Administration Bonds, Part 2 of 2: Obtaining an Administration Bond

  • July 07, 2020
  • Daniel Litsos, student-at-law, Macdonald Sager Manis LLP

Part 1 of this article provided an overview of administration bonds in the estate context and the common issues members of the bar face when attempting to dispense with the requirement to post a bond. The application process to obtain an administration bond can be cumbersome and, accordingly, an estate trustee may seek to obtain an order to dispense with the requirement. In some situations however, an estate trustee will be unable to dispense with the requirement. When this is the case, an estate trustee will be required to engage the services of an insurance or guarantee company to post the administration bond.

Overview of Administration Bonds

An administration bond is an obligation or promise to the court, with a surety, that the estate trustee will undertake to deliver on their obligation to the court and deceased’s affairs. The bond will generally provide all beneficiaries and creditors of the deceased’s estate protection in ensuring it is properly administered. Generally, the administration bond is required to be double the amount of the assets of the deceased, as sworn in the probate application.[1] The courts have the discretion to determine whether more than one bond should be given, to reduce the amount or dispense with the bond requirement completely.[2]

Administration bonds will be required where:

  1. The deceased has died intestate and an application is made for a certificate of appointment of estate trustee without a will[3];
  2. Where a testator did not appoint an executor and an application is made for a certificate of appointment of estate trustee with a will[4];
  3. Where a foreign executor is appointed under the will[5];
  4. Where no succeeding executor was named in the will[6]; or
  5. Where the applicant is a succeeding estate trustee without a will[7].