Estate Litigation

Acting for Parties During Litigation

Acting in Queen’s Bench
In Alberta and other jurisdictions
Acting in appeal cases

Acting for Parties During Mediation

Assisting parties preparing for mediation or judicial dispute resolution
Assisting as counsel during mediation or judicial dispute resolution

Avoiding Disputes

Vetting estate plans before death to audit for problems
Arranging for and conducting capacity assessments for elderly or ill clients who want to avoid disputes
Family meetings and other preventative measures to avoid anticipated litigation

John Poyser, B.A., LL.B.

Provides in-court litigation services.
Author of two editions of Capacity and Undue Influence, published to help lawyers and judges with estate litigation. 10 years in the making, the text canvasses and explains the law of will and gift challenges across Canada and the United Kingdom. He has presented and educated lawyers across Canada on point.
Co-Author of Taxation of Trusts and Estates, also published nationally and currently in its 10th edition.
In addition to providing litigation services direct to clients in the courtroom, he helps clients and other lawyers across Canada by providing opinions and litigation support. Some cases are strong. Some cases are weak. Some cases can be improved.

Ryan H.K. Gorlick, B. Comm. (Hons.), J.D.

Provides in-court litigation services
Applications & Trials
Support in judicially assisted dispute resolution & mediation

Quotes

“A man cannot leave a better legacy to the world than a well-educated family.”

—Thomas Scott

“In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.”

—Benjamin Franklin

“The weak shall inherit the earth, but not the mineral rights.”

—J. Paul Getty

“I am ready to meet my maker, but whether my maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.”

—Winston Churchill

“When a great man dies, for years the light he leaves behind him, lies on the paths of men.”

—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“There is a strange charm in the thoughts of good legacy, or the hopes of an estate which wondrously removes or at least alleviates the sorrow that men would otherwise feel for the death of friends.”

—Miguel De Cervantes

“Death not merely ends life, it also bestows upon it a silent completeness, snatched from the hazardous flux to which all things human are subject.”

—Hannah Arendt

“Say not you know another entirely till you have divided an inheritance with him.”

—Johann Kaspar Lavater

“Any relic of the dead is precious, if they were valued living.”

—Emily Bronte

“We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.”

—Winston Churchill

“Death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate.”

—Ambrose Bierce

“I’m not afraid to die, I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”

—Woody Allen

“The object of estate planning is to die well.”

—John Poyser

“Another good thing about being poor is that when you are seventy your children will not have declared you legally insane in order to have control of your estate.”

—Woody Allen

A boutique wills, estates, and trusts firm.

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