Catherine Anne Olsiak concentrates her practice in the areas of Wills, Estates, Trusts, Health Law, and Incapacity Planning. She advises clients as to living life according to their wishes and ensuring that their estate plans reflect the human and dynamic elements of their lives and the lives of their loved ones.

Catherine's nursing and epidemiology background enables her to contemplate the client's situation from a broader life perspective which goes beyond a legal document. Catherine recognizes the importance of orchestrating a continuum of ongoing support for the client which includes working with community resources to ensure that her clients are maintaining the quality of life they desire both personally and financially (see further details).

Catherine broadly describes her practice as falling into two categories: i) supporting and advising clients as they move through their respective stages of life, such as marriage, planning for children and grandchildren, incapacity, end of life issues, and ii) responding and supporting clients in crisis situations, such as unexpected illness and death, providing for a disabled person, dealing with the incapacity of a loved one, and dealing with issues related to long term care.

This special background also gives Catherine the ability to provide advice to healthcare providers with respect to the nursing practice as it relates to charting, the role of substitute decision makers, acute and long term care issues, and the creation and implementation of policy in these respective areas. This unique expertise is augmented by the strong litigation, business and employment resources available within the firm.

From the planning perspective, Catherine drafts Wills and prepares estate plans to accommodate the expanded requirements of adult children and their families with unique and complicated asset portfolios, plus the growing need to deal with situations of divorced, separated, remarried and disabled persons and minor children and grandchildren. Catherine drafts powers of attorney for property and personal care for individuals, and provides guidance and direction to financial institutions dealing with power of attorney issues during their regular business activities.

From an administrative and remedy perspective, Catherine's experience includes but is not limited to the following, estate administration, the appointment or removal of trustees, passing of accounts for estates and guardianships, Will challenges, dependent relief claims, and applications to remove powers of attorney for property and personal care.

Prior to her career in law, Catherine nursed in three major Toronto hospitals in the cardiology department, trauma intensive care unit and cardiovascular intensive care unit. Catherine also obtained a MSc. in Community Health and Epidemiology.