Best Lawyers in Canada for Trusts and Estates
Pia Hundal is a partner in Robins Appleby LLP's Litigation and Dispute Resolution group, with a practice that focuses on estate, trust and guardianship litigation, including will challenges, will interpretation, passing of accounts applications, dependent’s support claims, power of attorney disputes, guardianship disputes, various trust litigation and alternative dispute resolution, including mediation advocacy. Pia earned a Masters of Law in Dispute Resolution from Osgoode Hall Law Sch...
Barrie Hayes graduated from the University of Windsor Faculty of Law in 1979 and has been serving clients throughout Simcoe County for more than four decades. Based in Barrie, Ontario, Barrie practises in the areas of Family Law, Trusts and Estates, and estates litigation. He assists individuals and families with a wide range of legal matters, including separation and divorce, parenting and support issues, estate disputes, and elder law matters. In addition to his legal practice, Barrie is a ...
Gail Black’s tax-based private client services practice focuses on trusts and estate planning and administration including Wills, substitute decision-making, various trusts, charitable planning and probate matters. As an active member of both the BC and Alberta Law Societies, she also advises on cross-provincial estate planning and administration matters. Working with US counsel, she assists clients on the tax-effective planning and administration of estates with US components including...
Rebecca Studin is a partner at de VRIES LITIGATION LLP. Before joining the firm, Rebecca practised estates and commercial litigation at a full-service international law firm in Toronto. Rebecca acts for clients in respect of a broad range of estates matters, including will challenges, will interpretation and rectification applications, contested guardianship and power of attorney disputes, complex probate applications, and contested passings of accounts. Rebecca obtained her law degree from O...
Andrew Bateman is Miller Thomson’s Leader of Corporate Tax. His practice covers a broad spectrum of taxation law, with a current focus on planning and dispute resolution for private corporations, trusts and other entities. Andrew has extensive experience in public and private corporate transactions and reorganizations, tax dispute resolution and litigation, trust and estate matters, First Nation taxation and goods and services tax. As a sought-after speaker and writer, Andrew provides i...
Suzana Popovic-Montag is the Managing Partner of Hull & Hull LLP, who practices exclusively in the areas of estates, trusts, capacity and fiduciary litigation. She also maintains a specialized mediation practice through Hull Estate Mediation Inc., focusing on pre-death and post-death estate resolutions. Suzana has an LL.B. from the University of Western Ontario and an Honours B.A. from Wilfrid Laurier University. She received mediation training at Harvard Law School. Suzana was called to ...
Rahul Sharma advises international and Canadian clients on a variety of tax, trust, and estate planning matters. He is particularly experienced with cross-border and international trust and estate matters, as well as matters involving offshore or non-resident trusts with ties to Canada. Rahul also counsels high net-worth individuals, as well as corporations, trusts and estates on Canadian income tax matters, including succession planning for closely held businesses. As part of his practice, R...
Isabelle P. Mercure is a partner and a member of our Business transactions and Tax law groups. Her practice focuses mainly on corporate law, trust law, and tax law. Ms. Mercure has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganizations (intergenerational transfers), integrating shareholders, protecting assets, as well as tax and estate planning. She is called upon to negotiate and draft various business agreements, including shareholder and partnership agreements, in the ...
Kelly Charlebois is a tenacious advocate who specializes in estates and trusts litigation. She persuasively and effectively advances her clients’ interests and achieves positive and cost-effective results for them in a broad range of areas. Kelly's clients praise her strategic approach to handling their files. Kelly has particular expertise in matters relating to estates, trusts, and fiduciary and capacity-related proceedings. Kelly has successfully represented individuals, institutions...
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...
Hugo Patenaude is recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Tax Law and Trusts and Estates. Hugo, who practices law in Montréal, Quebec, has been recognized since 2027. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Hugo is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Marc-Olivier Plante is a member of our tax team. His practice encompasses all tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions, corporate financing, business reorganizations and international transactions. He also handles matters relating to estate planning and transfers of family businesses. Mr. Plante also assists a wide array of taxpayers in disputes with the tax authorities, particularly in income tax and consumer tax matters. He also advises taxpayers in connection with voluntary disclosures and ...
Tara Britnell is the Co-Chair of the Estate and Trust Litigation department. She assists clients with the complete range of complex and challenging estate and trust cases, including undue influence and capacity claims, adult guardianship, construction and variation of wills and trusts, contentious estate administrations, and the identification and prevention of elder abuse. Tara’s clients include executors, trustees, beneficiaries, people disappointed in a Will and those concerned about...
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.
