Altro LLP
Automatically compiled listing. Details may contain errors.9 lawyers · Established 1988 · City of Toronto, Montréal, Metro Vancouver
One of 2,276 law firms listed in Toronto, and one of 66 handling Tax Law.
About Altro LLP
Altro LLP helps wealthy families and individuals in Canada and the United States with estate planning, tax, real estate, corporate and probate work, whether a matter crosses the border or stays at home. The firm dates back to 1988. Its lawyers are licensed in both countries, so they can build a tax or estate plan and then set up the legal structures that plan needs under the law of each jurisdiction involved.
Managing Partner David A. Altro leads the team, a Quebec notary who's also a Florida attorney, a Canadian legal advisor and foreign legal counsel. The main focus is estate and trust planning for clients of high and ultra-high net worth, together with tax planning for companies and individuals, in Canada and across the border. Before setting up Altro LLP, David Altro was a partner at Holland & Knight in Florida. The managing partner has also written two books, Owning US Property the Canadian Way (third edition) and Americans Living in Canada: Smile, The IRS is Watching You, and serves as legal commentator on the Dollars & Sense radio show on CJAD 800 AM.
The firm's Canada-US tax lawyers hold licences in Florida, New Jersey, New York, Ontario and Quebec, and several of them have advanced tax degrees. Two members of the firm are Quebec notaries. In the Montreal office, associate Stephania Fahmi works in French, English, Spanish and Arabic.
David Altro divides time between the firm's Toronto and Montreal offices, and Altro LLP also has offices in Vancouver and in Hollywood, Florida. Consultation requests go in through an online form, and the firm commits to a prompt reply.
History
In 2001 the practice was running as the law offices of David A. Altro, a Quebec notary and Florida attorney, with a Montreal office at 5 Place Ville Marie and a Florida office in Hollywood. By 2010 it was known as Altro & Associates, and that's the name David Altro was quoted under in a September 2011 Winnipeg Free Press feature on Canadians buying homes in Arizona. Today the firm practises as Altro LLP.
Practice areas
Canadians with US property
Canadians who already own US real estate, and those just entering that market, turn to Altro LLP for the transactions and the tax and estate questions that come with them. The firm's Florida-licensed attorneys act on residential and investment deals throughout the state, and Of Counsel Jeffrey Feinberg, a Florida attorney, focuses on real estate transactions, title insurance problems and FIRPTA. For clients with several US rentals, the firm structures portfolios so liability from one property doesn't spread to the others and lenders will accept the setup.
Estate settlement, probate and cross-border trusts
Altro LLP has spent almost 40 years settling estates and handling probate and related tax issues for families in Ontario, Quebec and Florida, and its Quebec notaries regularly homologate wills and protection mandates, including for families who then need that authority recognized in a US state. Partner Avi Guttman helps Canadian executors and trustees with estates holding US assets, from US estate tax returns to probate of those assets. The firm's Cross Border Trust is designed so successor trustees can step in and manage the assets without going to court.
US citizens in Canada and tax disputes
Tax planning for US citizens living in Canada, and for Canadians with cross-border issues, sits at the centre of the practice. Associate Raphael Rutman has over ten years of experience acting for taxpayers against the Canada Revenue Agency and Ontario's Ministry of Finance, from audit and objection through to the Tax Court of Canada, the Federal Courts and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Associate Isha Rana, who practised at K&L Gates in Sydney, Australia before joining, also advises not-for-profits on structuring, charitable registration, qualified donee status and ongoing compliance.
Corporate structuring on both sides of the border
Altro LLP sets up corporations and partnerships under federal, Ontario and Quebec law and in states such as Delaware and Florida, coordinating the tax elections each entity needs. Partner Bradley R. Thompson brings experience with complex corporate transactions in Canada and across the border, including M&A, financings and joint venture structuring, while associate Yana Timokhova works mainly with privately owned Canadian corporations on personal and corporate tax planning and business succession.
Moving to the US and immigration
Canadians weighing a move south, or already committed to one, get help keeping the move efficient and avoiding costly mistakes, and Altro LLP looks for tax planning openings particular to each client, such as using accrued losses on non-registered investments twice. Of Counsel Matthew Silver, an Ontario and Florida attorney, acts for individuals and employers, from startups to large corporations, on their immigration matters.
