Addressing the Challenges of the Estate Solicitor's Practice in 2024

I had the great pleasure of co-chairing Day Two of the Law Society of Ontario’s 27th Estates and Trusts Summit last week. My co-chair was the brilliant Cate Grainger of Harrison Pensa LLP.

Whereas Day One of the summit focused on estates, trusts, and capacity/elder law litigation, Day Two’s focus was the estate solicitor’s practice, including estate planning, estate administration, and advising estate trustees, guardians and attorneys for property and personal care.

As the population ages, the demand for lawyers skilled in Estates, Trusts, and Elder law is growing. According to an Ontario government report Demographic Trends and Projections 2024 the number of seniors in the province will continue to increase rapidly into the 2030s. People are living longer. Baby boomers are now aged 59 to 78 and, as time goes on, an increasing proportion of them will be 65 plus.

All of this means that the demands on Estates and Trusts practitioners is greater and more complex than ever. Although this creates more room for potential error by solicitors, it also creates an opportunity for solicitors to proactively practice elder law in a way that maximizes older persons' autonomy and prevents future problems such as elder abuse, misuse of powers of attorney, and family disputes.

With that in mind our day started with an update on case law and other developments, with Goddard Gamage LLP partner Jordan Korn being one of the presenters. We moved on to tax issues, specifically trust reporting rules and planning in light of the new federal budget. We then turned our attention to the question: what does an estate trustee or guardian do with complex assets, such as illegal items, firearms, farms and where there is evidence of crimes? The morning concluded with a discussion of the perils of joint ownership.

Our afternoon was no less substantial. The first session was on the intersection of Family and Estates Law for divorcing or divorced parents with a disabled child. (I have written a five-part series on this fascinating and difficult area, entitled "Legal Issues for Minors and Adult 'Children' with Disabilities". You will find the first of the series here and can go from there through the remaining four parts.)

The next session addressed some of the complexities of an estate practice in today’s world, with blended families, gender fluidity, gender reassignment surgery, globalization and more. From there we discussed complex capacity issues regarding granting and acting under powers of attorney. We closed on the subject of retainer letters in unusual or complex estate matters.

It was quite the day - wide-ranging and engaging. I want to thank every one of the presenters - all of whom were generous with their insights and expertise, not to mention their time - for making the day such a success. I also want to thank my co-chair Cate who is a joy and inspiration to work with. Finally, thank you to the Law Society of Ontario for acknowledging the vital and growing importance of this area of law, and to the LSO staff who are instrumental in pulling off a program of this scope.