After a spouse or partner dies, the survivor has two sets of tasks: helping settle the estate (often as executor) and sorting out their own finances, which can change sharply when one income stops. This page covers the second set: survivor benefits, accounts that pass to you, insurance and pension claims, the home and the budget you’ll live on. It is part of our estate planning guide; the executor’s side (notifications, probate, debts, distribution) is in the financial checklist when someone dies.
The first weeks
| Action | Why |
|---|---|
| Order several copies of the death certificate or funeral director’s statement | Banks, insurers and government each need proof of death |
| Gather the will, insurance policies, account statements, tax returns and pension documents | Every claim below needs them |
| Tell your spouse’s employer | Final pay, unused vacation, group life insurance and pension benefits |
| Keep paying essential bills | Mortgage, rent, utilities and insurance continue |
Many survivors hold off on big decisions (selling the house, moving investments, lending money to family) for several months, until the estate and their own budget are clearer.
Government benefits
- The CPP survivor’s pension is paid monthly to a spouse or common-law partner of a contributor: up to $803.54 a month if you are under 65 and up to $904.59 at 65 and over, combined with any CPP pension of your own up to a cap. Who qualifies and how to apply are in CPP survivor benefits.
- The CPP death benefit is a one-time $2,500 payment (see the CPP death benefit).
- The Allowance for the Survivor pays up to $1,726.18 a month (October to December 2026) to a widowed person aged 60 to 64 with low income; see the Allowance and Allowance for the Survivor.
- OAS and GIS: Service Canada stops your spouse’s payments; your own GIS, if any, is recalculated as a single person.
Bank and investment accounts
| Account | What usually happens |
|---|---|
| Joint account with right of survivorship | It becomes yours; the bank removes your spouse’s name with a death certificate (see joint accounts after a death) |
| Your spouse’s own accounts | Frozen, then paid to the estate, sometimes only after probate |
| RRSP or RRIF naming you | Can roll into your own RRSP or RRIF without immediate tax (see what happens to an RRSP when you die) |
| TFSA naming you as successor holder | Continues in your name, tax-free, without using your own room |
| TFSA naming you as beneficiary | Paid out. A spouse or common-law partner named as beneficiary, or a surviving spouse or common-law partner in Quebec, can contribute all or part of the payment to their own TFSA as an exempt contribution, which doesn't use their own contribution room, if they contribute it by the end of the calendar year that follows the year of death and send Form RC240 to the CRA within 30 days of contributing; the contribution can't be exempt if the deceased's TFSA held an excess amount or payments went to more than one survivor. See the conditions |
If your spouse named the estate, or no one, the registered accounts are paid to the estate and taxed on the final return, and they go through probate.
Insurance and pension claims
| Claim | How |
|---|---|
| Individual life insurance | Contact the insurer with the death certificate and policy number; payment usually follows within weeks of a complete claim |
| Group life insurance | Through your spouse’s employer |
| Workplace pension | The plan administrator; a defined benefit plan often continues a survivor pension, and a defined contribution plan pays out or transfers the balance |
| Mortgage or credit insurance | The lender, if the loan was insured |
The home
If you owned the home together as joint tenants, it is now yours by survivorship; if as tenants in common, your spouse’s share passes under the will (see joint tenancy vs tenants in common). Whether you can keep the mortgage, and what insurance might cover, is in what happens to a mortgage when you die. If your spouse died without a will, how much of the estate you receive depends on provincial intestacy law, explained in what happens if you die without a will.
Taxes
Your spouse’s final return, any optional returns and the clearance certificate are the executor’s job, covered in how to file taxes for a deceased person. Most property left to a spouse rolls over without immediate tax, which defers the deemed disposition until the survivor sells or dies; see taxes at death. From the next year, you file as a single person (or as widowed), and benefits like the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit and the CCB are based on your own income.
Your new budget
| Task | What it involves |
|---|---|
| List your income | Your pay or pensions, survivor benefits, investment income |
| List your expenses | Most fixed costs stay the same with one income gone |
| Find the gap | Income against monthly needs |
| Adjust | Cancel your spouse’s subscriptions and memberships; downsize later if needed |
An emergency fund sized to your new expenses helps while claims are paid; see how much emergency fund you need.
Your own estate plan
Your will, powers of attorney and beneficiary designations probably named your spouse, so each needs updating; see how to make a will and the beneficiary designation guide.
A timeline
| When | Actions |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | Death certificates, the funeral, notify key people |
| Month 1 | Insurance claims, apply for CPP survivor and death benefits |
| Months 2 to 6 | Account transfers, probate, tax planning |
| After 6 months | Final returns, estate distribution, bigger decisions |
| Ongoing | Your own budget and estate plan |
Related resources
Sources
The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them on September 29, 2026. How we check facts.
- Canada Revenue Agency: Tax-free Savings Account (TFSA)
- Canada Revenue Agency: If you are a designated beneficiary of a TFSA
- Government of Canada: Canada Pension Plan – Monthly payment amounts
- Government of Canada: CPP: Death Benefit
- Government of Canada: Old Age Security payment amounts
- Justice Laws (Canada): Income Tax Act