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Find Lawyers in Canada for Trusts and Estates
Practice Area Overview
Wealth accumulation, preservation, and enjoyment may include the use of Trusts or corporate structures to split income or pass future growth to the next generation while preserving a client’s access to income and capital for financial security and personal philanthropy during their lifetime. Succession of wealth involves proper Will planning for the transfer of assets to surviving family members. This may include the administration of assets through testamentary Trusts to avoid premature vesting, or to take advantage of income splitting and asset protection opportunities, and the sharing of family wealth with favourite charities in a tax efficient manner. Trusts established during a client's lifetime, or through their Will, also may be of value when planning for the equitable distribution of assets among members of blended families or the care of minors and incapable adults, and to encourage the responsible transmission of wealth.
Trust and Estate administration services include assisting the personal representative to obtain Probate of a Will, or Letters of Administration if no Will is found, and advising as necessary on administrative responsibilities. This includes advice concerning the gathering of assets, payment of liabilities, the establishment of any trusts designated by the terms of a Will, and communicating with beneficiaries regarding accounting and distribution matters. It may include advice to individual or corporate executors and trustees relating to the administration of ongoing trusts or with regard to the interpretation and implementation of the trust terms. Trust and Estate lawyers will have the ability to advise and represent personal representatives, or estate beneficiaries, in all aspects of estate administration, and in the event a dispute arises, they will assist in resolving contentious matters.
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Caroline Abela specializes in complex business and estate litigation matters. Focusing on commercial and corporate litigation and estates and trusts litigation, Caroline represents clients ranging from large corporations and institutions to small business owners and professionals. Caroline has appeared as counsel before all levels of courts in Ontario and the Federal Court of Canada. Caroline has been named in the Who’s Who Legal for Asset Recovery and in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Dire...
Ray Adlington is an experienced lawyer well versed in all areas of tax law. He has a robust practice with particular focus on corporate tax, commodity tax, and tax dispute resolution with the Canada Revenue Agency on behalf of taxpayers. Ray is a past four-year member of the joint Canadian Bar Association – CPA Canada Joint Committee on Taxation tasked with advising the Department of Finance (Canada) on tax policy and legislative drafting matters. He acts as counsel to private and publi...
Mastering the business issues of the business leaders he advises, Pierre T. Allard has established himself over the years as one of the best tax lawyers of his generation and a national reference in his field. The unanimous recognition from his peers and our clients speaks for itself. As a member of BCF’s Executive Committee, he is the one to turn to for major transactions, including the sale or acquisition of a business, the incentive and retention of key employees or the transfer of a...
Kristine founded Fern Law in 2023 and brings over 20 years of experience to her practice. She focuses on trusts and estate litigation as well as estate planning and the intersection of these two areas with family law. Kristine delivers effective and creative advice on estate matters, dependant support claims, power of attorney disputes and guardianship applications. In family law matters, Kristine focuses on elderly persons with capacity issues that may require advice and representation. Kris...
Jordan is a Certified Specialists in Estates and Trusts Law and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Canada. Lexpert rates Jordan as one of its top recommended estate lawyers in Canada as well as being rated as a Best Lawyer in Canada. In addition to his planning and administration practice, Jordan is Senior Associate Counsel to Hull & Hull LLP and a senior mediator with Hull Estate Mediation Inc. He is a Past Chair of the Ontario Bar Association - Trust and ...
Risa is a partner at Torkin Manes. She focuses her practice on estate planning, including the preparation of wills, powers of attorney and trusts, and estate administration. Risa advises clients on strategies to minimize income tax and Estate Administration Tax and attends to the structuring and implementation of the plan.Risa works closely with the firm’s corporate and tax lawyers and the clients’ advisors in advising business owners with respect to business succession planning. ...
Antoine Aylwin is Co-leader of the firm’s Privacy & Cybersecurity Group. Antoine's practice focuses on administrative, civil, commercial litigation and estate law. Clients seek his expertise and he represents their interests in the areas of estate and trust litigation, access to information in documents held by public bodies, protection of personal information in the public and private sectors, in cybersecurity, public and administrative law, disciplinary law, and extraordinary reme...
