Dossiers d’enquête d’EnDroit.ca
Formation IA pour avocats, cabinets et étudiants en droit | EnDroit.ca
Top 10 des meilleurs cabinets d'avocats au Québec — palmarès

Best Estate and Incapacity Law Firms in Quebec — Top 10

TOP10
Quebec RankingEstate and Incapacity Law FirmsThe complete ranking at a glance — select a firm to view its profile.
  1. 01De Grandpré ChaitMontreal
  2. 02LaveryMontreal · Quebec City
  3. 03Allen Madelin AvocatsMontreal · Across Quebec
  4. 04Miller ThomsonMontreal · Canada
  5. 05Schneider LegalMontreal
  6. 06PFD AvocatsMontreal · Laval · Laurentians
  7. 07FaskenMontreal · Quebec City
  8. 08Robillard AvocatsMontreal
  9. 09Cain Lamarre15 offices in Quebec
  10. 10KSA Avocats + NotairesQuebec City and regions
The Ten Firms in the Ranking
01

De Grandpré Chait

Montreal

The most comprehensive option for combining estate planning, liquidation, tax, protection and estate litigation within a single multidisciplinary team.

PlanningEstate liquidationLitigationProtection mandate
Best suited forComplex estates, family businesses, already disputed estates or matters requiring coordination among lawyers, notaries, tax professionals and paralegals.
Core strengthAn integrated chain of services from preparing a will through resolving a dispute or opening a protection regime.
Confirm firstThe professional responsible, how work will be divided between disciplines and the fees applicable at each stage.
View the Complete Profile

Firm Profile

De Grandpré Chait has developed an estates practice covering planning, liquidation, disputes and the protection of persons. Its combination of notaries, litigators, tax professionals and paralegals is particularly relevant when property, the deceased’s wishes and family relationships intersect.

Services Advertised

  • Will planning, trusts, reorganizations and estate tax planning.
  • Estate liquidation, inventories, accountings, distribution and transfer of property.
  • Disputes, administration of the property of others, homologation of protection mandates and opening of protection regimes.
02

Lavery

Montreal · Quebec City

An experienced team for disputed estates, trusts, protection regimes and matters involving tax, real estate or international issues.

Estate litigationTrustsIncapacityInternational
Best suited forComplex or disputed matters requiring several areas of expertise and structured court representation.
Core strengthVery broad coverage: will challenges, replacement of liquidators, accountings, trusts and protection of incapable adults.
Confirm firstThe lawyer who will actually argue the case, the supporting team and the anticipated budget for medical or accounting experts.
View the Complete Profile

Firm Profile

Lavery brings together lawyers practising in family, personal and estate law who can work with its tax, corporate, commercial litigation and real estate teams. This depth is well suited to matters where the estate cannot be separated from family property, a business, a trust or assets located outside Canada.

Services Advertised

  • Will challenges or interpretation, replacement of liquidators or trustees and accountings.
  • Preparation of wills, powers of attorney and protection mandates; estate settlement.
  • Opening of tutorships, protection of incapable adults and estates with an international component.
03

Allen Madelin Avocats

Montreal · Across Quebec

A boutique directly focused on estate disputes and the protection of vulnerable persons, with an approach designed for individual clients.

ChallengesLiquidatorsDisputed mandatesTutorship
Best suited forHeirs, liquidators, mandataries or caregivers facing a concrete dispute and seeking specialized individual representation.
Core strengthEstate law and personal law are presented as core areas of the practice rather than peripheral services.
Confirm firstCurrent availability, who will perform each task and the realistic cost of contested proceedings.
View the Complete Profile

Firm Profile

Allen Madelin Avocats focuses its practice on estate litigation and personal law. The firm acts in matters involving challenges to wills or liquidators, distributions among heirs, homologation or challenges of protection mandates and the opening of tutorships.

Services Advertised

  • Will challenges based on incapacity, undue influence, formal defects or other recognized grounds.
  • Removal or replacement of liquidators, estate liquidation and distribution among heirs.
  • Homologation or challenge of a protection mandate, challenges involving mandataries and opening of protection regimes.
04

Miller Thomson

Montreal · Canada

A national resource for complex estates and trusts, disputed accounts and conflicts involving significant assets, institutions or estates.

