Wills, estates and trusts

We work closely with the firm’s Tax group to provide individuals, families and business ‎clients with ‎comprehensive advice tailored to their specific needs to ensure the orderly ‎succession of assets to the ‎next generation including reducing or eliminating probate ‎fees and minimizing or deferring tax on capital ‎gains, to meet any philanthropic desires ‎and to prepare for the possibility that those individuals may ‎become unable to take care ‎of themselves or manage their assets.‎

OUR CLIENTS

• High-net-worth families and individuals
• Owners of family-run businesses
• Individuals as executors and trustees, and trust companies in that capacity
• Charities and not-for-profit organizations
• Parents of disabled children
• Disabled individuals as beneficiaries

Our group has authored and edited various texts on trusts, wills and estates for the Continuing ‎Legal ‎Education Society of British Columbia (CLE) which are updated annually, including Will Precedents: An ‎Annotated Guide, various chapters in the British Columbia Estate Planning & ‎Wealth Preservation ‎publication, British Columbia Probate & ‎Estate Administration Practice Manual, and portions of Annotated ‎Estates Practice. ‎

• Complex estate planning, including wills, alter ego, joint partner or other trusts
• Planning for potential incapacity including powers of attorney tailored to specific ‎individual and ‎corporate needs, nominations of committee and representation ‎agreements
• Post-mortem tax planning
• Corporate and share structures, shareholder arrangements, and trusts for shares
• Estate planning for families of persons with disabilities and special needs and advising ‎‎organizations which assist the disabled community
• Estate planning for disabled individuals
• Adult guardianship, including the appointment of a committee (personal or property ‎guardian)‎
• End-of-life decision making
• Representing and advising charities as beneficiaries of an estate or trust
• Passing of executor, trustee or committee accounts
• All aspects of trust and estate administration.‎

LITIGATION

• Wills variation actions under the Wills, Estates and Succession Act
• The validity of a will, including allegations of undue influence or incapacity of the ‎deceased
• Court applications to interpret the provisions of a will
• Contested passing of executor, trustee or committee accounts
• Breach of trust actions

EMERGING ISSUES

• Family-run businesses seeking orderly succession planning to smoothly transition their ‎‎businesses to the next generation
• Opportunities to defer income tax and avoid probate fees through joint ‎partner, alter ego and ‎other trusts
• Longer life spans increase the risk of a loss individuals' cognitive faculties, increasing the ‎need ‎for living wills, powers of attorney, nominations of committee and representation ‎agreements
• Second marriages and common-law relationships lead to sometimes-forgotten yet critical ‎‎changes in wills, trusts and other estate or personal planning documents
• Mentally or physically challenged adults require plans for ongoing care when their primary ‎‎caregivers can no longer care for them.‎