Estate Planning Express 2026 - 25 Minute Topics

Course Chair
Geoffrey W. White, KC — Geoffrey W. White Law Corporation & Counsel, Clark Wilson LLP, Kelowna & Vancouver

About the Course Chair
Geoff White, KC has 25+ years of expertise in wills, trusts, estates and elder law matters. He acts as counsel for Clark Wilson LLP and assists clients both in Vancouver and at his "heritage" office in Kelowna. He is a frequent author and lecturer for both the legal community and others.

Geoff is the past chair of the Law Foundation of BC, the past chair of the CBA National Elder Law Section, and the founding chair of the Okanagan Chapter of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. He is an editor of the CLEBC BC Probate & Estate Administration Practice Manual, which is acknowledged as the primary source for all estate matters in the province, and he helped to design the lawyer education programs for BC's Wills, Estate and Succession Act, which took effect in 2014.

Faculty
Gordon Behan — Behan Estate and Trust Litigation, Vancouver
Dwight D. Dee — Miller Thomson LLP, Vancouver
Aubrie Girou — Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP, Vancouver
Todd C. Harvey — Baker Newby LLP, Chilliwack
Ian Hull — Hull & Hull LLP, Toronto
Scott Kerwin — Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Vancouver
Roger D. Lee — DLA Piper (Canada) LLP, Vancouver
Suzana Popovic-Montag — Hull & Hull LLP, Toronto
Braeden J. Rahn — Geoffrey W. White Law Corporation & Clark Wilson LLP, Kelowna & Vancouver
Stanley Rule — Sabey Rule LLP, Kelowna
Katie Taylor — DLA Piper (Canada) LLP, Vancouver

Course Materials Contributor
Christy Tang — Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP, Vancouver

Click here for faculty bios

• so you can't wait for a grant of probate
  • how can a s. 132 special appointment help
• have recent cases limited the scope?

• so you're doing "self-help" estate planning
  • do your fixed and final wishes matter?
• Paige v. Noel, 2025 BCCA 358
• is BC now a "partial substantial compliance" jurisdiction?
• is my fixed and final wish not enough?
• must there be a "Will"?
• do "impermanent" records qualify anymore?

• so you're helping your child buy a house
  • tips for tracking and adjusting advances and hotchpot
• what rules may apply if there is no planning?
• do past-limitation period debts matter? Cherry v. Boultbee (1839)

• so you want to rule from the grave
  • the limits of trustee discretion
• how much discretion can your drafting achieve?
• what should trustees be advised when making decisions?

• so you want to avoid probate but don't want a trust
  • the gift of survivorship if you must—risks and creative use 
• is it possible to use the gift of survivorship with less risk?

• so you can't retire before AI steals your job
  • adapting for AI in an estates practice
• practical examples of how AI is, and will likely be, used in an estates law practice

• so you're an influencer and a crypto-millionaire
  • protecting the value of digital/online content, crypto, and virtual businesses

• so you're a farmer
  • why typical estate planning may not work for farms
• practical tips for estate planning for farmers—incorporation, ownership of quota and other assets by company, farm management succession, financial viability of the farm, and lead time for planning
• tax breaks for inter-generational transfer of farms
• what about the off-farm children?

• so you want to give your child less but don't want a trust
  • when unequal becomes too unequal
• current ranges of wills variation awards
• at what point can your client no longer "get away with" just a Will? 

• so you are going to see this file again
  • how not to make your estate administration paralegal hate you
• record keeping
• passwords
• planning for estate administration issues
  • track beneficiaries and needed information
  • the cash poor estate
    • upkeep of property
    • beneficiaries in need
• the "child in the basement"