John E. S. Poyser
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts
University of Manitoba
October 1, 1982
Bachelor of Laws
University of Manitoba, Faculty of Law
October 1, 1986
CALLS TO THE BAR
Law Society of Manitoba
1987
Law Society of Alberta
2008
Law Society of Upper Canada
2016
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND LEADERSHIP
Chair of Wills, Estates and Trusts section of the Canadian Bar Association [2006 – 2007]
Co-Chair of Wills and Estates section of the Manitoba Bar Association [2002 – 2004]
Deputy Chair of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners Canada (STEP Canada) [2009 – 2010]
Chair of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners Winnipeg (STEP Winnipeg) [2005 – 2007]
Council Member of STEP Worldwide Council [2013 – 2016]
Chair, The Senior Practitioners Forum – Estate Litigation and Planning, Cambridge Forums (two-day CPD session for estate litigators, peer-selected and invitation only), Spring 2016
Chair, The Senior Practitioners Forum – Estate Litigation and Planning, Cambridge Forums (two-day CPD session for estate litigators, peer-selected and invitation only), Spring 2017
AWARDS
Pro Bono Activity Award, 1995, Manitoba Bar Association
Section Activity Award for Efforts in the Wills and Estates Section, 2004, Manitoba Bar Association
STEP National Founders Award, 2017, The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (Canada)
RELATED SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS From 2010 forward
March 2, 2010 – “Deathbed Wills”, Canadian Bar Association B.C., Vancouver
October 10, 2010 – “Trusts for the Disabled”, Senior Estates and Trusts Practitioners Forum at Langdon Hall, Cambridge, Ontario
October 15, 2010 – “Pass It On – Cottage Succession”, Manitoba Real Estate Association, Winnipeg
November 18, 2010 – “Estate Planning and Litigation: Old Cases, New Tools”, Canadian Bar Association, South Alberta Region, Calgary
April 6 and 7, 2011 – “The Right Will” and “Use of Trusts in Tax and Estate Planning” and “Power of Attorney/Incapacity Issues”, BMO Nesbit Burns, Vancouver
September 27 – 29, 2011 – “The Right Will” and “Use of Trusts in Tax and Estate Planning” and “Power of Attorney/Incapacity Issues”, BMO Nesbit Burns, Toronto (repeat program)
October 16, 2011 – “Practice Issues for Estate Planners”, Senior Estates and Trusts Practitioners Forum at Langdon Hall, Cambridge, Ontario
December 2, 2011 – “Capacity Challenges to Wills and Gifts”, Manitoba Bar Association, Winnipeg
April 17, 2012 – “Capacity Challenges to Wills and Gifts”, Law Society of Saskatchewan, Regina
April 18, 2012 – “Capacity Challenges to Wills and Gifts”, Law Society of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon (repeat program)
April 24, 2012 – “Capacity Challenges to Wills and Gifts”, Law Society of Manitoba, Winnipeg (repeat program)
June 7, 2012 – “The Right Will” and “Use of Trusts in Tax and Estate Planning” and “Power of Attorney/Incapacity Issues”, BMO Nesbit Burns, Calgary
September 8, 2012 – “Planning for Incapacity: Tax and Legal Issues”, Registered Professional Accountants Association Conference in Banff, Alberta
September 27, 2012 – “The Right Will” and “Use of Trusts in Tax and Estate Planning” and “Power of Attorney/Incapacity Issues”, BMO Nesbit Burns, Toronto (repeat program)
October 14, 2012 – “More Practice Issues for Estate Planners” at Senior Estates and Trusts Practitioners Forum at Langdon Hall, Cambridge, Ontario
November 14, 2012 – “Executor School” for the Knowledge Bureau, Naples, Florida
December 3, 2012 – “Eleventh Hour Charitable Giving”, Canadian Bar Association, South Alberta, Charities Section of Wills Section, Calgary
February 7, 2013 – “Maintaining a Safe, Ethical and Profitable Wills Practice” and “Tax Efficient Wills” at Canadian Bar Association Saskatchewan Mid-Winter Meeting, Saskatoon
April 18, 2013 – “Executor School: Preparing your Heirs”, Manulife Private Wealth in Toronto, Ontario
May 9, 2013 – “Executor School: Case Study,” and “Use of Trusts in Tax and Estate Planning” and “Power of Attorney/Incapacity Issues”, BMO Nesbitt Burns, Montreal, Quebec (repeat program)
September 12, 2013 – “Executor School: Case Study” and “Use of Trusts in Tax and Estate Planning” and “Power of Attorney/Incapacity Issues”, for BMO Nesbitt Burns in Caledon, Ontario (repeat program)
October 10, 2013 – “Capacity – Undue Influence and the ‘Doctrine of Righteousness’” for the Canadian Bar Association, Online Professional Development Webinar, National
October 20, 2013 – “Practice Forum for Lawyers: Dealing with Capacity, Testing for Undue Influence, Making Litigation Profitable, Powers of Attorney, Blended Family Planning, and Family Conferences” at Senior Estates and Trusts Practitioners Forum at Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Ontario
