Practice areas

Six things, done properly, for people in Simcoe County. Each page below sets out what the area covers, what it costs, and the questions we get asked most.

Separation & Divorce

Most separations do not need a courtroom. Roughly four in five of the files we open are resolved by a negotiated separation agreement, and the ones that go to court usually get there because one side won't disclose their finances rather than because the issues are genuinely intractable.

Separation agreements
Uncontested and contested divorce
Equalisation of net family property
Matrimonial home and possession
Spousal support, entitlement and quantum
+3 more

Fees: Hourly, $340 – $475 depending on the lawyer. Initial retainer typically $3,500.
Led by: Priya Fell, Partner

Parenting & Support

The law changed its language in 2021 — there is no longer "custody" and "access" in the Divorce Act, but rather decision-making responsibility and parenting time. The vocabulary matters less than the substance, which is what schedule actually works for your children and what each household can afford.

Parenting plans and schedules
Decision-making responsibility
Child support and imputed income
Section 7 special and extraordinary expenses
Variations of existing orders
+3 more

Fees: Hourly, $340 – $440. Simple support variations often quoted as a flat fee.
Led by: Marguerite Osei, Associate

Marriage & Cohabitation Agreements

A domestic contract is far cheaper than the litigation it prevents. Most of ours are signed by people in second relationships, people who own a business, or people whose parents are about to help with a down payment and would like that money treated as theirs.

Prenuptial and marriage contracts
Cohabitation agreements
Protecting a business or professional practice
Gifts and inheritances from family
Matrimonial home exclusions
+3 more

Fees: Flat fee, $2,400 – $3,800 to draft. Independent legal advice on the other side's draft from $850.
Led by: Priya Fell, Partner

Residential Real Estate

We close somewhere between three and four hundred residential transactions a year, most of them in Barrie, Innisfil, Springwater and Oro-Medonte. The work is procedural until it isn't, and the value is in catching the thing that would have derailed your closing while there is still time to fix it.

Residential purchases
Sales and discharges
Refinancing and switching lenders
Title insurance and title searches
New-build and builder closings
+3 more

Fees: Flat legal fee: purchase $1,350, sale $1,150, refinance $995 — plus disbursements and land transfer tax.
Led by: Hugh Redpath, Partner

Wills & Estates

More than half of Ontario adults die without a will, and the province then decides who inherits under a formula that almost never matches what anyone wanted. For most families a will and two powers of attorney is a single appointment and a fixed fee.

Wills, simple and complex
Powers of attorney for property and personal care
Secondary wills to reduce probate tax
Henson trusts for a disabled beneficiary
Probate applications (Certificate of Appointment)
+3 more

Fees: Flat fee: single will $650, couple $1,050, each including both powers of attorney. Estate administration hourly or by percentage.
Led by: Declan Mbeki, Associate

Mediation & Collaborative Practice

Court is a poor instrument for family disagreements. It is slow, expensive, public, and it hands the decision to someone who will meet your family for a total of about ninety minutes.

Family mediation
Collaborative family law
Mediation-arbitration
Four-way settlement meetings
Parenting coordination
+3 more

Fees: Mediation $325/hour, shared between the parties. Collaborative files billed hourly at the lawyer's usual rate.
Led by: Marguerite Osei, Associate