Best Lawyers in British Columbia, Canada for Trusts and Estates
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Rose’s deep and abiding care for her clients and their families is a hallmark of her practice. Rose is brings more than 15 years of experience to her practice, which is primarily focused on assisting families and businesses with their planning, succession and reorganization, estate, and business needs. She strives to make life’s inevitabilities, death and taxes, less daunting a topic for clients while being alert to the complications these raise from a legal, family, tax, probate ...
Amy acts as litigation counsel on highly complex estate and trust matters, and in contested committeeship matters. She is also a mediator, assisting other counsel and parties in resolving all manner of estate and trust litigation. Amy’s strong legal skills are balanced with her empathetic but practical approach to what are oftentimes highly emotionally charged files. She excels at identifying opportunities and obtaining results for our clients. Amy’s clients include: Executors &am...
Aaron Pearl is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Trusts and Estates. Aaron, who practices law in Vancouver, British Columbia, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Aaron is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
As the managing partner of one of Western Canada’s largest law firms, Emily’s leadership and strategic vision ensures that Clark Wilson delivers excellent service to our clients across Canada and around the globe. She is consistently recognized by her peers across the country as a Best Lawyer® in Canada for Trusts and Estates, and is a repeatedly recommended lawyer by Lexpert. Emily has been lead litigation counsel on cases at all levels of Court. She has acted as counsel in c...
A. Brent Kerr KC is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Tax Law and Trusts and Estates. A. Brent, who practices law in Vancouver, British Columbia, has been recognized since 2020. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which A. Brent is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Riley Burr's practice largely focuses on commercial tax work. Riley also advises clients on GST, PST and property transfer tax issues in the corporate, charitable and real estate sectors, both in structuring designed to minimize taxes as well as in handling administrative appeals, ruling requests and voluntary disclosures relating to such taxes. Riley also works with high-net-worth individuals with significant private company interests in a wide variety of industries to structure their affair...
David Thompson received a B.Comm (1979) and LLB (1983) from the University of British Columbia. He was called to the bar in 1984 and has practiced exclusively in taxation matters since 1985. David is a registered trust and estate practitioner certified by the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. David was a governor of the Canadian Tax Foundation. David is noted as a leading Canadian tax lawyer based on peer-review ratings in Lexpert and in Martindale Hubell. He is noted as a leading Ca...
Polly is a partner practicing in the areas of Estates & Trusts and Elder Law. She regularly assists clients in resolving contentious estate, trust, and elder law issues involving significant and emotional personal matters, and with estate and incapacity planning to provide certainty and peace of mind for the future. She has appeared before the Courts in British Columbia and before the Supreme Court of Canada. Polly excels in providing thorough and detailed analysis of complex legal issues...
Zachary is a full-service solicitor and litigator, practicing in the areas of Wills, Estates & Trusts; Charities and Not-for-Profits; and Elder/Adult Guardianship Law. Zachary assists clients in preparing estate and incapacity plans and in the administration of estates of deceased individuals. His estate planning clients range from young professionals looking to establish their first foundational estate plan, to retired individuals looking to ensure that their estate plans are probate fee...
Stephen is a Vancouver-based lawyer who specializes in charities law and estate planning. Stephen provides advice and services to all clients – charities, not-for-profit organizations, foundations, boards, schools, social entrepreneurs, individuals, families, and business owners – in the following areas: Charities Law: Incorporation, Charitable Registration, Board Governance, Compliance and Tax, and Gift Planning. Estate Planning: Wills, Incapacity Planning, Trusts, Business Succe...
Mediation gives people more control over the outcome of their disputes and provides privacy over what are often highly sensitive issues for the parties involved. Many people do not fully realize the lack of control one faces at trial nor do people understand the truly public nature of the courthouse. As a mediator, Diane helps clients overcome legal challenges in a fair and efficient manner. She manages emotions and expectations, and, by engaging in an active risk analysis, she helps to achie...
Annie Chen is a wills, estates, trusts and corporate lawyer in Vancouver advising clients on wealth management, estate planning and personal and corporate tax planning. Annie works collaboratively with clients and their advisors and focuses on providing creative, practical and cost-effective personal planning and corporate planning structures to meet clients’ planning/succession needs and objectives while minimizing risks and taxes. A trusted advisor to personal and corporate clients, i...
Catherine practices in estate and trust planning, as well as estate administration. She focuses on personal estate and business succession planning and advises on matters such as: wealth preservation, probate minimization and incapacity planning. Catherine’s background in tax also equips her to navigate various income tax and regional real estate tax issues and to provide comprehensive solutions that complement her extensive background in estates and corporate law. She works with accoun...
Amanda provides advice in the areas of wealth management, estate planning, charity, and not-for-profit law. She advises clients on wills, trusts, powers of attorney, family business succession planning, and corporate re-organizations. Amanda also advises on the establishment, tax compliance, governance, and regulation of charities and not-for- profit organizations. She also assists financial institutions with issues pertaining to administering estate assets, registered and non-registered acco...
Sarah Fitzpatrick’s practice focuses on the areas of charities and not-for-profits. She provides general advice to these clients, to assist them in carrying out their missions and mandates. Sarah counsels charities and not-for-profit clients on governance matters, tax and regulatory compliance, social enterprise and gift planning. She also assists clients with general corporate legal matters including major business contracts, transactions and restructuring. Sarah's practice is recogniz...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.