Wills, Trusts and Estates Lawyers
Planning Your Estate
Duncan Craig LLP has one of Alberta’s largest dedicated estates law practices, with a team of eight lawyers focused exclusively on estate law, providing comprehensive legal services in Wills, Trusts, Estate Planning, Estate Administration, Business Succession Planning, and Estate Litigation. Since 1894, we have helped individuals, families, and business owners protect their legacy.
A well-structured estate plan helps ensure your wishes are carried out while minimizing unnecessary costs, tax burdens, delays, and stress for your family. At Duncan Craig LLP, we provide more than traditional Wills and Estates legal services, delivering practical and strategic legal guidance tailored to your unique circumstances. Whether you require a Will, Trust planning, incapacity planning, estate restructuring, Business Succession Planning, or assistance with complex estate matters, our team is ready to help.
Estate Planning for Individuals, Families and Business Owners
Effective estate planning helps protect your assets, preserve wealth, and ensure your wishes are carried out as intended. From preparing a Will to developing sophisticated plans involving Trusts, business interests, multiple assets, blended families, charitable giving, and succession planning, our estate lawyers provide strategic advice tailored to each client’s circumstances. Our team provides comprehensive estate planning advice across a wide range of personal, family, business, and wealth considerations, including:
- Wills and Trusts: Preparing and reviewing Wills and Trusts, and structuring estate plans for individuals, families, business owners, and high-net-worth clients.
- Estate Planning for Blended Families: Developing estate plans that address the unique considerations of blended families, including second marriages, stepchildren, and competing family interests.
- Powers of Attorney and Personal Directives: Preparing Powers of Attorney and Personal Directives to ensure your financial, legal, and personal wishes can be carried out if you are unable to make decisions yourself.
- Estate and Tax Planning: Structuring estate plans and tax-efficient wealth transfers designed to minimize tax burdens and preserve assets for beneficiaries and future generations.
- Charitable Giving and Legacy Planning: Incorporating charitable giving, philanthropic objectives, and charitable Trusts into your estate plan to create a lasting impact.
- Business Succession Planning: Helping business owners plan for the transfer of ownership and wealth while protecting business continuity and the interests of future generations.
Estate Administration and Probate
Administering an estate can involve complex legal, financial, tax, business, and family considerations, particularly where significant or diverse assets, private business interests, Trusts, or multiple beneficiaries are involved. Our estate lawyers guide executors, attorneys, and trustees through Alberta’s probate and estate administration process, helping them understand and fulfill their obligations to beneficiaries and other interested parties. Our team assists with:
- Probate and Estate Administration: Navigating Alberta’s estate laws, probate requirements, and administration process.
- Duties of Executors and Trustees: Advising personal representatives on their legal obligations, including competing duties and interests among beneficiaries and other parties.
- Estate Assets, Accounting and Distributions: Assisting with the management of estate assets, estate accounting, and distributions to beneficiaries.
- Will Validation and Interpretation: Addressing non-compliant Wills, rectification and validation issues, and court applications involving the interpretation of Wills.
- Estate Administration Disputes: Helping resolve conflicts and disputes that arise during the administration of an estate.
Estate Litigation and Dispute Resolution
Estate disputes can be legally complex, financially significant, and difficult for the families and individuals involved. Disagreements may arise over the validity or interpretation of a Will, the conduct of an executor or trustee, the distribution of estate assets, beneficiary designations, family support obligations, or the administration of a Trust. These matters can become particularly challenging when significant assets, business interests, complex family relationships, or competing beneficiary interests are involved.
Our dedicated estate litigation lawyers understand both the legal complexities and the sensitivities surrounding these disputes. Drawing on the depth of our broader estates practice, we provide strategic and practical advice focused on protecting our clients’ interests while identifying the most effective path toward resolution. Depending on the circumstances, that may involve negotiation, mediation, collaborative processes, court proceedings, or litigation through to resolution.
How We Help Resolve Estate Disputes
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Will Challenges
Challenging Wills involving concerns such as undue influence, fraud, or lack of mental capacity. -
Defending and Proving Wills
Defending the validity of Wills and bringing proceedings to formally prove a Will where required. -
Joint Property and Beneficiary Disputes
Resolving disputes involving jointly owned property, life insurance proceeds, and RRSP/RRIF beneficiary designations. -
Executor and Personal Representative Disputes
Advising beneficiaries and other interested parties where an executor or personal representative may have failed to fulfill their duties or properly manage estate assets. -
Family Maintenance and Support Claims
Advising and representing clients in claims involving family maintenance and support. -
Trust Disputes
Resolving disputes involving the interpretation, administration, and distribution of Trusts. -
Collaborative Estate Law
Using collaborative processes to resolve estate disputes outside of court where appropriate.
Leadership in Alberta Estate Law
Estate and trust law in Alberta continues to evolve. Our lawyers stay current with developments under Alberta’s Wills and Succession Act, Estate Administration Act, and Trustee Act, helping clients understand how changes in the law may affect their estate plans, Trusts, and estate administration matters.
Our estate lawyers also contribute to the broader development and understanding of estate law through involvement in legal reform discussions, professional education, and lectures on emerging estate law issues. This ongoing engagement helps our team provide informed, current legal advice as Alberta’s estate laws and practices continue to develop.
The Duncan Craig LLP Estates Advantage
Our dedicated estate lawyers have assisted thousands of individuals, families, business owners, executors, and trustees with estate matters across Alberta. With eight lawyers practising exclusively in estate law, our team has the depth and experience to assist with matters ranging from straightforward Wills and estate planning to complex Trusts, business succession planning, estate administration, and litigation.
Our comprehensive practice means clients can turn to one experienced team for planning, administration, and dispute resolution, while benefiting from lawyers who are actively involved in estate law education and the ongoing development of the law in Alberta.
Our Estate Law Services
- Estate Planning: Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney, Personal Directives, tax planning, wealth preservation, and planning for complex or significant assets.
- Estate Administration: Guidance for executors and trustees, probate applications, estate administration, and Trust management.
- Estate Litigation: Representation in Will challenges, executor and trustee disputes, beneficiary disputes, and family maintenance and support claims.
- Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR): Mediation and collaborative approaches to resolving estate and Trust disputes outside of court where appropriate.
Strategic Estate Planning for Your Future
Whether you are creating a well-structured Will to protect your family, developing a comprehensive estate plan, protecting significant personal or family wealth, structuring Trusts, planning the succession of a privately held or family business, administering an estate, or resolving a complex estate dispute, our dedicated estate lawyers provide strategic legal guidance tailored to your circumstances, assets, and long-term objectives.