TORONTO OTTAWA ONTARIO ESTATE WILL TRUST TRUSTEE EXECUTOR BENEFICIARY LITIGATION LAWYERS COUNSEL LAW FIRM

WE PROVIDE SOLUTIONS TO EXECUTOR, BENEFICIARY, POWER OF ATTORNEY & GUARDIANSHIP DISPUTES

While Canadians having more wealth than ever before is clearly a good thing, that good thing may unfortunately be leading to more and more legal disputes arising over estates, powers of attorney (POA), and guardianships. We help solve those disputes through negotiation and litigation, including seeking favourable rulings from trial and appellate courts on contentious estate, POA and guardianship issues.

We have access to collaborative professional experts like accountants and medical doctors who may be necessary to produce the evidence required to convince a court of the "justice" of a case. You’re going to need both the facts and law on your side to win. The number one mistake litigants need to avoid is underestimating the time, effort and resources necessary to bring an estate, POA or guardianship case to a successful conclusion. Make that mistake, and you could wind up deep into a legal dispute without the wherewithal to finish it. We carefully assess case prospects very early in the solicitor-client relationship so that clients can make well-informed decisions about how to best achieve their objectives.

We Respect All Referrals

Estate solicitors refer their estate, POA and guardianship disputes to us where we would only handle the dispute part for the client, with the solicitor maintaining the client for all other purposes.

We Offer a Complimentary Case Evaluation

We’ll look at the information you initially provide to us including your documents without charge in order to tell you if we believe we would be able to help you, including whether you have some prospect of legal success in your case. While this can’t be a formal detailed legal opinion on your case which could require legal work spanning weeks or months of time, it will hopefully give you a sense of whether we are a law firm you’d like to work with, and the basics of developing a legal services plan to help you with your business dispute situation. In very complex cases, we might suggest a more formal paid consultation or legal opinion be prepared for you.

No Travel Charges in GTA and Eastern Ontario & Reduce Charges Elsewhere

We’re conveniently based between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, and always welcome clients coming out to meet with us in person. We generally don’t charge for any required travel time or disbursements in the Greater Toronto Area and Eastern Ontario for estate litigation and dispute resolution, and pass on our lower overhead saving to our clients with lower legal services rates than are often the norm in big cities with higher overheads, though post-pandemic estate litigation and dispute resolution has become a hybrid of remote and in-person practices. For matters else in Nothern and South-Western Ontario we reduce travel charges to a minimal level.

WE DEAL WITH ALL 3 CLASSES OF ESTATE, POA & GUARDIANSHIP DISPUTES: INTERPRETATION, MANAGEMENT & CAPACITY/INFLUENCE

We find estate, POA and guardianship disputes tend to fall into one or more of three classes:

  1. Interpretation - of the meaning and intentions of the drafter of documents like a last will and testament or POA;

  2. Management - of assets being administered by an estate trustee, attorney for property or guardian;

  3. Capacity & Influence - of the testator or giver of the POA at the time wills or powers of attorney were executed.

Sometimes we are retained by the person in control of the assets and administration being questioned. At other times, our clients are those challenging the appropriateness of interpretation, management, capacity or influence. Regardless of which side of the property dispute line you’re on, early legal advice is the best way to minimize costs and speed resolution. Estate, POA and guardianship disputes have unique litigation aspects in being very factually driven (what did the drafter of that document intend when alive or with capacity, where did those assets go or what were they worth, what was the mental capacity at a time a document was executed), and emotionally charged (because it is usually family members and close friends who become involved in such disputes). 

COMBINING NEGOTIATIONS & LITIGATION MAY WORK BEST TO SOLVES THESE DISPUTES

We find a combination of negotiation settlement techniques and litigation in court process advocacy, which mixes compelling factual presentations (through affidavits, documentary exhibits, oral evidence, and expert reports) with legal argument (through written facta and oral submissions) is most likely to win the day. A combined negotiate/litigate approach tends to achieve the best results in the least time for the most reasonable expenditure of resources. 

It can be a serious error to take an only negotiate never litigate approach based on the assumption that a dispute can be quickly and amicably resolved without any court involvement; it may be worth a try at early stages, but if negotiations bog down you may need an alternative means of making progress. However, it can be an equally serious error to assume that negotiated solutions are futile and that all court disputes must be fought out to the bitter end.

