From the first conversation, you’ll understand your options and what it will take to move forward.

Losing a family member is hard enough without a legal dispute on top of it. Estate litigation cuts through grief, money, and family history all at once, and that combination is what makes it different from any other kind of civil work.

We aim for clean resolution over courtroom theatre. That means we move toward strategic negotiation and mediation wherever we can, and we move quickly to formal proceedings when we have to. The goal isn’t to drain the estate or burn the family. The goal is a fair result for your family, reached without unnecessary time or expense.

The estate litigation process

Stage	What we do	What you do
1. Confidential intake	Review the history, the documents, and the strength of your position. Tell you honestly what we see.	Share the family history and the relevant documents.
2. Strategic evaluation	Map your options, the financial exposures or recoveries, and a clear budget framework.	Decide on the path forward.
3. Evidence compilation	Gather the medical, financial, and witness evidence that supports your position.	Help us reach the people and the records we need.
4. Resolution	Negotiate, mediate, or litigate to a fair, binding outcome under Ontario law.	Review and approve final terms before anything is signed.

The kinds of disputes we handle

Will challenges

A person has the right to leave their estate however they choose, within limits. Ontario law sets a narrow set of grounds for challenging a will. A will can’t be set aside just because a family member feels the distribution was unfair.

The narrow grounds we work with:

• Lack of testamentary capacity. To make a valid will, a person must understand what a will does and what it means to sign one. They need to know, in general terms, what they own and what they owe, understand who might have a claim on their estate, and be free of any mental illness that would prevent them from grasping the decision they are making. When these conditions aren’t met, often due to advanced dementia or cognitive decline at the time the will was signed, the will’s validity can be challenged.
• Undue influence. A caregiver, friend, or relative used pressure, isolation, or manipulation so overwhelming that the will no longer reflects what the deceased wanted, but what the influencer wanted instead.
• Suspicious circumstances. Fraud, forged signatures, last-minute alterations, or other concerns about how the document was executed.

Executor disputes and removal

An executor is a fiduciary, with strict legal duties to the estate and to the beneficiaries. Executors who break those duties (by refusing to communicate, mismanaging assets, taking too long, or using estate funds for personal benefit) can be held accountable.

We act for beneficiaries and co-executors in disputes that include:

• Forced accounting. Requiring an uncooperative executor to lay out the books, line by line, before a court.
• Asset protection. Freezing accounts or properties where there’s risk of dissipation.
• Removal. Petitioning the court to remove an unfit or dishonest executor and appoint a replacement.

Dependants’ relief claims

Under Ontario’s Succession Law Reform Act, a person has to make adequate provision for their dependants. Dependants can include a spouse (married or common-law), a child, a grandchild, or a parent the deceased was supporting at the time of death.

If a will leaves a dependant out, or leaves them with too little, the court can override the will and carve out a portion of the estate for ongoing support. This matters especially for common-law spouses, who don’t automatically inherit under Ontario’s intestacy rules if their partner dies without a will.

Contested guardianship applications

When an adult loved one can no longer manage their own affairs and there’s no valid power of attorney, the court appoints a guardian. These applications are routine when the family is aligned. When they aren’t, they become contested guardianship litigation.

We act on:

• Guardianship of Property. Managing bank accounts, real estate, and investments, along with day-to-day matters like paying bills and applying for benefits, for someone who can’t.
• Guardianship of Person. Personal care decisions, including health care and medical treatment, living arrangements, nutrition, clothing, hygiene, and safety.

The priority is always the wellbeing of the person who can’t decide for themselves. The work is to get there with as little family damage as possible.

Critical Ontario deadlines

• Executor’s year. Executors are generally given a year from the date of death to administer the estate before beneficiaries can compel distributions or a formal accounting. This isn’t a strict deadline, though — more complex estates often take longer to settle properly.
• Dependants’ relief. A claim under the Succession Law Reform Act has to be filed within 6 months from the date probate is granted.
• Limitations Act. Most civil estate claims, asset disputes, and will challenges have to start within 2 years of the date the claim was discovered.