How to Fill Out and Deliver Form P1: Notice of Proposed Application

Form P1, the Notice of Proposed Application in Relation to Estate, is the notice you must deliver in British Columbia before applying for a grant of probate or administration. Supreme Court Civil Rule 25-2 requires you to send it to every person with a legal interest in the estate and then wait at least 21 days before filing your application at the court registry.¹ The form tells recipients a probate application is coming and sets out their right to oppose it or claim against the estate. Miss a recipient or fill it in incompletely and the registry can refuse your filing.

Who Must Receive the Notice

Rule 25-2(2) sets out the full list of recipients, and it changes depending on whether there is a will. Work through the categories systematically before you draft the form, because leaving anyone out is the most common reason a probate submission stalls.

When the Deceased Left a Will

You must deliver Form P1 to each of the following, unless the person is you or is applying with you:

Every executor and alternate executor named in the will who was alive at the deceased’s death and whose right to apply is equal to or greater than yours.
Every beneficiary named in the will.
Every person who would have inherited on an intestacy under Division 1 of Part 3 of the Wills, Estates and Succession Act. This usually means a surviving spouse and descendants, and can extend to parents, siblings, or more distant relatives. These people are on the list because they may be entitled to challenge the will under the Wills, Estates and Succession Act or the Family Law Act.
The Attorney General, but only if the government is entitled to some or all of the estate under the Escheat Act.
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.
Anyone who has served a citation on you demanding that you act on the estate.

Executors named in earlier, revoked wills are not on the list. Only the executors and beneficiaries under the will you intend to probate need the notice.¹

When There Is No Will

For an intestate estate, deliver Form P1 to:

Every intestate successor under Division 1 of Part 3 of the Wills, Estates and Succession Act. A spouse and descendants both qualify when both exist; without them, the circle widens to parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, and further.
Every creditor of the deceased whose claim exceeds $10,000.
The Attorney General, if there is no intestate successor at all.

The creditor requirement catches applicants off guard. A creditor above the threshold has standing in the proceeding and must be notified.¹

Minor and Incapable Recipients

Two situations add the Public Guardian and Trustee (PGT) to the list.

If a recipient is under 19, deliver the documents to the minor’s parents or guardian and to the PGT. Routing depends on the minor’s living arrangement: to both parents if the minor lives with them, to the one parent or guardian responsible for the minor’s financial decisions if only one applies, or directly to the minor at a known address if you cannot identify a responsible adult. The PGT always receives a copy as well.¹

If a recipient is or may be mentally incapable, deliver to their committee (the person appointed under the Patients Property Act) and to the PGT. Without a committee, deliver to the individual and to the PGT.¹

When the PGT is involved, submit the notice and payment through the PGT’s online legal submissions portal. The fee is $315 ($300 plus GST) per application. The PGT aims to respond within 21 business days, and the court cannot issue the grant until the PGT’s written comments are in. After the grant is issued, provide the PGT with a copy within 45 days.²

What Goes on the Form

Rule 25-2(3) specifies every piece of information the notice must contain. A registry clerk who spots an omission will send the whole submission back. The form must show:¹

The deceased’s full legal name, last residential address, and date of death.
Your name, mailing address, and an address for service. If you are an individual, add the city and country where you ordinarily live.
The type of grant you are seeking: probate, administration, administration with will annexed, or resealing of a foreign grant.
The specific BC Supreme Court registry where you plan to file.
The pre-printed statements telling each recipient they may oppose the grant, may be entitled to claim under the Family Law Act or Division 6 of Part 4 of the Wills, Estates and Succession Act, must act within the time limits the rules impose, and may consult a lawyer.
A statement that the grant may issue without further notice at least 21 days after delivery.

You or your lawyer must sign the form. Download the current version from the BC Supreme Court probate forms page on the provincial government website.³

If you are applying for a grant of probate or administration with will annexed, a copy of the will must go out with each Form P1. Rule 25-2(1) makes the will part of the notice package, not an optional attachment.¹

How to Deliver It

Rule 25-1 allows three methods:⁴

Personal delivery, handing the documents to the recipient.
Ordinary mail to the recipient’s residential or postal address.
Electronic transmission by email, fax, or another electronic method, but only to an address the recipient has provided for that purpose.

The method controls when delivery is legally complete, which is what starts the 21-day clock:

Personal delivery is effective immediately.
Mail is deemed delivered one week later, on the same day of the week you mailed it. If that day is a Saturday or holiday, it shifts to the next business day.
Electronic transmission sent before 4 p.m. on a business day is deemed delivered the same day.
Electronic transmission sent after 4 p.m. or on a Saturday or holiday is deemed delivered the next business day.

The mail rule is where timelines slip. Mail Form P1 on a Tuesday and delivery is deemed to happen the following Tuesday. The 21 days run from that deemed date, not from the day you dropped the envelope in the mailbox. Build the extra week into your schedule.⁴

Recipients outside Canada are served under the same rules. There is no separate procedure for international delivery, but mail to distant addresses carries more risk of loss or delay, so email or a tracked mailing method is often the safer choice.

The 21-Day Waiting Period

Once every copy has been delivered, wait at least 21 days before filing your probate application. The window exists so recipients can review the notice, get legal advice, and decide whether to oppose the grant or make a claim.⁵

A recipient who wants to object files a notice of dispute at the registry during that window. A filed dispute does not end your application on its own, but the court will not issue the grant until the dispute is resolved, which can require a hearing.

If you need to move faster, apply to the court by requisition in Form P41 for an order shortening the waiting period or authorizing an early filing.⁶ Courts grant these orders where the circumstances justify it, such as a looming asset sale deadline or perishable property.

Proving Delivery With Form P9

When the 21 days have passed, prepare Form P9, the Affidavit of Delivery. This sworn document tells the court you served every required recipient, and a copy of the Form P1 that was actually delivered must be attached.⁷ The affidavit should list each person served, the date of delivery, and the method used. Without it, the registry will not process your probate application. Form P9 is filed with the rest of your probate package, all available from the BC government’s probate forms page.³

If You Cannot Locate a Recipient

Sometimes a beneficiary has moved without leaving an address, or a distant intestate heir is unknown to the family. You cannot simply skip them. Under Rule 25-2(14) you can apply to the court for an order dispensing with delivery to one or more people, and the court can also vary the categories that must receive notice. The one recipient the court cannot dispense with is the PGT, when a minor or incapable adult is involved.¹

If no probate documents have been filed yet, apply by requisition in Form P41. Expect the court to want evidence of a thorough search. Reasonable steps include contacting known relatives and friends, checking last known addresses, searching online and social media, and reviewing property records. Document everything. A sworn statement detailing your search efforts will usually be part of the application.

If a Recipient Has Died

Where someone who would otherwise get Form P1 has already died, deliver the documents to their personal representative, meaning the executor or administrator of their own estate. If you do not know who that is, apply for directions under Rule 8-4. The court can tell you where to deliver the documents or, in some cases, dispense with notice for that person entirely.¹

1
B.C. Laws. Supreme Court Civil Rules – Rule 25-2
2
Public Guardian and Trustee of British Columbia. Grant Application Review Services
3
Province of British Columbia. Supreme Court Civil Rules – Probate Forms
4
B.C. Laws. Supreme Court Civil Rules – Rule 25-1
5
Government of British Columbia. Explanation of the New Supreme Court Civil Rules (Probate) – Rule 25-2
6
B.C. Laws. Supreme Court Civil Rules – Rule 25-14
7
Clicklaw. How Do I Apply for Probate?