Emily Clough

Emily Clough is a partner at Clark Wilson LLP. She is the key contact for Elder Law matters. In 2020, Emily was recognized with the distinction as being one of the Best Lawyers in Canada for Trusts and Estates.

Emily works in all aspects of estates, trusts and incapacity matters, as both a solicitor and a litigator. Emily prepares estate, trust and incapacity planning documents. She assists with the administration of estates and probate. Emily has been lead litigation counsel on cases at all levels of Court regarding estates, variations of wills, trustee duties, power of attorney duties and removal, and elder abuse. She has acted as counsel in cases that have set new precedents in British Columbia, including on wills variation and the incapacity to marry. Her cases have received national coverage by the Globe & Mail and the CBC. In 2019, Emily was recognized as a nominee for the YWCA Women of Distinction Award, recognizing her as a leading elder law practitioner.

Emily volunteers her time to promote and develop the law. Emily is the elected Chair of the British Columbia Law Institute and the Canadian Centre for Elder Law, independent law reform agencies carrying out scholarly research, writing and analysis. Emily is the President of Health Justice, a human rights-focused non-profit organization working to improve BC laws and policies of coercive health care, particularly under the Mental Health Act. Emily is a member-at-large of the CBA National Elder Law Subsection.

Emily volunteers her time to prepare wills and incapacity planning documents for low income seniors, through Access Pro Bono. Emily is the Chair of the Pro Bono program at Clark Wilson. She is a member of the Ethics Committee at Clark Wilson, guiding lawyers on their ethical duties to their clients, the profession, the Courts and the public.

Emily is committed to education, both furthering her own knowledge and providing educational seminars to lawyers and the public. Emily authors chapters for Continuing Legal Education of British Columbia books on estate related matters. Emily presents regularly at conferences, particularly regarding elder law and incapacity matters. She has presented seminars at the Canadian National Elder Law Conference. Emily regularly volunteers and provides seminars to the Alzheimer Society. Emily worked with the Alzheimer’s Society to develop and present a seminar on working with clients with incapacity issues and protecting the rights of vulnerable adults.

Estate & Trust Litigation Services

Litigation involving the Wills Variation Act, the Wills, Estates and Succession Act, testamentary capacity, capacity to marry, capacity to make a gift, undue influence, breaches of trust, trust variation applications, unjust enrichment, resulting trusts and proprietary estoppel

Injunctions to prevent dissipation of assets

Contract and shareholder disputes, including corporate oppression matters, shareholder disputes, rectification of corporate records and mistakes

Estate Planning & Administration Services

Estate planning advice regarding wills, power of attorney instruments, representation agreements, nominations of committee, advance directives and trusts (alter ego trusts, joint spousal trusts, inter vivos trusts)

Estate administration, including probate, administration and passing of accounts

Committeeship/Guardianship Services

Contested and uncontested committeeship applications and trials

Applications regarding whether a person must be forced to undergo involuntary mental capacity assessments