Speaker details

Biography

Catherine Watson Coles is an estates and trusts lawyer in McInnes Cooper’s Halifax office and leader of the firm’s regional Estates and Trusts Service Group. She brings extensive experience and knowledge in trusts and estate planning and administration, from simple wills and trusts to complex international and offshore strategies. Catherine has worked with everyone from individuals to large corporate clients to ensure that their families are protected and their objectives are met in the most efficient and tax effective manner. She has a particular interest in and knowledge of the area of families planning for disabled beneficiaries and frequently acts as trustee as part of McInnes Cooper’s executor and trustee service offering. She also works with families to assist and advise them through areas of discord after the death of a loved one. Catherine is a regular speaker on the subjects of estate trust and tax planning to various professional and public organizations across Canada and abroad. She is a frequent author of articles on these subjects in various newspapers and newsletters. She has also been an instructor at the Bar Admissions Course in the area of estate planning and lectures on the topics of estate planning, trust and tax issues in various forums. Catherine has been recognized by Best Lawyers® Canada for her practice in trusts and estates and is listed in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory. Catherine is the past President and a current member of the Halifax Estate Planning Council and is a member of the Society of Trust and Estates Practitioners, the Canadian Bar Association, the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society, the Canadian Tax Foundation and the International Bar Association. She currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Individual Tax and Private Client Committee of the International Bar Association and is a Commissioner of the Law Reform Commission of Nova Scotia. Catherine is also a member of the Steering Committee of the Senior Estates and Trust Practitioners Forum. She has previously served as Chair of the Editorial Board of STEP Inside, the national publication of the Society of Trust and Estates Practitioners. She was formerly Chair of the Wills & Estates Section of the Canadian Bar Association – Nova Scotia and is the Co-Founder and past Chair of the Pride Business Network in Toronto, Ontario.