With 40 years of law practice under my belt, I know that clients involved in estates are usually overwhelmed. Almost nobody has been an executor before and yet here they are, suddenly in charge of looking after money, property and legal documents. I also know that reliable, up-to-date, accurate information about estates, wills, powers of attorney and elder law is surprisingly tough to find. As well, it tends to be pretty general and hard to apply to a specific situation. On this stream, I talk about the topics I've encountered repeatedly with my clients and my seminars. I hope the notes will be useful for people like you who are looking for information you can understand and trust. I think you'll find that here.

Why should you trust my information? Well, here goes. I was the chairperson of the Wills and Estates section of the Bar Admission Course for the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador for four years. I taught the will planning and drafting sessions. 

I was the reviewer for Newfoundland and Labrador of Solnik, Gillingham & Kiva, Drafting Wills in Canada: A Lawyer’s Practical Guide, 3rd Edition, LexisNexis, 2021.

I was a Course Facilitator (online teacher) for the Legal Writing, Legal Research and Legal Drafting sections of the Alberta Bar Admission Course for more than 10 years.

 I was the editor of MC², the national magazine of Mensa Canada, from 2017 to 2022.

I was the host of “The Law Show”, a weekly radio program on VOCM Radio in 2017 and 2018.

 I wrote a blog on estate-related matters at http://estatelawcanada.blogspot.com/ between 2009 and 2022 that generated more than 9 million views.

I have been interviewed about estate-related matters by CPAC, BNN, CityTV, Global TV (Edmonton and Vancouver), CBC Radio (Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, and Cape Breton), and VOCM Radio. I have had articles published in the Wall Street Journal, the Globe and Mail, the Edmonton Journal, the Vancouver Province, the Toronto Star, the Montreal Gazette, The Telegram, Maclean’s Magazine, Newfoundland Quarterly Magazine, Today’s Parent Magazine, Succession Planning Magazine, Canadian Lawyer Magazine, Cottage Magazine, Advisor’s Edge Magazine, Momstown Magazine, Caregiver Solutions Magazine, Sage Magazine, and numerous websites.

 If you want to ask me a question that is specific to your situation, feel free to email me at estatelawcanada@mail.com. I'll address the issues you raise. I will never give legal advice in a blog post because that would simply not be safe for you (or for me) but I will give you an opinion and a rundown of the law that addresses your issue. I'll try to steer you in the direction you need to go. Otherwise, if you're simply interested in the topics, please stroll through the stream and enjoy the notes. I'll always be interested in readers' comments, too!