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John E. S. Poyser, BA, LLB, TEP, Senior Litigation Lawyer
John Poyser is a Senior Litigation Lawyer with WEL. He has been a lawyer since 1987 and, over the last twenty years, has limited his practice to matters arising out of gifts, wills, trusts and other wealth transfers. He obtained his Ontario call to the Bar in 2016. He is also licensed to practice in Alberta and Manitoba. His Ontario practice through WEL is limited to estate litigation. He challenges and defends the transfer of wealth by will, gift and trust, and provides consultations to lawyers from other firms who are pursuing legal action in those areas.
Nationally, he is a past chair of the Wills, Estates and Trusts Section of the Canadian Bar Association (the “CBA”), and a past Deputy Chair of the Society of Estate and Trust Practitioners (“STEP”). Internationally, he sat as a member of STEP’s Worldwide Council from 2013 to 2016.
As an author, he wrote Capacity and Undue Influence, an eight-hundred page textbook published by Carswell in 2014. It canvasses the law relating to the transfer of wealth by will, gift, and trust, and helps lawyers and judges deal with attacks on those transfers. As a prior project, he coauthored ten editions of a textbook for Carswell entitled The Taxation of Trusts, a Practitioner’s Guide, dealing with taxation and planning issues relating to trusts and estates. John is also a regular contributor of articles in The Estates, Trusts and Pensions Journal.
He was the Founding Editor of The National Concordance, a compendium assembling and comparing succession laws across Canada, jointly published on-line by the CBA and Westlaw ECarswell, and continues in the role of Managing Editor for that publication. He serves as an Associate Editor of The Estates and Trusts Reports.
As a lecturer, he speaks regularly for law societies and bar associations across Canada. John has two children, and one wife. He loves Las Vegas, hates mosquitoes, and has been a regular driver for Meals on Wheels since 1995.
Latest Blog Posts
- The State of Unconscionable Procurement in British Columbia
- “What is Old is New” Attacking Gift Transactions in Mantioba -- Unconscionable Procurement Good Law
- Is Unconscionable Procurement Properly Part of the Law in Ontario?
- Memory as the “Grand Criterion” for Capacity
- Will Need Not Be Read Over to Establish Knowledge and Approval
- Relaxed Capacity Test for Codicil Changing Executor ?
View all of John's Blog posts
Recognitions
Professional Associations and Leadership
- Past Chair of Wills, Estates and Trusts section of the Canadian Bar Association [2006 – 2007]
- Past Co-Chair of Wills and Estates section of the Manitoba Bar Association [2002 – 2004]
- Past Deputy Chair of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners Canada (STEP Canada) [2009 – 2010]
- Past Chair of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners Winnipeg (STEP Winnipeg) [2005 – 2007]
- Council Member of STEP Worldwide Council, 2013 – 2016
- Chair, Steering Committee, The Senior Practitioners Forum – Estate Litigation and Planning, Cambridge Forums, 2015 - present