November 11, 2013 – “Preservation: Managing Tax Changes in Structuring Family Trusts and Estates” for the Knowledge Bureau in Ojai, California
April 3, 2014 – “Lifetime Benefit Trusts” for RBC seminar, Toronto
April 21, 2014 – “Inter Vivos Gifts” for the Manitoba Bar Association, Winnipeg
May 13, 2014 – “Pleadings and Powers of Attorney: A Practical Warm-Up” at Senior Practitioners’ Forum – Estate Planning & Litigation, at Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Ontario
June 6, 2014 – “Executor School Case Study – What your Clients Need to Know Now” for BMO Nesbitt Burns, Halifax (repeat program)
June 17, 2014 – “The Wolf of Will Street: I Partied like the Favourite Child, Lived as Though I was Entitled to Mom and Dad’s Money, and Barely Survived. The True Story of an Estate Litigation File” for STEP Canada’s 16th National Conference, Toronto
September 8, 2014 – “Testamentary Capacity – New and Best Practices” Webinar for US/Canadian audience of lawyers, for Carswell, Canadian – U.S. webinar.
October 16, 2014 – “Anatomy of an Estate” for the Law Society of Manitoba, Winnipeg
December 8, 2014 – “The Doctrine of Righteousness” for the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (Winnipeg Chapter)
January 22, 2015 – “Anatomy of a Power of Attorney” for the Manitoba Bar Association Midwinter Conference, Winnipeg
February 18, 2015 – “Capacity and Undue Influence” for the British Columbia Wills and Estate Section of the Canadian Bar Association, Kelowna
April 6, 2015 – “Ten Ways to Challenge a Will” for the Estate Planning Council of Winnipeg
April 20, 2015 – “Attacking Wills and Gifts” for the Legal Education Society of Alberta, Spring Refresher, Lake Louise Alberta
April 28, 2015 – “Lawyer vs. Doctor – Roundtable on Assessing Capacity” at Senior Practitioners’ Forum – Estate Planning & Litigation, at Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Ontario
May 20, 2015 – “Favourite Estate Cases – Case Law Review” for the Manitoba Bar Association Wills and Estates Section, Winnipeg
June 9, 2015 – “Protecting Vulnerable Clients During Inter Vivos Transfers of Wealth” for the Alberta Bar Association Wills and Estates Section, Calgary
June 19, 2015 – “Attacking and Protecting Gifts” for the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (Canada), at the 17th National Conference, Toronto
September 10, 2015 – “Determining Capacity and Addressing Undue Influence in Wills” for the Law Society of Upper Canada, Toronto
October 7, 2015 – “Equitable Inter Vivos and Testamentary Undue Influence,” session in the 18th Annual Estates and Trusts Summit for the Law Society of Upper Canada, Toronto
October 29, 2015 – “Capacity and Undue Influence Issues and Charitable Gifting” for The Calgary Foundation Advisor Summit, Calgary
November 18, 2015 – “Helping Clients Suffering Diminished Capacity” for the Financial Planning Standards Council of Canada, Toronto
November 19, 2015 – “Capacity and Undue Influence” for the Vancouver Branch of the CBA Wills Estates and Trusts Section, Vancouver
January 21, 2016 – “Attacking and Defending Joint Tenancies” for the Manitoba Bar Association Midwinter Conference, Winnipeg
January 29, 2016 – “Estate Planning for the Disabled” for Continuity Care, Winnipeg
April 30, 2016 – “Estate Planning for the Disabled” for Community Living Brandon (repeat program)
May 25, 2016 – “Inter Vivos Transactions by Attorneys – Establishing Trusts and Permissible Gifting” for STEP Calgary
June 1, 2016 – “Capacity, Undue Influence Issues, and Charitable Giving” for the Canadian Association of Gift Planners, Advanced Canadian Gift Planning Course, Toronto
June 10, 2016 – “Impact of Limitation Dates and Delay on Applications for Probate” for the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (Canada), at the 18th National Conference, Toronto
August 5, 2016 – “Preventing Wills Litigation” for the Law Society of Manitoba, Portage La Prairie
October 19, 2016 – “Attacking and Protecting Gifts” for STEP Toronto
November 23, 2016 – “Building Relationship Between Gift Planners and Lawyers as Allied Professionals” for The Canadian Association of Gift Planners, Calgary Chapter
February 21, 2017 – “Powers of Attorney and Inherent Dangers of Ill-Advised Schemes” for STEP Winnipeg
March 1, 2017, Chair – “Capacity and Undue Influence”, for the Legal Education Society of Alberta, Edmonton
March 8, 2017 – Chair, “Capacity and Undue Influence”, for the Legal Education Society of Alberta, Calgary (repeat program)
March 16, 2017, “Preventing Wills Litigation” for the Law Society of Manitoba, Winnipeg (repeat program)
