RC552 Register as Representative for a Deceased Person

What is Form RC552?

Form RC552 is a form of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Its printed title is "Register as Representative for a Deceased Person". The form says who it is for: "Use this form if you want the Canada Revenue Agency to recognize you as the representative for a deceased person when there is no executor of the estate."

The blank on this page is the edition marked "RC552 E (23)". An older guide of the agency names the same form "Appointing a Representative for a Deceased Person", and the address of this page still carries that name.

What does a recognized representative do?

The form says: "As the recognized representative, you will have the ability to manage tax matters for the deceased person, or appoint a third-party representative, such as an accountant or a lawyer, to handle the deceased person's tax matters on your behalf."

The agency's guide on representing someone who died adds: "Once your request has been approved, you will be authorized as a representative who can view, get information about and update the tax information for the person who died. This approval is for CRA purposes only and not for other administrative responsibilities outside the CRA."

What is on the form?

The form has one page and three parts.

• Part 1, the deceased person's information. The form says: "You must provide the deceased person's first name, middle name (if applicable), last name, date of birth, social insurance number (SIN), date of death, and address at time of death." A section headed "New mailing address (if applicable)" follows.
• Part 2, the representative's information: first name, last name, SIN, relationship to the deceased person and telephone number, and, for online access, the representative identifier (RepID) of a person registered for the Represent a Client service. The form notes that the representative is the person who fills out the form. It adds that, depending on the relationship and the information on file, the agency may contact the representative for more information.
• Part 3, the declaration: "I certify that the information given on this form is correct and complete and there is no executor of the estate." It has lines for the first name, the last name, the signature and the date.

What is sent with the form, and where?

The form says: "Please provide a copy of the deceased person's death certificate." It also says where to send it: "Send this completed form and a copy of the death certificate to the tax centre of the deceased person. For the list of tax centres, go to canada.ca/cra-offices."

The agency's guide on representing someone who died lists the documents of a request. The first item of the list reads: "A copy of the death certificate, or a funeral director's statement of death". The guide asks to put on each document the SIN of the person who died and, for online access to the tax records, the RepID. It names two ways to send the documents: the "Submit documents" service of a Represent a Client account, or mail or fax, in its words: "Mail or fax the documents to the mailing address or fax number of the tax centre of the person who died."

The agency publishes the form on its page RC552 Register as Representative for a Deceased Person and explains the request in its guide Represent someone who died.