Form 74B: Ontario's affidavit of service, in plain words

Form 74B is a sworn page about sending copies. Its official name is “Affidavit of Service of Application for a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee.” An affidavit is a sworn statement: a page someone swears is true. In a standard Ontario probate application, the rule is simple. Before you file, every person entitled to a share of the estate must get a copy of the application. Form 74B is where you swear that this happened — who got a copy, and what went with it.

The court will not look at a standard application without this proof. The rules say the application is filed together with proof of service. For someone applying without a lawyer, that proof is Form 74B.

When Form 74B is needed — and when it is not

Form 74B belongs to the standard probate path. The small estate path — estates worth $150,000 or less — never uses it. On that path, the proof is built into Form 74.1B, the Request to File. That form is signed, not sworn, and the small path adds a 30-day wait after the copies go out.

The standard path has no set day count. Send the copies first. Then file any time after, with Form 74B in the package.

One more swap to know about. Form 74B has a twin, Form 74B.1, called the “Lawyer’s Certificate of Service.” It is for lawyers only. It is a certificate, not an affidavit — a lawyer licensed by the Law Society of Ontario signs it, and no commissioner is involved. Applying on your own? Form 74B is your form.

Who swears Form 74B

The form calls the person who swears it the “deponent.” The opening line reads: “I, (insert name), of (insert city or town and county or district of residence).” Paragraph 1 then asks for the deponent’s role — “applicant”, “lawyer for applicant”, and so on. So the applicant can swear it, and usually does — the person who sent the copies is the one who can swear they went out.

The deponent swears or affirms the page in front of a commissioner for taking affidavits — an official who watches the signing, then signs too. Lawyers, paralegals and notaries can act as commissioners, among others. The form allows swearing in person or by video call, under a rule called O. Reg. 431/20 about swearing remotely. And the form has its own note for teams: “(If there is more than one deponent, attach a separate sheet for additional affidavits.)”

What the form asks for, part by part

The heading. “IN THE ESTATE OF (insert name), deceased.” The name of the person who died goes here.

The opening line. The deponent’s name, plus the city and county where they live.

Paragraph 1. The deponent’s role, and whether the application is “with a Will” or “without a Will.”

Paragraph 2. “I served an application dated (insert date) for the following certificate: (select one).” The date is the application’s own date. Then three checkboxes, one per certificate type — with a Will, with a Will limited to the assets referred to in the Will, or without a Will. Only one gets checked.

Paragraph 3. Who got copies — “check all that apply.” The first box is the everyday one: “each person entitled to share in the distribution of the estate, including charities and contingent beneficiaries.” In plain words: everyone who gets something — including charities, and people who inherit only if someone else dies first. The other boxes cover the Children’s Lawyer, the parents or guardians of a person under 18, the guardian or attorney for a “mentally incapable” adult, and the Public Guardian and Trustee. Two of those boxes also ask how and when the copy was sent. Fair warning: a beneficiary under 18, or an adult who cannot manage their own affairs, means the estate has left do-it-yourself territory — a lawyer is the right help there.

Paragraph 4. A pre-printed sentence: the application was served “by email, mail, courier or personal service in accordance with rule 74.04(7).” Those are the four allowed ways to send copies.

Paragraph 5 — only with a will. What went with each copy. A person left one specific item, or a set amount of money, can get just the part of the will that applies to them. Every other beneficiary gets a copy of the whole will and any codicils. (A codicil is a signed add-on that changes a will.)

Paragraphs 6 and 7. The two “not served” tables — covered next.

Paragraph 8. A pre-printed closing: to the best of the deponent’s knowledge, the people named in the application are all the people entitled to share in the estate.

The swearing block at the end. Two checkboxes — sworn “in person” or “by video conference.” Only one can be true. Then the date line — “This (insert date) day of (insert month), (insert year)” — the signature of the commissioner, and the signature of the deponent.

The two “not served” tables

Both tables look the same. Each has two columns — “Name of person (as it appears in Will, if any)” and “Reason not served” — and starts with two blank rows. But they answer different questions.

The first table goes in only when applying with a will, and someone named in the will did not get a copy. It lists people or charities the will names who are “not entitled to be served” — named on paper, but with no right to a copy — and the reason for each.

The second table is for the opposite case: a person named in the will, or in a group of beneficiaries under the will, or entitled by law when there is no will — who has not been served. Again with the reason.

One odd thing, straight from the court’s own file: the second table has no lead-in sentence. The square-bracket instruction is printed, and then the table simply starts. That is how the court publishes the form. Nothing is missing, and there is nothing to fix — fill in the court’s file as published.

Mistakes that get Form 74B bounced

Court staff send a whole application back when one paper is wrong. (Our guide on why applications get sent back covers the full list.) For Form 74B, the known traps are:

1. No proof, or half a proof. A standard application is filed together with proof of service. A missing Form 74B, or one with empty parts, is a classic bounce.
2. Filing before the copies went out. The form speaks in the past tense — “I served.” Copies first. Then swear the form. Then file.
3. Names that don’t match. The tables ask for each name “as it appears in Will.” Same golden rule as the rest of the package: one person, one spelling, every page.
4. Half-done swearing. A missing commissioner signature, an empty date line, or both swearing boxes ticked. Only one way of swearing happened, so only one box can be right.
5. An old version of the form. Form 74B was replaced — the current version is dated January 1, 2025. Older copies still float around the internet, and courts expect the current version.

Where to get Form 74B in Ontario

The court publishes Form 74B as a free Word (.docx) file on the official court forms site. The current version is dated January 1, 2025. Ontario’s estate forms change from time to time, and courts expect the current version — the official index is the safe starting point.

The finished affidavit is filed with the rest of the standard package — the Form 74A application and the Form 74C draft certificate — at the courthouse for the county or district where the person lived. Many courthouses accept applications by email. For email filing, each court form goes in as its own PDF, and each email must stay inside both published limits: 35 pages and 35 MB. The original paper will still travels to the courthouse in person, by mail, or by courier — a scan is not enough. Our courthouse list has checked addresses and estates emails for 20 Ontario locations. Once a complete application is in, the court’s own guidance says applications are typically processed within 15 business days — longer if anything is missing.

Related guides

• Form 74A — the main application form, explained
• Form 74C — the draft probate certificate, explained
• The full list of Ontario probate forms
• How to probate a will, step by step

Sources

• Official estates court forms index — the free forms
• Rules of Civil Procedure, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 194 — Rule 74 probate applications
• Apply for probate of an estate (ontario.ca)

Sources last checked 14 July 2026.