Craig Ross
Craig Ross
Lawyer
905.273.3022 Ext. 231
cross@pallettvalo.com
v-card
Craig Ross heads up the firm's Wills, Estates & Trusts Practice and is a member of the Estate Litigation Group and the Family Business Law Group.
Practice
Craig works closely with clients and other professional advisors to develop a customized estate plan which gives maximal effect to clients' intentions by: identifying and dealing with responsibilities to spouses, common-law spouses, and other dependants; developing creative solutions to give effect to special intentions regarding certain beneficiaries or estate property; and making use of trusts to provide estate protection, creditor protection, and income tax and probate planning as circumstances require.
Craig also represents and advises trustees, beneficiaries, heirs, and dependants in the administration of trusts, and in disputes that arise therefrom.
Craig has significant experience assisting families with children who have disabilities. This includes educating parents on the planning required to protect ODSP benefits for their children and utilizing the legal tools to secure this protection, advocating on behalf of families when beneficiaries' ODSP benefits are at risk, and representing families where court-ordered guardianship is required to care for their loved ones. Craig is a director of Community Living Mississauga and sits on their Rights Review Committee.
Craig is also a regular speaker and writer on subjects of estate planning and planning for beneficiaries with disabilities. His articles have appeared in the Toronto Star and in Ontario Bar Association publications, and he has taught professional development sessions on this subject. Craig is also a director of the Estate Planning Council of Mississauga.
Professional Memberships
Member, Canadian Bar Association
Member, Ontario Bar Association
Member, Board of Directors for Community Living Mississauga
Education
B.A. (Hons.), University of Toronto (2002)
LL.B., Osgoode Hall Law School (2005)
Called to the Ontario Bar, 2006
Publications
- Estate Dispute Shows that Leaving an Unclear Will Can Have Serious Legal and Personal Consequences for Family Members and Estate Trustees
- Executors Beware: Important Changes to the Administration of Ontario Probate Tax are Coming
- "Special Needs Planning for Family Caregivers" (Family Caregivers Unite!Voice America)
- Trust, Estate and Third Parties - Compliance Issues in Modern Practice
- Probate Gems - Probate Essentials 2010
- Practice Gems - Probate Essentials 2009
- Priority for Funeral Expenses in Bankruptcy: Re Decleva (The Last Word: CBA National Wills, Estates and Trusts Section Newsletter - June 2009)
- Re Decleva – Re Walters Rises from the Dead (Deadbeat: OBA Trusts & Estates Section, Volume 26, No. 4, pages 15-16 - May 2008)
- Family Business Law Bulletin (March 2008)
- Estate Planning Updates, Recent Cases (July 2007)
- Some Estate Planning Opportunities (revised December 2008)
- A Guide to Will Preparation and Estate Planning
- A Guide to Estate Planning - Disabled Beneficiaries