April 6, 2017 – “Drafting in a Dangerous Time – Litigation and Planning Traps Arising out of Bad Drafting”, for STEP Atlantic, Nova Scotia
May 29, 2017 – “Questions and Answers – Disabled Planning” for Continuity Care, Winnipeg
October 16, 2017 – “Specialized Forms of Trusts” at Senior Practitioners’ Forum – Estate Planning & Taxation, at Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Ontario
April 23, 2018 – “Capacity Assessment by Lawyers – Practical Demonstration and Roundtable” at Senior Practitioners’ Forum – Estate Litigation and Planning, at Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Ontario
May 7, 2018 – “Estate Litigation” for the Estate Planning Council of Winnipeg
May 28, 2018 – “Powers of Attorney: Good, Bad, and Ugly – Anatomy of a Power of Attorney” for the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (Canada), at the 20th National Conference, Toronto
October 18, 2018 – “The Perfected Gift” (the Anatomy of Gifting), for the Canadian Association of Gift Planners, at the Advanced Canadian Gift Planning Symposium, Ottawa
November 9, 2018 – “Blended Family Estate Planning in a Farm Setting, Considerations for the Drafting Lawyer” for the Western Bar Association of Manitoba, Brandon
January 23, 2019 – “Attacking Powers of Attorney and Representing Clients with Diminishing Capacity” for the Legal Education Society of Alberta, Edmonton
January 30, 2019 – “Attacking Powers of Attorney and Representing Clients with Diminishing Capacity” for the Legal Education Society of Alberta, Calgary (repeat program)
February 4, 2019 – “Special Issues for Aging Clients” for the Calgary Estate Planning Council, Calgary
March 13, 2019 – “Defending and Attacking Gifts” for University of Western, Faculty of Law, as course guest lecturer in Estate Litigation, London, Ontario.
March 20, 2019 – “Henson Trusts and Estate Planning for Families with Disabled Heirs” for Continuity Care, Winnipeg
April 15, 2019 – “Anatomy of Vulnerability – Combining Medical and Legal Considerations” for Senior Practitioners’ Forum – Estate Litigation and Planning, at Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Ontario
May 22, 2019 – “Henson Trust Planning in Alberta – The New Regime” for RBC Dominion Securities, Calgary
June 7, 2019 – Moderator, “Practical Advice for Serving Today’s Clients” for the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (Canada), at the 21st National Conference, Toronto
June 11, 2019 – “Advising the Attorney under a Power of Attorney” for the Elder Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association, national webinar
September 10, 2019 – “The Historical Development of the Law of Wills and Estate Administration” for the University of Calgary Faculty of Law, guest lecture Wills and Estates course, Calgary
September 21, 2019 – “Estate Planning & Litigation – The Old and the New” (Taping Will Instructions and the Doctrine of Righteousness), key note speaker conference on Wills and Estates for the CBABC, Kelowna
November 8, 2019 – “Video-Taping Will Instructions – Demonstration and Rationale” for the Manitoba Law Society, Pitblado Lecture Series, Winnipeg
November 8, 2019 – “Panel Discussion on Capacity Assessment” (alongside Albert Oosterhoff, Kim Whaley and Dr. Barry Campbell) for the Manitoba Law Society, Pitblado Lecture Series, Winnipeg
February 5, 2020 – “Law Reform and Attorney Powers to Deal with Beneficiary Designations” for the Ontario Bar Association, Institute Elder Law Program, Toronto
June 5, 2020 – “Capacity Issues Under New Brunswick’s Recently Enacted Powers of Attorney Legislation” for the Canadian Bar Association – New Brunswick, webinar
September 17, 2020 – “Testamentary Capacity” for Osgood Hall Faculty of Law, guest lecture for Wills and Estates Class, Toronto, webinar
October 20, 2020 – “Capacity Proceedings – What Accountants Need to Know” and “Drafting Consideration” for education day sponsored by the GTA Accountants Network, Toronto, webinar
November 23, 2020 – “Mental Capacity Necessary to Make Gifts to Charity” for the Canadian Association of Gift Planners (CAGP), National Advanced Summit, Toronto, webinar
December 7, 2020 – “Independent Legal Advice – Adjusting the Duty of Care to Different Transactions” for the Legal Education Society of Alberta (LESA), Calgary and Edmonton, webinar
May 11, 2021 – “Henson Trusts” for Continuity Care, Winnipeg, webinar
SERVING AS EDITOR
Founding Editor and Managing Editor of The National Concordance, a national resource compiling and comparing the laws relating to wills, estates and incapacity, published online jointly by Canadian Bar Association and Westlaw ECarswell, from 2009 to present.