Karon Bales is a founding partner of Bales Beall LLP whose experience speaks for itself. Her practice is centred on family law, wills and estate issues. Her experience in trial and appellate advocacy in family law and estate matters is extensive, particularly with those involving partnerships, business corporations and commercial issues. Karon also provides sound guidance with estate administration and planning, domestic and off-shore trusts, and succession planning for owners of family busin...
Mediation gives people more control over the outcome of their disputes and provides privacy over what are often highly sensitive issues for the parties involved. Many people do not fully realize the lack of control one faces at trial nor do people understand the truly public nature of the courthouse. As a mediator, Diane helps clients overcome legal challenges in a fair and efficient manner. She manages emotions and expectations, and, by engaging in an active risk analysis, she helps to achie...
Maureen Berry’s practice is focused on wills, estate planning, domestic and international trusts, private corporation taxation, and executive compensation. Maureen also advises charities and non-profit organizations. Working with Canadian and international families, firms, corporations and charitable organizations, she provides advice on all aspects of private client matters, including inter vivos trust and will planning, post-mortem planning, donation planning, as well as succession pl...
Jeff's practice is dedicated to estate planning, estate administration, trusts, charities and not-for-profits. Jeff advises clients on all aspects of estate administration and estate planning. Jeff counsels executors and trustees on administering estates and trusts and helps beneficiaries understand their rights. Jeff has extensive experience in developing tailored estate plans and drafting wills, powers of attorney, representation agreements, trusts and related planning documents. Jeff is a ...
Aaron has a diverse practice with a focus on Wills, Trusts, and Estates. He has extensive experience in estate planning, administration, and dispute resolution. His practice also includes business law and real estate law. Aaron is a recognized thought leader in the application of The Surrogate Rules and complicated court applications, which helps him generate positive, timely results for his clients. He shares his knowledge with colleagues and the public through teaching and speaking roles. C...
Gail Black is a private client services and tax partner in the Calgary office of Miller Thomson. Gail’s practice focuses on trusts (business and personal), taxation, estate planning and administration and charities and not-for-profit organizations. Gail advises individuals on the development and implementation of their estate plans including wills, family trusts, alter ego, spousal and joint partner trusts, enduring powers of attorney, personal directives and other substitute decision-m...
Howard's practice focuses on estate litigation and in-person and online mediation of estates disputes with extensive experience in all aspects of estate planning and administration. In addition to a busy estate litigation and mediation practice, Howard provides estate planning advice and advises on wills and powers of attorney to middle and high net-worth individuals in person and using digital means. Howard is passionate about the law and about giving back to the legal community. He is a reg...
Michael Blatchford works with charities, not-for-profit organizations, associations, clubs, social enterprises and other entities in the voluntary sector and advises on all aspects of their operations and governance, helping them to effectively carry out their programs while complying with regulatory obligations. Mr. Blatchford's clients include registered charities and non-profit organizations in every area, from healthcare, education and social services to arts and culture, environmental an...
Scott Boucher is a partner in our litigation group, practising general commercial litigation with an emphasis on insolvency and restructuring and estates litigation. He assists clients and other lawyers on a wide variety of matters, including contract and property disputes, insolvency files including receivership, CCAA, bankruptcy and foreclosure proceedings, wills variation claims, and trusts litigation. He has appeared before the Supreme Court of British Columbia, the British Columbia Court...
For over 38 years, Cathie Brayley has worked with clients through all types of tax complexities, including Canada Revenue Agency audits and appeals, buying and selling businesses, structuring international and domestic investments, representation and warranty insurance, tax insurance as well as personal tax and estate planning. Her aptitude for creative and strategic thinking, combined with her practical approach are complimented by her significant experience in commercial transactions. For C...
