What assets do and don’t require an estate grant (going through the probate process) to transfer?
What assets do require an estate grant to transfer: Anything that you are registered owner of, such as accounts at banks and other financial institutions, vehicles, manufactured homes and properties registered in the land titles registry.
Sometimes, though, with a small and straight-forward estate, ICBC will transfer title of a vehicle and banks and other financial institutions will transfer account balances without the need for an estate grant.
What assets don’t require an estate grant to transfer: items that do not have registered ownership like household furnishings, art collections, coin collections, gold and silver bullion, livestock and cash.
Relevant Legal Article: