Michelle Isaak

She/HerPartner

Emailmichelle.isaak@ca.dlapiper.com

About

Michelle Isaak is a partner who practises in the area of personal wealth management. She has extensive ‎experience advising clients on all aspects of estate and trust planning, adult guardianship and capacity ‎planning, and estate and trust administration.‎

Michelle assists clients with developing individualized estate plans which incorporate tax, succession and ‎familial considerations. She advises clients on the preparation of wills, powers of attorney, and ‎representation agreements, the settlement of alter ego, joint spousal and family trusts, the complexities of ‎planning for a blended family, and business succession.‎

A significant portion of Michelle's practice is devoted to advising executors, trustees and beneficiaries on ‎estate and trust administration issues, such as obtaining or resealing representation grants, administering ‎assets and trusts in a tax efficient manner, resolving disputes between trustees and beneficiaries, ‎replacing trustees, and passing accounts, both informally and through the B.C. Supreme Court.‎

Michelle has particular expertise in complex estate planning and administration issues, such as planning ‎for and administering estates with assets in multiple jurisdictions, planning for and administering ‎Indigenous estates under the Indian Act, administering insolvent estates, and advising trustees in cases ‎where the deceased has been murdered by a beneficiary.‎

Michelle is an active volunteer for the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia, serving on ‎the editorial board of the BC Probate and Estate Administration Practice Manual, as a contributing author to ‎the BC Estate Planning and Wealth Preservation Practice Manual, and as a speaker at numerous CLE ‎conferences and webinars. She presents frequently on the subject of wills, trusts and estate ‎administration for organizations such as the Pacific Business and Law Institute, Society of Trust and ‎Estate Practitioners (STEP), Canadian Bar Association of BC, and the Estate Planning Council of ‎Vancouver. In June 2020, Michelle was featured in CLEBC’s “In the Spotlight” for her numerous ‎contributions to the legal field.‎

Michelle has been listed in the Best Lawyers in Canada directory for Trusts and Estates since 2018, ‎including being recognized as the 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” for Trusts and Estates in Vancouver, and is ‎recognized by Lexpert® as a leading practitioner in the field of estate and tax planning.‎

Areas of FocusPrivate Clients Trusts and Estates

Bar admissionsBritish Columbia, 2004

Languages

Awards

Recognized, Vancouver Family Law, Best Lawyers in Canada, (2026)
Recognized, Vancouver Trusts and Estates, Best Lawyers in Canada, (2018, 2020 – 2026)
Lawyer of the Year, Vancouver Trusts and Estates, Best Lawyers in Canada, (2019)
Named, Estate & Personal Tax Planning, Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory, (2020 – 2025)

Education

LL.B., University of British Columbia, 2002

B.Comm., McGill University, 1990

Publications

Co-author, "The Administration of Firearms - Advice for the Personal Representative," Estates, Trusts & Pensions Journal, May 2018

Seminars

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

Presenter, “The Trust as a Challenged Asset in Family Law Claims”, CBABC conference, Advanced Level Estate Law, June 2022.
Presenter, “Capacity Planning, Estate Planning and Estate Administration for Indigenous Clients”, CBABC Joint meeting of Elder Law Section and Wills & Trusts (Vancouver) Section, May 2022.‎
Co-Chair, Pacific Business & Law Institute ‎Conference, Estate Planning 2022, January 2022.‎
Co-Presenter, “Considerations When Choosing Your Decision-Makers”, Pacific Business & Law Institute ‎Conference, Cross-Border Estate Planning 2021, April 2021.
Presenter, “Thorny Issues in Estate Administration”, CBABC Wills & Trusts (Vancouver) Section meeting, ‎October 2020.‎
Presenter, “Practicing Wills, Estates and Trust Law during Covid-19”, CLEBC Webinar, April 2020.
Presenter, “Valuing Assets for Probate and P14 Amendments”, CLEBC Conference, Estate Planning Express 2020, March 2020.
Co-Presenter, “Thorny Estate Administration Issues – A Multidisciplinary Perspective”, STEP Vancouver Branch, March 2020.
Presenter, “Estate Planning and Administration for Indigenous Clients”, CBABC, Wills & Estates Conference 2019: Tackling Challenging Issues in Estate Law, September 2019.
Presenter, “How to test for Testamentary Capacity: A Demonstration”, Trial Lawyers Association of BC, Estate & Family Law Summit, April 2019.
Co-Presenter, “Considerations When Choosing Your Decision-Makers”, Pacific Business & Law Institute ‎Conference, Cross-Border Estate Planning 2019, March 2019.‎
Co-Presenter, “Death in the Digital Age: Dealing with Digital Assets and Intangible Property on Death”, Estate Planning Council of Vancouver, Feb 2019
Presenter, “The Trust as a Challenged Asset in Family Law Claims”, CLEBC Conference, Estate Litigation Update 2018, November 2018
Presenter, "Administration of Estates under WESA", Pacific Business & Law Institute Conference, The WESA Effect: Where Are We Now?, Sept 2018
Co-Presenter, “Death in the Digital Age: Dealing with Digital Assets and Intangible Property on Death”, CBABC Wills & Trusts (Vancouver) Section, Jan 2018
Presenter, “Alter Ego and Joint Partner Trusts and the LTO - How to deal with title”, CLEBC Conference, Estate Planning Express, Apr 2017
Presenter, “Responsibility for Death”, Pacific Business & Law Institute Conference, Complex Issues in Estate Administration, Jan 2017
Co-Presenter, “Probate Practice and Pitfalls”, Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), Jan 2017
Co-Presenter, “Multiple Wills – Planning and Administration”,CLEBC Conference, Estate Planning Update, Oct 2016
Co-Presenter, “Ensuring you have the appropriate trustee”, Pacific Business & Law Institute Conference, Trusts 2016: Using Trusts Effectively, June 2016

Media Mentions

Quoted, "How to include charitable giving in your will – and why the recipient is not the only one who benefits," The Globe and Mail, October 7, 2024
Interview, "In the Spotlight," Continuing Legal Education Society, June 2020
Quoted, "Give away wealth now, or later," Advisor.ca, January 11, 2015

Community Involvement

Board Member, Island Pacific School, 2011 - 2014
Board Member, Cottage Farm Centre for Mental Health Recovery Society, 2008 - 2014
Board Member, Bowen Island Preschool and Daycare Society, 2000 - 2002
Board Member, Bowen Island Family Place Society, 1998-2000

Memberships And Affiliations