Associate Editor of The Estates and Trusts Reports, a national case law reporting service for lawyers and judges, from 2006 to present, selecting cases for publication and generating case annotations.
TEXTBOOKS AUTHORED
The Taxation of Trusts, A Practitioner’s Guide, ten annual editions, 2004 to 2014, Co-authored (Poyser, Frostiak, Chow), Carswell Canada
Capacity and Undue Influence, First Edition, published 2014 by Carswell Canada, dealing with wills, gifts and other voluntary wealth transfers – litigation and planning.
Capacity and Undue Influence, Second Edition, published 2019 by Carswell Canada.
JOURNAL ARTICLES AND CASE COMMENTS
Qualifying and Non-Qualifying Testamentary Trusts (2005) E.T.P.J. 41
Practice Note: “Constructive & Resulting Trusts as Defensive Strategies” (2006) 25 E.T.P.J. 302 (coauthored)
The Preparation and Execution of Wills: Everyday Issues and Changing Industry Standards (2006) 25 E.T.P.J. 31
Charitable Remainder Trusts: Advanced Issues (2007) 26 E.T.P.J. 151 (coauthored)
Use of Trusts in Blended Family Estate Planning (2007) 26 E.T.P.J. 23 (coauthored)
Estate Planning for Clients with Diminished Capacity: Deathbed Wills (2010) 29 E.T.P.J. 244
Practice Note, “Are Lawyers Being Fooled on Undue Influence?” (2014) 33 E.T.P.J. 384
Practice Note, “Attacking Wills: Fraud as a Species of Undue Influence”, (2015) 34 E.T.P.J. 225
Practice Note, “Will Planning: Asking the Bounty Question”, (2015) 34 E.T.P.J. 267
Case Comment, McLaughlin Estate v. McLaughlin (2015), 10 E.T.R. (4th) 42, Inherent Jurisdiction of the Courts of Probate – Rectification
Practice Note, “The Doctrine of Unconscionable Procurement”, (2015) 35 E.T.P.J. 133
Case Comment, Neuberger v. York (2016), 16 E.T.R. (4th) 42, Inherent Jurisdiction of Courts of Probate – Estoppel Disallowed
Case Comment, Garwood v. Garwood Estate (2016), 19 E.T.R. (4th) 76, Knowledge and Approval Established Without Read-Over
Plain Language and the Dangers of Legalese (2017), 36 E.T.P.J. 333, Drafting Strategies and Legal Outcomes
Testamentary Undue Influence – Hope Over Experience (2018) Trusts and Estates Law & Tax Journal, October Issue, p.18 (London, England), Canadian Developments in Undue Influence and Transferability to the UK
Hope and False Promises Invalidating Wills (2019), 39 E.T.P.J. 1 (co-authored), Emerging Case Law Developing Testamentary Undue Influence
Case Annotation, Roach v. Todd (2019), 46 E.T.R.(4th) 67, Equitable Fraud and Equitable Procurement
Case Annotation, Gefen v. Gaertner (2020), 53 E.T.R. (4th) 53 (co-authored), Modern Re-emergence of Equitable Procurement
Taping Will Instructions (2020), 39 E.T.P.J. 186 (co-authored), Law and Practice Points Relating to Taping Will Instructions
Inter Vivos Versus Testamentary Undue Influence: Origins, Differences, and Recent Developments (2021), 40 E.T.P.J. 269 (co-authored).
COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER ACTIVITY
Klinic Community Health Centre, a pro-choice and feminist health care organization, board member from 1990 to 1998, chairperson from 1996 -1998.
Deer Lodge Hospital, Life Story Project, writing life stories to be posted for long-term residents with communication challenges, 1998-2000.
The Winnipeg Foundation Planned Giving Advisory Committee providing industry support around policy and fundraising, 2003 – 2007.
Meals on Wheels, delivering meals to shut-ins and the disabled as a regular driver,1995 to present (“7,000 meals and counting”)
Quotes
