Wills & Estates Lawyer in Scarborough & Toronto

What's Included

Our wills & estates practice covers the full scope of work most clients need:

• Last Will and Testament
• Power of Attorney for Property
• Power of Attorney for Personal Care
• Multiple wills (primary + secondary) to reduce EAT
• Testamentary trusts
• Henson trusts (ODSP planning)
• Beneficiary designation review
• Estate planning for blended families

What to Bring

• Government ID
• List of assets and beneficiaries
• Existing wills or POAs
• Marriage / separation / cohabitation status
• Names of executors, attorneys and guardians

Don't have everything ready? Send what you have and we'll guide you through the rest.

Wills & Estate Planning in Scarborough, Toronto & Across the GTA

A modern estate plan does more than name beneficiaries. It coordinates your Will, your Powers of Attorney, your beneficiary designations, your insurance, and your corporate ownership into a single, tax-efficient strategy that protects your family. Our Scarborough wills-and-estates lawyers prepare hundreds of estate plans every year for clients across Toronto, the GTA and Ontario.

The core estate-planning documents

• Last Will and Testament — names your executor, your beneficiaries, and any testamentary trusts for minor children or vulnerable beneficiaries.
• Continuing Power of Attorney for Property — lets a trusted person manage your finances if you lose capacity.
• Power of Attorney for Personal Care — appoints a substitute decision-maker for your health, housing and end-of-life care.
• Multiple Wills — a primary and secondary Will to separate non-probatable assets (private-company shares, certain personal property) from probatable ones, saving Estate Administration Tax.
• Henson Trusts — to protect ODSP eligibility for a beneficiary with disabilities.

Why dying without a Will is so expensive

If you die without a Will in Ontario (called dying "intestate"), the Succession Law Reform Act dictates exactly who gets your estate and in what shares. Common-law partners receive nothing automatically. Your spouse's preferential share is currently $350,000 (for deaths on or after March 1, 2021); anything above that is split with your children. The court must appoint an Estate Trustee, which usually requires a bond. The whole process is slower, more expensive and far more conflict-prone than it needed to be.

Probate planning

Ontario charges Estate Administration Tax of 1.5% on estate value above $50,000. On a $2,000,000 estate, that is roughly $29,250. Multiple Wills, beneficiary designations on registered accounts and life insurance, joint ownership (used carefully and with proper documentation), and inter-vivos trusts can all reduce that tax legally and significantly.

Blended families and second marriages

Blended families are where estate planning earns its keep. Without careful drafting, the standard "all to my spouse, then to my children" Will can quietly disinherit the children of a first marriage. We use spousal trusts, life-interest provisions and clear beneficiary designations to balance both sides of the family.

Have a Will that is more than five years old, or no Will at all? Book a free planning consultation and we'll send you a confidential intake form to complete before we meet.