Tara Britnell is the Co-Chair of the Estate and Trust Litigation department. She assists clients with the complete range of complex and challenging estate and trust cases, including undue influence and capacity claims, adult guardianship, construction and variation of wills and trusts, contentious estate administrations, and the identification and prevention of elder abuse. Tara’s clients include executors, trustees, beneficiaries, people disappointed in a Will and those concerned about...
Kelley is an experienced litigator dedicated to providing personalized service and finding solutions for her clients. Her practice covers guardianship and power of attorney litigation, health and mental health law, and estates and trusts. As well, she is a strong advocate for disability rights and social justice, representing elders, persons under disability, and their supportive family members. Kelley regularly appears as counsel at all levels of Ontario courts and before numerous administra...
Clare Burns is a senior trusts and estates litigator. She served as the Children's Lawyer for the Province of Ontario from 2003 to 2008 pursuant to an Order-in-Council appointment. As the Children's Lawyer, Clare's office was responsible to investigate, advocate, protect and represent persons under the age of 18 in proceedings before the courts and tribunals of Ontario. In this role, she supervised more than 11,000 cases including variations of trust, will challenges, passings of accounts, gu...
Riley Burr's practice largely focuses on commercial tax work. Riley also advises clients on GST, PST and property transfer tax issues in the corporate, charitable and real estate sectors, both in structuring designed to minimize taxes as well as in handling administrative appeals, ruling requests and voluntary disclosures relating to such taxes. Riley also works with high-net-worth individuals with significant private company interests in a wide variety of industries to structure their affair...
Laura provides passionate and dedicated representation for clients who find themselves faced with death, financial vulnerability, or capacity concerns. Laura first became interested in estates law while clerking at the Ontario Superior Court in Toronto, where she worked on a variety of estates matters, from routine probate applications to more complex disputes. Since her call to the bar in 2015, Laura has practiced exclusively in the area of estates, trusts and capacity litigation, and has re...
Angela is a fierce advocate for people affected by death and diminished mental capacity. Her professional peers voted to recognize her as one of Canada’s leading lawyers for estate litigation in Lexpert magazine. Her clients appreciate Angela’s ability to tell their story in a compelling way, and her “committed, supportive work” on their behalf. Her clients include trust companies, charities, government agencies, the Office of the Children’s Lawyer, individuals a...
Shelly’s practice focuses on corporate/commercial matters, business and succession planning, estate planning, including Wills, Enduring Powers of Attorney, Personal Directives, family trusts, and estate administration. She is the firm’s Wills, Estates & Trusts Team Lead. Prior to entering law, Shelly worked for the Capital Health Authority and was the Regional Coordinator for the Department of Laboratory Medicine. She also worked overseas as a medical laboratory technologist i...
Jules Charette practises tax law. He regularly advises businesses, developers, public bodies and financial institutions on the tax aspects of financings, mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, executive compensation and international transactions. Mr. Charette also represents taxpayers in disputes with the tax authorities. In addition, he advises individuals on estate planning, which has led him to develop expertise in trusts and estates. Mr. Charette is co-chair of our Canadian tax team ...
Kelly Charlebois is an experienced estate and trust litigator with expertise in complex and multifaceted cases. She is a tenacious advocate who persuasively and effectively advances her clients’ interests and achieves positive and cost-effective results for them in a broad range of areas. Kelly's clients praise her strategic approach to handling their files. Kelly has particular expertise in matters relating to estates, trusts, and fiduciary and capacity-related proceedings. Kelly has s...
Annie Chen is a wills, estates, trusts and corporate lawyer in Vancouver advising clients on wealth management, estate planning and personal and corporate tax planning. Annie works collaboratively with clients and their advisors and focuses on providing creative, practical and cost-effective personal planning and corporate planning structures to meet clients’ planning/succession needs and objectives while minimizing risks and taxes. A trusted advisor to personal and corporate clients, i...
Jessica is a partner at Bales Beall LLP whose practice is devoted to advising Canadian and international clients on a wide range of estate and trust matters. This work includes drafting Wills, trusts, and Powers of Attorney and providing guidance to executors and beneficiaries. In addition to legal work, Jessica is actively involved in the community. She was a member of the trusts and estates executive of the Ontario Bar Association for many years and currently sits on the programming committ...
