We provide bespoke and practical advice to navigate the complexities of high-stakes estates, trusts, capacity and related shareholder disputes. Our cross-disciplinary experts proactively advise high-net-worth individuals and their families, family offices, trustees, executors, and financial institutions on avoiding and resolving disputes, but are ready to litigate contentious matters if necessary.
Trusted Advisors
We are recognized for our expertise in private wealth, estates, and trusts and frequently provide our clients with proactive actionable guidance to navigate the complexities of wealth transfer so as to avoid and if necessary, plan for disputes.
Deep Expertise
We specialize in all manner of Private Wealth disputes in public and private proceedings, including:
- estate disputes involving the validity of wills, powers of attorney, and disputes related to the administration of wealth in trusts, estates, and private companies
- complex capacity proceedings, including undue influence claims or suspicious circumstances
- shareholder disputes
- disputes arising from succession planning, including corporate reorganizations and estate freezes
Track Record of Excellence
Some of our best work has avoided full-blown litigation. When litigation was necessary, we aggressively pursued our client’s interests:
- Counsel in litigation arising from the administration of an estate worth in excess of $100 million, including with respect to contested passing of accounts, interpretation issues, a trustee removal application and tax issues related to cross-border beneficiaries.
- Representing a Canadian financial institution in litigation to address an unsettled issue in trusts and estates law, i.e., responsibilities of a former executor to beneficiaries under a former will where there are suspicious circumstances, but those beneficiaries under the prior will would have no knowledge of their status.
- Representing a high-net-worth client in lawsuits concerning control of a multi-billion dollar enterprise held through various inter vivos trust structures
- Counsel to court-appointed officer seeking to protect interests of incapable spouse in acrimonious estates/trust litigation case for estate worth over $130 million.
- Representing a non-profit organization in a dispute with the executor of an estate, who failed to inform the organization of its entitlement to a gift of real property for himself, and in litigation to recover damages for the executor’s mishandling of the estate.
- Representing a high net worth family in a case involving a financial disagreement between two corporate entities over issues related to financial transactions and obligations.
- Defending allegations of misconduct against an institutional trustee by an income beneficiary covered a 38-year passing period.
- Representing a high-net-worth client in an significant family dispute over a multibillion-dollar real estate empire. The case centered on the breakdown of the business relationship among four brothers, who inherited a real estate development company from their father.
Awards & Rankings
Best Law Firms in Canada
Leading Firm: Trusts and Estates; Litigation
Chambers Canada
Litigation: General Commercial - Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Québec
Benchmark Canada
Leading Litigation Firm
The Legal 500
Dispute Resolution
The Globe and Mail - Canada’s Best Law Firms
Area of Distinction: Dispute Resolution (Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations)