Tell us about your position at Pallett Valo
I am proud to be one of Pallett Valo’s Wills and Estates lawyers, with a practice dedicated exclusively to estate planning, estate administration, estate litigation and guardianship matters. My days are spent working with families to develop and implement their estate plans, assisting executors, trustees, attorneys and guardians to navigate their responsibilities, helping beneficiaries obtain what is rightfully theirs and helping families apply for guardianship when there are no powers of attorney in place.
What are some of your biggest achievements/accomplishments within your legal career and why are these so important to you?
The work that gives me the greatest joy is working with families to implement comprehensive estate plans to ensure an orderly distribution of clients’ hard earned wealth, and providing solutions to client’s estate planning concerns. Over the last several years I have developed a specialty in working with families with special needs beneficiaries. It brings me great joy when I can see the relief on parent’s faces when we have finalized their Wills and made concrete plans for the future of their loved ones, including the preservation of valuable government disability benefits. I am also very proud to be appointed from time to time by the Public Guardian and Trustee’s office as section 3 counsel for persons whose capacity is in question in litigation matters. This challenging role is reserved for experienced legal counsel and I am grateful to know that my extensive experience in estates matters is recognized.
In honour of International Women’s Day, Pallett Valo has organized a charity drive with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peel. Please tell us more about the organization and your connection to it.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peel is an incredible organization dedicated to mentoring children and youth in the Peel Region. It is often recognized by its purple logo of a “Big” holding hands with a “Little” over a great big heart. That’s where it starts: from the heart. Founded over 50 years ago with the commonly known Big Brothers One-to-One Mentoring program, Big Brothers has expanded in ways that no one expected: A merger with Big Sisters of Peel, and the creation of many amazing programs to offer caring adult relationships for children and youth: from In-School Mentoring programs, to Group Mentoring programs, Big Bunch, Jump Math, Go Girls! Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds!, Conversation Club, Game On! Eat Smart, Play Smart!, Teen Mentoring, Conversation Club, traditional One-to-One Mentoring, and more. The stories are heartwarming. The successes are huge. I have been immensely proud to serve on the Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peel for 5 years and I am very much looking forward to seeing what amazing things this organization will do over the next 50 years. I am very proud that Pallett Valo LLP is dedicating our International Women’s Day charity drive to this very worthy organization.