Good to know
Wheelchair accessibleHow Altro LLP works
Altro LLP designs a structure and then carries it out itself under each relevant jurisdiction's corporate, trust and tax rules, instead of giving the client a memo and leaving the implementation to others. On US property purchases, the firm's Canada-US real estate lawyers work through how title will be held, which country taxes the rent and any later gain, what happens if the owner loses capacity and who may handle the property once the owner dies, all before an offer is signed rather than after closing.
In estate settlement, Altro LLP's mission is to move probate and the administration of the estate forward as quickly as it can, so beneficiaries receive their inheritances and get on with their lives.
Milestones & recognition
- On graduating from law school, partner Bradley R. Thompson received the W.R. Jackett Prize in Taxation and the Stikeman Elliott/Carswell National Tax Award, then articled for the Ontario bar as a clerk to the justices of the Tax Court of Canada.
- Bradley Thompson is the founding editor of Arbitrary Assessment / Sans imposition, a bilingual Thomson Reuters newsletter distributed on TaxnetPro.
- In 2019, the French-language journal Finance et Investissement interviewed Bradley Thompson about Passive Foreign Investment Companies (PFICs).
- On May 20, 2020, The Globe and Mail published a special by David A. Altro and Bradley Richard Thompson making the case for an estate freeze at that time.
- David A. Altro has appeared on CTV News, CTV's Canada AM and CBC's The Lang & O'Leary Exchange.
In the community
- In 2010, Altro & Associates was championship court sponsor of Squash Crohn's for a second year running. The charity squash tournament for Crohn's and colitis research was chaired by the firm's chief operating officer, Matthew Altro, and David Altro asked for donations to the cause in place of payment for copies of Owning U.S. Property, The Canadian Way.
- Under the Altro & Associates name, the firm was a Platinum sponsor of the Bal Réseau Sélection, an evening that supports charitable causes in the Montreal area.
Affiliations & connections
- STEP Canada (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners): Altro LLP associate Raphael Rutman is an affiliate member of STEP Canada.
Lawyers 9
Who handles what
Offices 3
The neighbourhood
The Toronto office is at 20 Adelaide Street East, in a building that went up in 1987 a short way east of Yonge Street, close to the downtown core and the PATH. Its first three floors are faced in granite, concrete and glass chosen to suit the area's historic character, with reflective glass on the storeys above.
In Montreal, Altro LLP works from 1200 McGill College, a 24-storey tower in the downtown business district that pairs 240,000 square feet of offices with 70,000 square feet of retail space. It's close to major roads, public transit, the McGill REM station and the city's 32-km underground pedestrian network.
Frequently asked questions
- Can Altro LLP's Quebec notaries prepare a notarial will that fits with my Florida documents?
- Altro LLP has two Quebec notaries, Managing Partner David A. Altro and Of Counsel Alessandro Tortis, so the firm can draw up notarial wills, trust deeds, powers of attorney and protection mandates in authentic form. Those documents are then coordinated with Ontario, Florida and other US paperwork as part of one plan.
- If a Quebec or Ontario representative already acts for my incapacitated parent, can the firm have that authority recognized in Florida?
- Altro LLP can seek recognition in Florida of a Quebec or Ontario representative who's already been appointed. For owners of Florida property, the firm's simpler safeguard is a Florida durable power of attorney, drafted correctly and signed before the owner loses capacity.
- Will Altro LLP act as an executor or trustee for an estate with assets in Ontario, Quebec or Florida?
- Altro LLP can serve as one of the executors or trustees of an estate when a client asks, in addition to acting as the estate's lawyers in Florida, Ontario and Quebec.
- Why does the firm caution Canadians about the US revocable trust that American advisers often suggest?
- Altro LLP has seen many Canadians told by US lawyers and real estate brokers to hold US property in a revocable trust so it avoids probate. For a Canadian resident, a standard US revocable trust can trigger Canadian capital gains tax on the transfer and bring complicated reporting, and the firm's view is that trust ownership often makes sense only when it's designed for both US and Canadian tax rules.
- Can Altro LLP help a dual citizen in Canada renounce US citizenship and plan for the exit tax?
- Altro LLP partner Avi Guttman advises dual citizens on the legal and tax consequences of giving up US citizenship and guides them through the process. The firm also prepares pre-expatriation plans aimed at reducing those consequences.
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Bankruptcy & InsolvencyThis listing was generated by AI from public sources in October 2026. It may contain errors, and we can’t guarantee it’s accurate or complete. Before you rely on anything here, verify it on the firm’s own website. Verify licence status in the Law Society of Ontario directory ↗
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