Complex estatesTrustsCapacityTax
Best suited forSignificant estates, trusts, businesses, multiple beneficiaries or litigation requiring a national interdisciplinary team.
Core strengthA recognized practice capable of integrating tax, corporate, real estate, trust and litigation issues.
Confirm firstThe exact composition of the Quebec team and whether the budget is proportionate to the value actually at stake.
View the Complete Profile

Firm Profile

Miller Thomson advises beneficiaries, trustees, financial institutions, organizations and individuals in complex estate and trust matters. The practice also covers capacity issues, protection mandates and applications for tutorship or other protection regimes.

Services Advertised

  • Will challenges, approval of accounts, breach of trust and replacement of trustees.
  • Disputes involving powers of attorney, protection mandates, capacity and protection regimes.
  • Advice to liquidators and trustees with tax, corporate and real estate support.
05

Schneider Legal

Montreal

A practice strongly focused on day-to-day litigation between heirs, liquidators, legatees, trustees and beneficiaries.

Estate litigationLiquidatorsDistributionInternational estates
Best suited forAn existing dispute concerning a will, inventory, accounting, distribution or the conduct of an estate liquidator.
Core strengthAdvertised day-to-day experience representing the principal participants in disputed estates.
Confirm firstThe exact remedy, missing evidence and the relationship between expected costs and the value of the dispute.
View the Complete Profile

Firm Profile

Schneider Legal offers a focused range of estate-law services and regularly represents heirs, legatees, liquidators, trustees and beneficiaries. Its materials also cover estate planning, protection mandates, international estates and the responsibilities of estate liquidators.

Services Advertised

  • Challenges, verification or probate of wills.
  • Replacement of liquidators or trustees, inventories, accountings and estate distribution.
  • Estate planning, protection mandates and jurisdictional issues involving international estates.
06

PFD Avocats

Montreal · Laval · Laurentians

A balanced and accessible metropolitan-area option for estates, homologation of protection mandates, tutorship and disputes involving estate liquidators.

EstatesProtection mandatesTutorshipLaurentians
Best suited forFamilies seeking continuity between prevention, negotiation and court representation when required.
Core strengthAn identified family, personal and estate law team operating from several offices.
Confirm firstThe proposed professional’s recent experience in estate matters comparable to yours.
View the Complete Profile

Firm Profile

PFD Avocats provides preventive advice, negotiation, private dispute-resolution services and court representation. The team handles both document preparation and disputed estates, as well as judicial proceedings relating to incapacity.

Services Advertised

  • Assistance with estate settlement, disputes and replacement of liquidators.
  • Homologation or preparation of protection mandates and opening of tutorships.
  • Will preparation, asset protection and related personal-law proceedings.
07

Fasken

Montreal · Quebec City

A high-level option for complex disputes involving wills, trusts, undue influence, diverted assets or the administration of a vulnerable person’s property.

Complex litigationFraudTrustsVulnerable adults
Best suited forHigh-value or legally difficult matters involving allegations of undue influence, fraud, conflicts of interest or breach of fiduciary duty.
Core strengthDeep litigation capacity and remedies involving both estate property and the property of an incapable adult.
Confirm firstProportionality between the financial stakes, the cost of a large-firm team and the realistic prospects of recovery.
View the Complete Profile

Firm Profile

Fasken handles disputes involving wills, trusts, gifts, beneficiaries, mandates and incapable adults. The team also advises liquidators, mandataries and trustees and can trace or recover assets for the benefit of an estate or vulnerable person.

Services Advertised

  • Invalidity, incapacity, undue influence, coercion and interpretation of wills or trusts.
  • Fraud, misappropriation, conflicts of interest and breaches of duty by liquidators, mandataries or trustees.
  • Appointment of legal representatives, asset recovery, approval of accounts and court directions.
08

Robillard Avocats

Montreal

A small, personal team combining disputed-estate work with the protection of the rights of incapable adults.

BoutiqueHeirsIncapable adultsPrevention
Best suited forFamilies seeking a direct, personalized and sensitive relationship in an estate or protection matter.
Core strengthEstates and the protection of incapable adults are among the firm’s advertised core areas.
Confirm firstThe team’s capacity to support a lengthy hearing or a matter requiring several experts.
View the Complete Profile

Firm Profile

Robillard Avocats represents heirs and liquidators when an estate is disputed or at risk of becoming disputed. The firm also assists families, tutors and mandataries in protecting the rights of minors and incapable adults.

