelled identically across every form and that the estate value shown in Form P10 or P11 matches the value declared in the submission. Registry clerks read the package for internal consistency.
Probate Fees
British Columbia’s Probate Fee Act sets probate fees based on the gross value of the estate. No probate fee is owed if the estate is valued at $25,000 or less.5BC Laws. Probate Fee Act Above that:
- From $25,001 to $50,000: $6 for every $1,000 (or part of $1,000) by which the estate exceeds $25,000.
- Over $50,000: the amount calculated above, plus $14 for every $1,000 (or part of $1,000) by which the estate exceeds $50,000.
For example, an estate valued at $300,000 would owe $150 on the first tier ($25,000 at $6 per thousand) plus $3,500 on the second tier ($250,000 at $14 per thousand), totaling $3,650 in probate fees. These fees are separate from the court filing fees charged under the Supreme Court Civil Rules to commence the proceeding and file documents.5BC Laws. Probate Fee Act Plan for both.
Filing at the Registry
Deliver the package to a Supreme Court registry in British Columbia, either in person or by registered mail. Clerks review it for technical compliance with the Supreme Court Civil Rules. If something is missing or inconsistent, the registrar issues a requisition, a written notice identifying the specific deficiencies you need to fix before the application proceeds.
Common issues that generate requisitions include mismatched names between the will and the affidavit, missing delivery affidavits for required notice recipients, an unsigned or improperly commissioned affidavit, and arithmetic errors in the assets and liabilities form. Responding promptly keeps the file moving; ignoring a requisition leaves it dormant.
Processing times vary by registry. Most probate applications in British Columbia are reviewed within one to four months of submission, though complex estates or busy registries can take longer.