What is an affidavit of service?

When an executor prepares an Application for Probate, or an administrator prepares an Application for Administration, he or she is required by law to give notice of the application to certain people. Usually the notice is given by registered mail. Once the notice is given to everyone who is entitled to receive it, the executor or administrator has to prove that he or she gave the proper notice (i.e. served notice on the right person).

The affidavit of service is a document that gives evidence that the notice was given as required. In law, any document that is sworn under oath and that gives evidence is called an affidavit. As the affidavit we are concerned with here gives evidence about proper serving of documents, it is an affidavit about service.

The affidavit of service is sworn by the executor or administrator in front of a Commissioner for Oaths. It only needs to be notarized if the executor/administrator lives outside of the province where the probate is being done.

The essential elements of an affidavit of service are:

• identifying who was served


• showing which document(s) were served on them


• describing how and when they were served


• telling by whom they were served

If there is any paperwork backing up the sworn information, such as registered mail receipts, these are usually attached to the affidavit.