Mae Chow is a partner practicing in our business solutions, real estate, and estate solutions practice groups. In her business law practice, she focuses on small and mid-sized corporations; dealing with all matters including the sale of a business, reorganization of ownership, and financing. Mae's real estate law practice focuses on residential purchase, sale and financing as well as commercial acquisitions, leasing, and financing. In her estate law practice, she provides families with advice...
Eric Clavier is a trusts and estate litigation lawyer in Fasken’s Vancouver office, assisting clients with resolving contentious matters related to wills, trusts, undue influence and incapacity claims, committeeship applications, unjust enrichment claims, breach of fiduciary duties cases, abuse of powers of attorney claims, breach of trust claims, and passing of accounts. Providing innovative solutions to disputes arising from estate planning, wills, trusts and personal documents, Eric&...
Emily Clough is a partner at Clark Wilson LLP. She is the key contact for Elder Law matters. In 2020, Emily was recognized with the distinction as being one of the Best Lawyers in Canada for Trusts and Estates. Emily works in all aspects of estates, trusts and incapacity matters, as both a solicitor and a litigator. Emily prepares estate, trust and incapacity planning documents. She assists with the administration of estates and probate. Emily has been lead litigation counsel on cases at all ...
Brian Cohen is a partner and lawyer in Gowling WLG’s global Private Client Services Group. Based in Toronto, he assists clients in the areas of estate planning, trusts and personal taxation, with a focus on advising high net worth individuals on succession planning alternatives. Brian also advises donors, charitable organizations, public and private foundations, and not-for-profit organizations regarding the tax implications of formation, registration, governance and planned giving stra...
Bob brings a rare combination of talents to his clients’ real estate and estate planning objectives by drawing on his wealth of legal experience, results-oriented approach, and formidable negotiation skills. Dedicated to providing the highest level of service to his clients - something seldom seen these days - Bob’s clients trust him to provide timely, pragmatic solutions to their legal and business concerns. Major commercial real estate investors acquiring and selling apartment b...
Wendi Crowe is recognized in Chambers as one of Canada’s leading Private Client Services lawyers. Her practice focuses on tax, business succession planning, trusts and estate planning, to address the complexities of today’s families. She uses a practical, holistic and collaborative approach to assist owner-managers in achieving their business succession goals. Wendi helps entrepreneurs transfer their business tax-efficiently to a new owner, to key employees or to family members. W...
Deb Lister has a commercial litigation practice involving a breadth of experience and expertise in a number of areas and industries. While representing a wide range of clients, Deb has a particular interest in the following areas: Corporate commercial litigation: shareholder disputes, partnership disputes, and general commercial/contractual disputes of all types. Insurance matters: provision of advice regarding coverage, litigation regarding coverage disputes, and representation of insured ma...
Stephanie is a tax and estate planning lawyer in the Tax and Private Wealth Group at Farris. Since her call to the bar in 2004, Stephanie has practised in the areas of taxation, wealth management, and trust and estate planning. Stephanie creates tax-effective estate plans and corporate structures for families and high-net-worth individuals, including wills, estate freezes, all types of trusts and corporate reorganizations. She also assists not-for-profit and charitable organizations in respec...
Nicole D’Aoust is a partner specializing in charity and not-for-profit law. She has particular expertise advising private clients on the structuring and implementation of legacy, philanthropic, and planned giving matters. This includes structuring private foundations as trusts and corporations, advising on gifts of cash, shares, real estate, and other types of property, drafting gift agreements, and advising on operational matters such as governance, financial statements, gifting to qua...
Dwight Dee, TEP, has a business law and estates and trusts practice with a focus on private client services. Dwight works with individuals and families in the areas of estate and incapacity planning, trusts, business succession planning, and elder law matters. Dwight also has extensive experience in all aspects of business law, particularly in the areas of capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, and public company compliance. In his private client and trusts practice, Dwight regularly assi...
