Real Estate

I will assume carriage of your legal requirements for buying or selling residential real estate:

• from the moment when the transaction commences with the negotiation of a private Agreement of Purchase and Sale or
• from the moment after the transaction has already progressed to a firmed-up, realtor-brokered Agreement of Purchase and Sale
• thru to transaction closing and transaction post-closing matters (inclusive of paying out and discharging mortgages for sellers and reporting in writing to buyers and sellers enclosing the complete range of transaction documentation)
• whether the transaction involves a newly constructed home or a resale home
• whether the transaction involves a condominium property (townhome or highrise unit) or a freehold property (townhome, semi-detached home, or detached home)
• whether you are a first-time buyer or an existing owner selling and buying
• whether mortgage financing for buyers is underwritten by a private or an institutional lender
• where your purchase contemplates bridge financing in the event that your purchase closing predates your sale closing
• where your purchase obliges title insurance and property (fire & third party liability) insurance

Wills & Estates

I will attend to your legal requirements for privatized contingency planning around death and mental incapacity:

• advising you on succession planning and drafting your Will (effective the date you die), thereby ensuring that your private wishes will prevail regarding the appointment of estate trustees and the transfer of estate property on your death to named beneficiaries (instead of in accordance with various modes of unintended overriding government intervention; eg., Public Guardian, intestate law, tax law)
• advising you on substitute decision-making and drafting your Power of Attorney for Property and your Power of Attorney for Personal Care (both effective the date you sign where attorney powers will typically be exercised in the event of your subsequent mental incapacity), thereby ensuring that your private wishes will prevail regarding the appointment of attorneys (usually your spouse or adult children) who will decide what will happen to your property and person while you are still alive (instead of in accordance with various modes of unintended overriding government intervention; eg., Public Guardian)

I will attend to your legal requirements in your capacity as estate trustee in the administration of a deceased person’s estate:

• whether the deceased person died with a will (testate) or without a will (intestate)
• advising you whether probate of the deceased person’s Will would be necessary (which would involve an application to the Superior Court of Justice for a court-issued Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee inclusive of payment of probate tax)
• advising you as to which assets of the deceased person will transfer to successor owners:
  1. under the deceased person’s Will (and therefore be subject to probate tax in the event of probate) or
  2. outside the deceased person’s Will, under the deceased person’s RRSPs/RRIFs or life insurance policies or TFSAs or by right of survivorship in respect of jointly owned bank accounts, real estate, and other assets
• completing the Ontario Ministry of Finance’s mandatory Estate Information Return following issue by the court of the Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee
• advising you on, and actioning as required, other estate administration issues (inclusive of estate accounting, conversion of fixed assets to cash, advertising for creditors, payment of various government taxes and other estate debts, distribution to beneficiaries of cash legacies and estate residue, passing of accounts, etc.)

Separation & Divorce

I will attend to your legal requirements for negotiating binding and enforceable terms of a Separation Agreement with a separating (married or common law) spouse (who will ordinarily be represented by an independent lawyer), addressing issues (concurrent with or independent of court proceedings) consequent upon the breakdown of the marriage or common law relationship, inclusive of:

• child custody (whether sole, joint, split, or shared) and child access
• child support (table support & special expenses)
• spousal support (compensatory & non-compensatory)
• property division (equalization of net family properties or unequal division between married spouses; compensation for unjust enrichment or constructive trust transfers between common law spouses)
• divorce (between married spouses) where the Separation Agreement would contemplate an application to the Superior Court of Justice for an uncontested divorce order dissolving the marriage (subsequent to the signing of the Separation Agreement)

Civil Litigation

I will assume carriage of your legal requirements in court proceedings in the event that a dispute arises between you and another private party which cannot be resolved by the parties without court intervention. I represent plaintiffs (applicants) or defendants (respondents) in court proceedings with an Ontario venue, whether conducted out of the Court of Justice, the Superior Court of Justice, the Divisional Court, or the Court of Appeal, involving:

• contract breaches (when residential real estate transactions go sour)
• will challenges, dependant relief claims, and other estates-related challenges
• claims for child custody & support, spousal support, and property division