Form P5 (BC): The No-Will Applicant's Affidavit, Explained

What it is: Form P5 — officially the Affidavit of applicant for grant of administration without will annexed — is the sworn statement at the centre of a BC probate application when someone dies without a will. It's the no-will counterpart to Forms P3 and P4: where a named executor swears P3 or P4 to back a probate application, the would-be administrator swears P5 to back an application for a grant of administration. Same job, different door.

Who it's for: the person applying to run the estate — most often the spouse or an adult child. BC law sets a priority ladder for who may apply: the spouse first (or someone the spouse nominates), then a child who has the consent of the majority of the children, and so on outward through the family. Working out who should apply, and whose consents you need, is its own step — the grant of administration, explained walks that ladder. (And note the job is separate from the money: who inherits without a will is decided by a different set of rules.)

One form, not two — and two look-alikes to avoid: unlike the with-will affidavit, which splits into a short P3 and a long P4, there is one Form P5. The similarly numbered P6 and P7 are for ancillary grants — cases where a court outside BC has already issued a grant that needs recognizing here. If there's simply no will and no foreign grant, P5 is your form.

What it travels with: a P5 never goes in alone. Under the court rules, the no-will filing package includes:

Will you need a bond? Usually no. BC law requires no security from an applicant for a grant of administration unless a minor or a mentally incapable person without a representative has an interest in the estate, or the court orders it because an interested person asked. If that's in play, here's how estate bonds work and who arranges them.

How to actually do it:

  1. Confirm you're the right applicant. Check the priority ladder and gather the consents it calls for — a child applying, for example, needs the consent of the majority of the deceased's children. The no-will guide walks through whose signatures you need.
  2. Order the wills notice search early. It comes from Vital Statistics and the results certificate goes into your package in duplicate — start it now, because you'll wait on the mail either way. How to order it.
  3. Send the advance notice, then wait 21 days. Deliver Form P1 to everyone the rules require; the courts won't accept your application until at least 21 days after that delivery.
  4. Get the current Form P5 from the official Supreme Court probate forms page — it's listed under its full name, "Affidavit of applicant for grant of administration without will annexed."
  5. Complete it and swear it. An affidavit is signed under oath in front of someone authorized to take affidavits in BC — a lawyer or notary public does this routinely, and many people have the same professional look over the whole package while they're at it. (Lawyer, notary, or DIY? How to decide.)
  6. File the package at a Supreme Court probate registry with the other documents above and the filing fee — what probate actually costs in BC.

Common mistakes: skipping the wills search because the family is sure there's no will (the certificate is mandatory — the application can't proceed without it); assuming the eldest child automatically gets the job (the ladder plus consents decide it, not birth order); grabbing Form P6 or P7 because the number looked close (those are for foreign grants); and filing before the 21-day notice period has run.

Where to get it: the official current version is on the BC government probate forms page. More plain-language answers: BC executor questions.

Foxglove is a guide, not a law firm. General information, not legal advice; forms and rules change — confirm current requirements with the Supreme Court of BC, the official BC government forms page, or a qualified BC professional. Find vetted BC help →