For an amount to be "payable" to a beneficiary in a trust's taxation year, the beneficiary must have an enforceable right to payment by the end of that year. However, "the fact that the actual amount of the income of a trust in a year cannot be ascertained until after the end of the trust's taxation year due to administrative delays in obtaining the necessary information will not, in and by itself, result in an amount apportioned to a beneficiary in the year based on that income not being payable to the beneficiary in the year (as supported by...Ginsburg v M.N.R., 92 D.T.C. 1774 (T.C.C.))." However, it is possible for the beneficiary to obtain a right to payment of an unknown amount if the amount is unknown because it depends on a subsequent contingency or event, rather than because of administrative delays.
The beneficiary must also be advised before the end of the trust's taxation year of the trustees' decision to pay and the basis on which payment is to be apportioned. Where the amount is known, ordinarily a demand promissory note will be given to the beneficiary (or the beneficiary's legal guardian) as acknowledgement of the existence of the debt. The note should be delivered in the trust's taxation year or as soon as possible (i.e., in the event of the aforementioned administrative delays).