Our wills and estates practice includes estate planning and estate administration.

Comprehensive estate planning includes drafting Wills, as well as preparing Enduring Powers of Attorney and Personal Directives to plan for the event of your incapacity to make financial and personal decisions prior to your death. We consider your needs and wishes now and in the future and when necessary work with other professional advisors to ensure your specific estate goals are met.

We work with personal representatives (executors, attorneys and trustees) to ensure a deceased’s estate is managed carefully and distributed expeditiously and in accordance with the deceased’s wishes. We also assist and advise on a broad range of estate matters that require court intervention including applications under the Wills and Succession Act, the Estate Administration Act, and the Adult Guardianship and Trusteeship Act.

Our estate practice includes the following work:

• Preparing estate planning documents such as Wills, Personal Directives, and Enduring Powers of Attorney;
• Advising clients on estate planning matters;
• Advising clients on dependent adult issues;
• Attending on clients at home and in hospital as circumstances require;
• Advising executors, agents, attorneys, guardians, and trustees;
• Applications for probate, administration, or resealed grants;
• Applications for family maintenance and support under the Wills and Succession Act;
• Estate litigation;
• Advising clients on estates with no will, known as intestate estates;
• Applications under the Adult Guardianship and Trusteeship Act;
• Advising on trusts, including testamentary trusts, spousal trusts, and educational trusts.

We act for plaintiffs and help them recover compensation for the injuries and losses they have suffered.

Our personal injury and disability practice includes the following work:

• Motor vehicle accidents
• Slip and fall accidents
• Occupier’s liability
• Product liability
• Medical and dental malpractice

Litigation can be costly and time consuming. Mediation and arbitration have developed as alternative forms of dispute resolution which offer significant savings in both time and expense and allows the parties to control the terms of the process.

Mediation is a structured, interactive process where an impartial third party assists disputing parties in resolving conflict through the use of specialized communication and negotiation techniques. All participants in mediation are encouraged to actively participate in the process. The decision on whether or not to settle remains with the parties and their counsel.

Arbitration is a private process where disputing parties agree to put the dispute before one or several individuals (the arbitrator(s)) who can make a decision about the dispute after receiving evidence and hearing arguments. The parties decide beforehand as to the rules that will apply in introducing evidence, generally how the arbitration will proceed, and whether or not the arbitrator's decision will be binding. Arbitration is different from mediation because the arbitrator acts more like a judge in a trial.

Our lawyers have experience acting for clients in arbitrations and mediations as well as acting as mediators. We have continued to participate in arbitrations and mediations throughout the COVID 19 pandemic and are willing and able to use video technology to facilitate mediations and arbitrations during this time.