Erin Lafuente, TEP

Erin Lafuente, TEP is a Partner in the Trusts, Estates and Wealth Preservation group in Dentons' Edmonton office. She is called to practise in Alberta and British Columbia, and her primary practice focus is in the areas of Wills and Trusts, including wills, estates, incapacity and disability.

Erin has extensive experience handling estate litigation, including contested wills, undue influence, capacity and dependency (Family Maintenance and Support Claims). She has handled many disputes involving joint assets and estate accounting. She is also an experienced litigator in complex guardianship and trusteeship matters and has, on occasion, been appointed by the Court to act as the voice of the represented adult in situations involving serious disputes relating to guardianship and trusteeship.

Additionally, Erin prepares estate planning documents including wills, powers of attorney and personal directives. She also handles probate and estate administration matters, including complex and contested administration.

She has appeared before all levels of the Alberta Courts in trial, appeal and interlocutory matters, as well as before professional and administrative tribunals on disciplinary and appeal matters. She has experience in the dispute resolution process, including private mediation, early intervention case conferences and judicial dispute resolution.

Her experience includes advising a beneficiary in a dispute regarding assets misappropriated by an estate trustee, successfully claiming for the return of the funds and obtaining significant relief on costs; advising a represented adult in a lengthy guardianship and trusteeship dispute in which it was held that an individual's need for a guardian and trustee did not preclude that individual from being actively involved in the choice of the guardian and trustee; and successfully defending a summary dismissal application on a complex estate litigation matter dealing with capacity.

She holds an LLB from the University of Alberta (2001) and is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, the Law Society of Alberta, the Law Society of British Columbia and the Canadian Bar Association – Alberta (Wills and Estates, Elder Law subsections). She is a former Chair of the Elder Law Subsection for CBA – Northern Alberta and a Sessional Instructor in Wills and Estates at the University of Alberta Faculty of Law. She is recognised by The Best Lawyers in Canada for Trusts and Estates and by The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory for Estate & Personal Tax Planning.