By Ruby Pratka
American statesman and philosopher Benjamin Franklin famously stated that there were two great inevitabilities in life – death and taxes. In Western society, people tend to speak about both death and money as little as possible. A recent editorial in the Queen’s University Journal succinctly described Western culture as “mortality-avoidant.” Our cultural hesitancy to talk about death means people are often taken by surprise by the legal, financial and other demands placed on them when a loved one dies – especially when the death is itself unexpected. This story will attempt to serve as a guide.
Most Quebecers die in hospitals, in seniors’ residences or at home. When a doctor, nurse or paramedic declares someone dead, he or she fills out an act of death (constat de décès or form SP3). If you witness the death of a close relative, or if you are informed of their death by a health professional or a police officer and receive the SP3, your first call should be to a funeral home, explains funeral director Catherine Labonté of the Coop Funérare Maska in Saint-Hyacinthe. The family must designate one person to coordinate with the funeral home, give consent for the funeral home to take the body and sign the funeral contract.
Coroners’ inquests
If the death occurs under specific circumstances (road accident, suspected suicide or homicide, death in a state facility, workplace accident, unexpected death of a pregnant woman or young child or a death with no obvious cause) the Quebec coroner’s office is required to investigate. If this happens, the body is not released to the family right away. The coroner may order an autopsy, in which case the body will be transferred to a morgue. Many modern autopsies are done by MRI-like machines rather than by cutting into the body, explains coroner Mélanie Ricard. Coroners may also order blood and toxicology tests to determine how the person may have died. Once the tests are complete, usually in a week or less, the coroner’s office will release the body to the funeral home and the funeral can proceed as planned, although the full investigation will likely take six to eight months, sometimes longer. Depending on the circumstances, coroners may need to speak with witnesses. Ricard says being available to answer family members’ questions is part of a coroner’s code of ethics. “I will be in contact with the families at the beginning of the investigation to explain the process,” she says. “Throughout the investigation, I will answer their questions and address any requests they may have … at the end, when my report is ready to be submitted, I will provide them with a summary of its contents and answer their questions before submitting it.”
Funeral consultations
In an initial meeting, which takes two or three hours, the funeral director will guide the family through the process of legally declaring the death, ordering a death certificate online and closing the person’s file with various government agencies. (A death certificate, which can take a month or more for the provincial government to process, is necessary to verify whether the deceased person has a registered will, which families may want to review before making funeral arrangements, but it’s not necessary to wait for one before holding the funeral, Labonté says.)
The family will need to provide basic information about the deceased person, including their social insurance number. The funeral director will then discuss funeral options – whether the deceased person made advance arrangements, whether the family prefers burial or cremation, whether they would like a religious service, a viewing or a reception, whether (and where) an obituary should be published. For a viewing, the family will be asked to provide clothes and accessories for the deceased. If the deceased person left instructions for their funeral, in a will or in any other document or in a verbal agreement, those instructions must be respected.
Labonté encourages families to create a funeral budget. Funeral costs vary widely; Labonté estimates that the “average” funeral, with a cremation, reception and service, costs between $4,500 and $5,500 – “although it can be a lot more or a lot less, depending on what the family wants.” Unless prior arrangements have been made, half of the payment is due on the day of the initial meeting, and the other half 30 days later.
Wills and inheritance
In addition to funeral arrangements, families must determine whether the deceased person has a will, find the most recent version of the will and appoint a liquidator to make sure the person’s assets are distributed as laid out in the will, explains Lionel Neyts, a Montreal-based notary and legal educator at Éducaloi. There are three types of legally valid wills in Quebec: a will registered with a notary, a will signed in front of two witnesses, or a will written out and signed in longhand. In any case, Neyts says, the liquidator will need to have the will validated (probated) by a notary or in Superior Court. The liquidator is then responsible for making a detailed inventory of the deceased person’s assets, paying outstanding debts (including tax debts) and making sure the heirs receive any money and property they are entitled to.
If a person dies without a will, according to Quebec government regulations, property is divided between their spouse (by marriage or civil union), their children, and their parents (if their parents are still living). If the person has no living spouse, children or parents, more distant relatives may inherit – a complete table is available on the Quebec government website (quebec.ca/en/justice-et-etat-civil/testament-succession/succession/settlement/death-without-will/distribution-table).
