Growing up, aside from the brief phase where I wanted to be a mechanic (let’s never talk about that), I always dreamed of working in the legal field.

Caring for an aging parent, grandparent, or sibling can be emotionally and financially exhausting. For many people, it means rearranging their lives: attending appointments, managing medications, coordinating care, giving up personal time, or even moving in to help.It is often difficult, deeply personal work, and unfortunately, frequently unpaid.

An Estate Trustee (also known as an Executor) named in a Will is someone that will be responsible for the administration of an estate from start to finish. Choosing the right estate trustee can make estate administration significantly smoother for your loved ones. Choosing the wrong estate trustee can be costly and can delay the estate administration. For this purpose, there are several factors to consider when deciding on who should be the estate trustee of your estate.

Working in Estates law, I have seen countless matters where a person has died without a Will (“intestate”), or their Will was written decades prior to their passing. As such, their Will (or lack thereof) does not accurately reflect their assets upon their death, nor their wishes for the management and distribution of their assets.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, “a person with Alzheimer’s may become suspicious of those around them, even accusing others of theft, infidelity or other improper behaviour”. [1]  Yet, in power of attorney disputes, siblings are often unwilling to consider that the parent’s suspicions about their sibling might be unfounded.

Opening a lawyer’s invoice can feel unfamiliar, with new terms, decimal hours, and detailed line items. This guide is designed to walk you through your invoice so you can review it with confidence and clarity.

For Estates litigators, the date of the Deceased person’s death is perhaps the key piece of information we need to get from a potential client. That date is relevant for many purposes, but the most significant is that it starts a limitation period running. Under section 38(3) of the Trustee Act, most potential claims against a Deceased person become statute barred – in other words, they expire – two years from the date of the death.

When someone you know passes away, there is more to manage than just the impact of their loss. There is a legal process that determines how their finances are handled, debts are paid, and inheritances are distributed. It can feel overwhelming if you’re not familiar with the terminology or steps involved. This guide breaks down the fundamentals of estates in Ontario in way that is easy to understand.

A recent decision from the Toronto Estates List has brought into focus the challenges of acting as Section 3 counsel. In Groves v. Groves, 2026 ONSC 1206 (“Groves”), the applicants, Lori Groves and Mark Groves, sought guardianship over their father, John Groves (“John”), and an Order allowing them to apprehend John from his residence where he lived with the respondent, Lourdes Palmer.

Now that many court appearances can be done virtually, lawyers have more flexibility in the files they can take on. In the past, a simple 15-minute scheduling appearance could mean hours of travel, so we had to be cautious about accepting matters in distant jurisdictions.