We help clients prepare estate plans that reflect their personal, family, financial, and business circumstances — not just on paper, but for the people, assets, and responsibilities the plan is meant to protect. When an estate needs to be administered, we also help executors and estate trustees understand the legal steps involved and address practical issues as responsibilities are carried out.
Our Wills, Estates & Trusts team assists clients with both forward-looking estate planning and estate-related disputes. Whether you are planning for your family, structuring business succession, dealing with cross-border considerations, or facing a contested estate issue, we help identify the legal options and practical steps that fit your situation.
Plan ahead with documents and structures designed around your family, financial, business, and cross-border circumstances, and receive guidance on estate administration steps when an estate needs to be managed after death.
Address contested estate issues with practical advice, litigation strategy, and support where court involvement may be required. We help clients respond to disputes involving wills, capacity, estate administration, fiduciary obligations, dependants, beneficiaries, and other estate-related conflicts.
For many clients, estate planning involves more than preparing a basic will. Family-owned businesses, blended families, high-value assets, trusts, foreign property, tax considerations, and beneficiaries with specific needs can all affect how an estate plan should be structured.
Our team helps clients consider planning strategies designed to align with their personal and financial goals, reduce avoidable estate administration issues, and preserve value for the people and causes they wish to benefit.
Depending on the client’s family circumstances, assets, business interests, and planning goals, this may involve:
Estate issues can become difficult when family members, beneficiaries, executors, trustees, attorneys, or other interested parties disagree about a will, trust, capacity issue, estate decision, or entitlement. In these situations, practical legal advice can help clarify the issues, assess available options, and determine whether negotiation, court guidance, or litigation may be required.
Our estate litigation team assists with contested estate and trust matters, including disputes about validity, capacity, fiduciary obligations, support claims, and related estate issues. Where appropriate, we also coordinate with the firm’s Family Law, Real Estate, Corporate, and Civil Litigation teams to address overlapping legal and financial considerations.
Choosing the right estate planning team means finding lawyers who can look beyond individual documents and understand the family, financial, business, and property issues that shape your plan.
Our Wills, Estates & Trusts team works with clients to align their estate plan with their personal goals, family circumstances, asset structure, and future intentions. For some clients, this means preparing wills and powers of attorney. For others, it may involve trusts, multiple wills, business succession planning, cross-border considerations, or strategies designed to reduce avoidable estate administration issues.
When estate issues become contested, our estate litigation team can also help clients understand their options and address disputes with practical, sensitive, and strategic guidance.
We take a tailored approach to each client’s estate plan, considering personal wishes, family circumstances, financial realities, business interests, and the needs of intended beneficiaries.
For clients with family-owned businesses, high-value assets, blended families, trusts, foreign assets, or beneficiaries with specific needs, we help consider planning structures that go beyond a simple will.
Where appropriate, planning may include multiple wills, trust structures, joint ownership considerations, estate freezes, beneficiary designations, and other strategies aimed at reducing avoidable estate administration issues and preserving value for beneficiaries.
Estate planning often intersects with real estate ownership, corporate interests, family obligations, and succession planning. Our team coordinates with lawyers across the firm where needed to help address overlapping legal considerations.
If a will, trust, capacity issue, support claim, fiduciary obligation, or other estate matter becomes disputed, our estate litigation team can help assess the issues, explain available options, and pursue an appropriate resolution path.
You should consider reviewing your will or estate plan after major life, family, financial, or business changes. This may include marriage, separation, divorce, the birth of a child, the purchase or sale of significant assets, changes to business interests, a move to another jurisdiction, or a change in the people you wish to name as beneficiaries, executors, or decision-makers.
A will explains how your estate should be handled after death. A power of attorney allows someone you choose to make certain decisions for you during your lifetime if you are unable or unavailable to do so. Many estate plans include both, because they deal with different needs and different stages of planning.
Some clients only need a straightforward will and powers of attorney. Others may need more detailed planning because of family-owned businesses, blended families, trusts, foreign assets, high-value property, tax considerations, or beneficiaries with specific needs. A lawyer can help assess whether a simple will is sufficient or whether additional planning should be considered.
Yes. Estate planning can be important for family business owners, shareholders, and professionals who want to plan for the transfer, continuation, or restructuring of business interests. Depending on the circumstances, this may involve wills, trusts, multiple will planning, estate freezes, shareholder considerations, or coordination with corporate and tax advisors.
Estate disputes may involve questions about capacity, validity, interpretation, support obligations, fiduciary duties, or the conduct of an executor, trustee, attorney, or other decision-maker. The appropriate path depends on the facts and may involve negotiation, applications for court guidance, or litigation where necessary.
It is helpful to bring information about your assets, debts, family structure, business interests, existing wills or powers of attorney, trusts, beneficiary designations, foreign assets, and any specific concerns or wishes you want to address. You do not need to have everything finalized before speaking with a lawyer; the consultation can help clarify what information is needed.
