Growing up working Saturdays and summers in the small business his father started, Richard experienced firsthand the things that are needed to keep a business going. Early mornings. Hard work. Keeping customers happy.
Today, with a legal practice focused on providing tax, trust and estate advice, Richard still draws on those early lessons, recognizing that he is dealing with people’s livelihoods and families. He works with our clients to define their family, business and tax objectives and to put a plan in place to see those intentions carried out.
The clients that Richard works with include:
- Private business owners and their family members
- Professional and lay trustees and executors seeking guidance on administration
- Charities and non-profits
Work Highlights
Business owner preparing for sale
- An owner of a growing private business is looking ahead to a potential exit via sale in a few years. We come up with and implement a plan to ensure that the client and various family members will be able to access the lifetime capital gains exemption for private company shares when the business is sold
Trust facing deemed disposition
- A family trust that owns shares in a successful company is approaching its 21st anniversary. We implement a plan that allows the tax on the accrued gain to be deferred by distributing value to the founder’s adult children, while keeping control firmly in the founder’s hands. Future growth accrues to a new trust to maximize future flexibility
Parent wanting asset protection
- A parent with a child struggling with an addiction wants her estate so as to provide support but limited access to capital. We establish a trust to protect the assets so that they will be available to support the child
Services
| Tax-effective corporate reorganizations, including restructuring for business succession purposes | Tax aspects of corporate and commercial transactions, such as reducing tax liabilities arising on the sale of a business |
| Tax aspects of share offerings and real estate financing structures, including flow-through financings in the mining and alternative energy sectors | Trusts for tax and asset protection purposes, including family trusts, alter ego and joint spousal trusts, disability trusts, immigration trusts, and residence trusts, and advising on trust transactions including restructuring and winding up |
| Complex estate planning and administration | Establishment, registration and operation of not-for-profit and charitable organizations |
Tax, trusts and estates laws are complex and constantly changing. Richard works hard to stay abreast of the law as it changes. He enjoys translating the law’s shifting complexities into accessible information and practical advice. He strives to use clear and understandable language in his communication and documents, believing that legal jargon, “Olde English” and ancient Greek are almost never helpful to convey meaning in the 21st century.
Richard is a regular speaker on estates, trusts and tax matters, in the media, at professional seminars and private client events. He has also authored and contributed to a number of legal publications used by lawyers across British Columbia.
Awards & Distinctions
- Best Lawyers® in Canada, Tax Law, 2022-2025
- Best Lawyers® in Canada, Trusts and Estates, 2019-2025
- Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory®, Repeatedly Recommended, Estate & Tax Planning, 2021 - 2023
- Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Private Client Awards finalist for Contentious Trusts and Estates Team of the Year 2021