THE MOST COMMON TYPES OF ESTATE, POA & GUARDIANSHIP DISPUTES WE RESOLVE

The issues that we may be able to resolve through either negotiation and/or litigation include:

  • acting for executors to defend a will in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against claims by beneficiaries and others;

  • applications to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to interpret wills or trusts where the language used in them is unclear, there are multiple wills, overlapping wills, conflicting wills or complex wills drafted in multiple jurisdictions;

  • allegations of undue influence, suspicious circumstances, lack of proper execution, fraud, forgery, or lack of capacity that may invalidate a will, trust or POA;

  • executor and trustee compensation levels;

  • the value of estate or trust assets;

  • executor or trustee performance;

  • applications to be appointed a guardian, to remove a guardian, or for an accounting of guardian administration of assets;

  • acting for executors, attorneys and guardians to pass accounts in Superior Court;

  • partition and sale court applications to sever joint ownership of real property;

  • court applications to remove an executor, estate trustee, attorney for property or guardian;

  • dependant support claims pursuant to Part V of the Succession Law Reform Act;

  • unjust enrichment and constructive trust claims;

  • Quantum Meruit claims where the deceased promised a future action or payment to an individual, on which basis the individual performed an action, and the promise by the deceased was not satisfied;

  • elections pursuant to s. 5(2) of the Family Law Act;

  • claims pursuant to s. 44 (liquidated claim) and s. 45 (unliquidated claim) of the Estates Act;

  • solicitor's negligence claims arising from will or trust drafting‚ improper execution, failure to ascertain capacity, failure to complete in a timely manner, and misadministration of assets

THE VALUE WE OFFER IN ESTATE LITIGATION FEES

Charles Dickens in his preface to Bleak House wrote:

At the present moment (August, 1853) there is a suit before the court which was commenced nearly twenty years ago, in which from thirty to forty counsel have been known to appear at one time, in which costs have been incurred to the amount of seventy thousand pounds, which is A FRIENDLY SUIT, and which is (I am assured) no nearer to its termination now than when it was begun.

That converts to $13,813,703.32 Canadian dollars in today’s money! And he really was writing about a true pending before the courts estate litigation matter, where those UK courts are strikingly similar to Canada’s courts.

Thus with two centuries of history of legal fees risking exceeding values of estates, the firm is very mindful of estate, POA or guardianship litigation costs not outweighing the value those fees represent in arriving at a just conclusion to any dispute. While the unpredictability of responses by the other parties to litigation means the firm must charge hourly rates for such work, we strive to manage our costs and disbursements by utilizing the most modern technology available, being very familiar with the areas of law practiced, and understanding the practicalities of bringing disputes to a cost-effective final resolution either through negotiated agreement or court-imposed final judgment.

The firm does not charge for travel time or disbursements on estate, POA of guardianship disputes anywhere in Eastern Ontario or the Greater Toronto Area, and minimize costs elsewhere in Ontario. We utilize the most efficient and appropriate staff members available - be they law clerks, junior lawyers or senior lawyers - to the type of legal tasks required to advance client matters. We are always cognizant of moving cases forward rather than having them stuck in a holding pattern if fees are being expended dealing with them.

We welcome any enquiries potential clients might have about our fees, and will always confirm them in advance by way of a written retainer agreement. Some clients may find our fees very competitive as we can offer extensive experience, mobility and responsive communication without big-city downtown overheads.

THE ESTATE LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION LAWYERS

Gordon S. Campbell as the firm's Senior Barrister has been solving disputes for 30 years, successfully litigating contentious cases in French and English as high as the Supreme Court of Canada. He commenced his barrister practice on Toronto’s Bay Street, and continues to regularly appear throughout Ontario before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Divisional Court, and Court of Appeal for Ontario on trial and appellate matters. He also argues cases at the level of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Matthew MacLean as the firm's Senior Solicitor provides expertise on the administration of estates and trusts.

The firm’s clients also benefit from a team of experienced law clerks and other staff who support the work of the lawyers in advancing client interests.