Best Lawyers in Canada for Trusts and Estates

Clare Burns is a senior trusts and estates litigator. She served as the Children's Lawyer for the Province of Ontario from 2003 to 2008 pursuant to an Order-in-Council appointment. As the Children's Lawyer, Clare's office was responsible to investigate, advocate, protect and represent persons under the age of 18 in proceedings before the courts and tribunals of Ontario. In this role, she supervised more than 11,000 cases including variations of trust, will challenges, passings of accounts, gu...

Wendy Griesdorf was called to the Ontario Bar in 1995 and has practised exclusively in estate litigation and mediation for over 30 years. She has been certified as a specialist in estates and trusts by the Law Society of Ontario for over 20 years.. Wendy is a retired deputy judge of the small claims court and retired sessional faculty of Queen's. Most of Wendy's current practice consists of acting as a mediator for estate disputes and acting as an advocate for charities who become sidelined i...

Justin is the Principal of de VRIES LITIGATION LLP. Justin was a partner at Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP (now Dentons LLP) and a partner and counsel at Hull & Hull LLP. He is the founder of allaboutestates.ca; a popular collaborative blog on estate and trust matters. Justin is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), the Advocates’ Society, the Estate Planning Council of Toronto, and the Estate Planners’ Council of Halton. He has consistently been named ...

Aaron focuses on Wills, Trusts, and Estates. He has extensive experience in estate planning, administration, and dispute resolution. He previously also practiced in business law and real estate law, and he is able to deploy that experience in his Wills, Trust and Estate work. Aaron is a recognized thought leader in the application of The Surrogate Rules and complicated court applications, which helps him generate positive, timely results for his clients. He shares his knowledge with colleague...

Antoine Brosseau Wery is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice areas of Tax Law and Trusts and Estates. Antoine, 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 Antoine is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area. He is a member of the Quebec Bar (2010) and New York State Bar (2013) and specializes in Canadian and ...

Jennifer Searle is a lawyer recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area of Trusts and Estates. Jennifer practices law in Toronto, Ontario Best Lawyers has recognized Jennifer Searle since 2024. The Best Lawyers recognition is based on a peer-review survey of lawyers in the same geographic region and legal practice area. The recognition reflects the professional regard in which Jennifer Searle is held by other lawyers.

Erin is an estate planning and real estate lawyer with 36 years of experience. She maintains a robust practice that covers estate planning, real estate and the probate and administration of estates. Erin’s deep experience in both estate planning and real estate law enables her to prepare tax planned estates with lasting relevance. Estate Planning: Erin advises clients on Wills, Personal Care Directives and Powers of Attorney – all recommended elements of a comprehensive estate pla...

Jenny Underhill is a lawyer recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice areas of Banking and Finance Law, Commercial Leasing Law, Real Estate Law and Trusts and Estates. Jenny practices law in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Best Lawyers has recognized Jenny Underhill since 2023. The Best Lawyers recognition is based on a peer-review survey of lawyers in the same geographic region and legal practice area. The recognition reflects the professional regard in which Jenny Underhill is held by other lawyers.

Jules Charette practises tax law. He regularly advises businesses, developers, public bodies and financial institutions on the tax aspects of financings, mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, executive compensation and international transactions. Mr. Charette also represents taxpayers in disputes with the tax authorities. In addition, he advises individuals on estate planning, which has led him to develop expertise in trusts and estates. Mr. Charette is co-chair of our Canadian tax team ...

Joel Goldman is a lawyer recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice areas of Tax Law and Trusts and Estates. Joel practices law in Montréal, Quebec Best Lawyers has recognized Joel Goldman since 2022. The Best Lawyers recognition is based on a peer-review survey of lawyers in the same geographic region and legal practice area. The recognition reflects the professional regard in which Joel Goldman is held by other lawyers.

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...

Brian Cohen is a partner and lawyer in Gowling WLG’s global Private Client Services Group. Based in Toronto, he assists clients in the areas of estate planning, trusts and personal taxation, with a focus on advising high net worth individuals on succession planning alternatives. Brian also advises donors, charitable organizations, public and private foundations, and not-for-profit organizations regarding the tax implications of formation, registration, governance and planned giving stra...

Nimali has had a long-held interest in issues relating to health, disability and aging. Yet after graduating from law school in 1999, she articled at a full-service firm where there was little exposure to the issues that interested her. She was so disillusioned with the practise of law at that time that she thought she might leave it all together to become a VJ at Much Music (which seemed like a reasonable exit strategy at the time). Fortunately for Nimali and her future clients, she did not ...

David M. Lobl is a partner and litigation lawyer in Gowling WLG’s global Private Client Services Group. Based in Toronto, his practice is focused on litigious estate, trust and capacity matters, including estate administration, fiduciary, estate and capacity litigation and alternative dispute resolution. Recognized for his trusts and estates expertise by the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory and Best Lawyers in Canada, David represents trust companies, government agencies, guardians of p...

Howard’s practice focuses on estate litigation, in-person and online mediation and arbitration of estates disputes, and all aspects of estate planning and administration. In addition to a busy estate litigation and mediation practice, Howard advises on wills and powers of attorney to middle and high net-worth individuals. Howard is passionate about the law. He has been Adjunct Professor of the Estates and Estate Litigation courses at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto since 1992, and ha...

Christopher Steeves is the Leader of the firm’s Tax group. Frequently advising Canadian businesses in corporate restructurings and acquisitions, Christopher also assists with income tax aspects of complex domestic and cross-border financings, and financial instruments including derivatives, securities lending and collective investment funds. With expertise in transfer pricing and the resolution of disputes with Canadian tax authorities, Christopher has worked with clients and advisors o...