Services Advertised

  • Preventive advice and representation in disputes between heirs and liquidators.
  • Protection and exercise of the rights of incapable adults.
  • Negotiation, amicable settlement and court representation.
09

Cain Lamarre

15 offices in Quebec

The strongest regional coverage in the ranking for combining estate litigation, wills, protection mandates and protection regimes.

Regional presenceLitigationWillsProtection regimes
Best suited forIndividuals living outside Montreal or matters where the parties, assets and witnesses are spread across several regions.
Core strengthAn extensive Quebec network and a multidisciplinary team identified in personal and estate law.
Confirm firstThe office actually responsible and the estate-law experience of the professional available in your region.
View the Complete Profile

Firm Profile

Cain Lamarre provides personal and estate-law services through an extensive network of offices in Quebec. The firm advertises a team handling estate litigation, protection regimes, wills and protection mandates.

Services Advertised

  • Estate litigation, wills and protection mandates.
  • Opening, administration or challenges involving protection regimes.
  • Coordination with the firm’s other areas of practice for property or corporate issues.
10

KSA Avocats + Notaires

Quebec City and regions

An integrated lawyer-and-notary structure providing continuity between routine estate liquidation, succession formalities and litigation.

Lawyers + notariesEstate liquidationInventoriesChallenges
Best suited forAn estate beginning with notarial steps but potentially requiring litigation quickly.
Core strengthThe ability to move from estate-liquidation work to proceedings involving the will or liquidator within the same firm.
Confirm firstThe boundary between the notarial mandate and litigation mandate, as well as the fees charged by each professional.
View the Complete Profile

Firm Profile

KSA Avocats + Notaires assists heirs, legatees and liquidators with estate formalities. When irregularities arise, the firm’s lawyers can intervene in litigation, including applications to replace a liquidator or challenge a will on grounds such as undue influence or incapacity.

Services Advertised

  • Inventories, will searches, legal notices, declarations of transmission and distribution.
  • Accountings, renunciations, declarations of heirship and support for estate liquidators.
  • Will challenges, incapacity, undue influence and replacement of liquidators.
Three questions to ask before retaining the firm
1 · What is the actual mandate?Ask whether your situation requires estate liquidation, negotiation, a formal demand, court proceedings or an urgent protective measure.
2 · What evidence is missing?Identify the wills, medical records, valuations, statements, inventories, communications and accounting documents required before starting proceedings.
3 · What budget and who is responsible?Obtain the name of the professional responsible, delegated tasks, rates, expert disbursements and a stage-by-stage budget with stopping points.
10

How These Firms Were Selected

A comparative editorial assessment centred on the real needs of heirs, liquidators, mandataries, caregivers and vulnerable persons.

Demonstrated practiceVerifiable activity in estate or personal law, with specific services rather than a general reference to the field.
Litigation capacityExperience with will challenges, applications involving liquidators, accountings, undue influence, incapacity and urgent measures.
Protection and incapacityExperience with protection mandates, tutorships, temporary representatives, administration of property and the rights of vulnerable persons.
Comprehensive managementAbility to coordinate estate liquidation, inventories, distribution, tax, trusts, real estate, businesses and assets outside Quebec.
Practical accessibilityRegional presence, team structure, clarity of service, proportionality of costs and ability to serve individual clients directly.
Verifiable sourcesOfficial websites, professional profiles, detailed services, public files, legal publications and recognized directories.

Guiding principle: the ranking prioritizes the fit between the firm and the actual difficulty of the matter. Not every estate requires a lawyer: an uncontested liquidation, a will or a straightforward homologation can often be handled by a notary. A lawyer becomes more valuable when a right is disputed, a vulnerable person must be protected, assets need to be traced or a court order becomes necessary. Reputation and size alone are not enough; specialized boutiques, regional presence, negotiating ability and proportionality of fees were also considered. No payment determines inclusion or ranking. The final order reflects an editorial judgment based on information verified in September 2026.

Ranking CriteriaThe general methodology is published on the main page covering Quebec’s best law firms.View the Main Page →
Community RecommendationsA separate list presents lawyers recommended by the community without reproducing this ranking.View the Recommendations →
Key point: before signing a release, accepting an estate, distributing property, destroying documents or launching a challenge, obtain an assessment suited to your role and the applicable deadlines. Keep every version of the will, available medical assessments, statements, the inventory, communications and transaction records. This ranking helps establish a shortlist; it does not replace a consultation or verification that the professional is entered on the applicable professional roll.