Justin is the Principal of de VRIES LITIGATION LLP. Justin was a partner at Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP (now Dentons LLP) and a partner and counsel at Hull & Hull LLP. He is the founder of allaboutestates.ca; a popular collaborative blog on estate and trust matters. Justin is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), the Advocates’ Society, the Estate Planning Council of Toronto, and the Estate Planners’ Council of Halton. He has consistently been named ...
Andrew Etcovitch practises in the areas of corporate tax, particularly in domestic and cross-border corporate financing, corporate reorganizations, and mergers and acquisitions. He is the National Lead of the Corporate Tax Group at Miller Thomson. Andrew also has broad experience in designing tax-efficient ownership structures for owner-managed businesses. Within the scope of his practice, Andrew has represented clients in regard to Revenu Québec and Canada Revenue Agency tax audits.
The majority of Lou-Anne Farrell’s 35-year legal career has been restricted to estate litigation and related disputes. She provides effective and efficient representation to clients dealing with will challenges, spousal and dependent’s claims, passings of accounts, removal of trustees, breach of trust claims, interpretation and rectification claims, and POA and guardianship disputes. She is also a trained mediator with over a decade of experience mediating estate-related disputes....
While working for a broad range of clients, Harold covers numerous facets of tax practice, including personal and corporate income tax planning, estate planning, goods and services tax, sales and land taxes, international tax, tax litigation, and dispute resolution. He acts on a wide variety of corporate transactions, such as mergers and acquisitions, share and asset purchases, corporate reorganizations, and leveraged buyouts. In addition, he helps establish employee profit sharing and stock ...
Emma Ferguson is a member of our Wills, Estates + Trusts Practice Group. Emma has a broad wills, estates and trusts practice. She advises clients on all aspects of estate and incapacity planning, including wills, alter ego, joint partner and family trusts, powers of attorney and healthcare representation agreements. Emma has experience assisting clients with disabilities or their family members with planning to protect government disability benefits and advises clients on adult guardianship m...
Sarah Fitzpatrick’s practice focuses on the areas of charities, not-for-profits, and trusts. She provides general practical legal advice to these clients, to assist them in carrying out their missions and mandates. Sarah counsels charities and not-for-profit clients on governance matters, tax and regulatory compliance, social enterprise and gift planning. She also assists clients with general corporate legal matters including major transactions and restructuring. Sarah is an active memb...
Éric Forget primarily represents and advises business owners and taxation professionals. His experience includes negotiating commercial agreements, tax litigation and the reorganization and buying and selling of businesses. He has a master’s degree in taxation, which informs his exploration of the taxation and legal aspects of a business’s activities and adds an entrepreneurial flair to his practice as a business advisor. He also offers a variety of services in estate and w...
Bill Fowlis, QC, FCPA, FCA, TEP is a lawyer, a Chartered Professional Accountant/Chartered Accountant and Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP). He is also a Family Enterprise Advisor (FEA) certificant. With this complementary professional background, Bill focuses on taxation, corporate, trust, succession, and estate planning law for privately owned businesses, corporations, and high net worth individuals. His practice covers merger and acquisition transactions with a focus on private corporati...
Andrea is a lawyer in the Private Wealth Group at Farris LLP. She focuses her practice on assisting clients with sophisticated estate and trust planning and administration. She provides succession planning advice and works with clients to craft trust documents, wills and testamentary instruments, powers of attorney and representation agreements which respond to their specific needs. Andrea also provides services to executors and trustees. Andrea is a frequent speaker for a wide variety of gro...
As the principal of Heritage Law , Nicole Garton, TEP is a lawyer, mediator and parenting coordinator practicing in the areas of wills and estates and family law. As President of Heritage Trust , Nicole leads a regulated financial institution offering executor, trustee, power of attorney, escrow and multi-family office services on behalf of BC resident clients. Nicole is the Past Chair of the Canadian Bar Association Wills and Trusts Subsection (Vancouver). Nicole is a member the Society of E...
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