About Nicole and Canadian Estate Club

Hi, I'm Nicole Garton.

I'm an estate lawyer, and I've spent more than 25 years helping Canadians get their affairs in order.

In that time I've sat with a lot of families during the worst week of their lives. Some of them had a plan.

The rest were searching through drawers for paperwork and guessing at what their mother would have wanted.

What separates those two families is almost never money. It's whether somebody sat down and wrote things out while they still could.

Why I built the Club

Most people who put this off care deeply about their families.

They just don't know where to start, and most of what's out there is either written for lawyers or written for Americans.

Canadian Estate Club is what I wanted to be able to hand people. Plain language, Canadian rules, one stage at a time.

Who it's for

The Club is for Canadians getting this sorted for the first time. Maybe you've been meaning to write a will for years. Maybe you have one and it's out of date, or you're not sure what else is supposed to go along with it.

You're welcome here whether you're planning your own estate or you've been named executor and aren't sure what that involves yet.

You don't need a big estate or a law degree. You don't need to know any of the vocabulary. That part is my job.

My background

I've been a lawyer since 2001. That's 25 years of wills, estates, trusts, and family disputes, which means I've seen just about every way a plan can go right and every way it can go wrong.

In 2018, I co-founded Heritage Trust Company Inc., an independent trust company regulated by the BC Financial Services Authority, where I'm President and General Counsel.

Heritage Trust steps in as executor, trustee, or attorney when a family needs someone neutral to handle things, especially when an estate is complicated or the family isn't getting along.

I've written four books, including Before It's Too Late: The Estate Organizer for Canadians and The Canadian Executor's Guide. You may also have heard me on the Your Estate Matters podcast.

Nicole Garton, B.A., LL.B., LL.M., C.Med., FEA, TEP

  • Called to the bar of British Columbia, 2001

  • Recognized in The Best Lawyers in Canada for Trusts and Estates and Family Law

  • Trust and Estate Practitioner, Chartered Mediator, Family Enterprise Advisor

  • Past Chair, Canadian Bar Association Wills and Trusts Subsection (Vancouver)

  • B.A. and LL.B. from the University of British Columbia, LL.M. from Osgoode Hall Law School

  • Member, Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, and the Estate Planning Councils of Vancouver and the Fraser Valley

Education, not legal advice

Canadian Estate Club is here to teach you. Using this site does not make me your lawyer.

Everything here is education. It's meant to help you understand your own situation, get organized, and walk into a professional's office prepared. Nothing on this site is legal, tax, or financial advice for your specific circumstances.

When you need someone to act on your behalf, that's a different relationship. Heritage Trust Company Inc. provides professional fiduciary services. [link]

Canadian Estate Club is a subsidiary of Heritage Trust Company Inc.