Can WEL Partners help if I want to contest a will in Ontario?

Yes. Will and estate disputes are one of WEL Partners' core practice areas, and the firm represents beneficiaries, executors and other parties in will challenges across Ontario.

Does WEL Partners handle power of attorney and guardianship disputes?

Yes. The firm acts in power of attorney disputes, capacity proceedings and guardianship applications, including matters before Ontario's Consent and Capacity Board.

I think an elderly relative is being financially exploited. Can WEL Partners help?

Elder financial abuse is one of the firm's listed practice areas. WEL Partners has also worked on public education about the issue through the Toronto Police Service's Seniors Community Consultative Committee.

Does WEL Partners go to court, or does the firm also offer mediation?

Both. WEL Partners litigates estate and capacity disputes and also mediates and arbitrates them, in person or virtually, for clients across Canada.

How long has WEL Partners been practising, and where is the firm located?

Kimberly Whaley founded the firm in 2005. WEL Partners is now located at 45 St. Clair Avenue West, Suite 600, in Toronto.

Does WEL Partners prepare wills, or only handle disputes?

WEL Partners itself focuses on litigation and mediation, not estate planning. For will and estate plan preparation, the firm refers clients to an associated practice, Gertzbein Law.

WEL Partners | LawOnline Directory

About WEL Partners

WEL Partners, formally Whaley Estate Litigation Partners and practising as WEL Professional Corporation, is a Toronto firm that handles only estate, trust and capacity litigation across Ontario. Kimberly Whaley founded the firm in 2005 and is still a managing partner, now alongside Bryan Gilmartin, who joined as a summer student and became Co-Managing Partner after the 2020 call to the bar. The team also includes a partner, several lawyers, firm counsel and law clerks, working out of a single office on St. Clair Avenue West in midtown Toronto.

The docket covers will and estate disputes, passing of accounts, capacity and guardianship proceedings, power of attorney disputes, dependant support claims, elder financial abuse, Consent and Capacity Board matters, and estate mediation and arbitration. Canadian Lawyer Magazine has included WEL Partners among Canada's Top 10 Wills, Trusts and Estates boutique firms, and the firm also appears in Best Lawyers, Chambers Canada, Lexpert and Martindale Hubbell listings. For estate planning and administration work, which WEL Partners itself doesn't handle, the firm refers clients to an associated practice, Gertzbein Law.

Practice areas

Wills, Estates & Trusts

Health Law

Milestones & recognition

Kimberly Whaley founded WEL Partners (originally Whaley Estate Litigation) in 2005.
Canadian Lawyer Magazine included WEL Partners among Canada's Top 10 Wills, Trusts and Estates boutique firms.
Kimberly Whaley received the 2026 OBA Award for Excellence in Elder Law and the 2024 OBA Award of Excellence in Trusts and Estates Law.
Firm counsel Albert H. Oosterhoff received the 2019 OBA Award of Excellence in Trusts and Estates Law.
Kimberly Whaley received the Ontario Bar Association's Hoffstein Book Prize in 2009.
Kimberly Whaley is an International Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and represents STEP Canada on the STEP Worldwide Council.

In the community

Kimberly Whaley served as Co-Civilian Chair of the Toronto Police Service's Seniors Community Consultative Committee, which developed public resource brochures on elder abuse and senior isolation.
Kimberly Whaley is a CanAge Fellow, a role with Canada's national seniors' advocacy organization.
Kimberly Whaley has taught as an adjunct professor at Queen's University, the University of Toronto and Western University.
Kimberly Whaley co-edits the Estates and Trusts Journal for Carswell, Thomson Reuters Canada.

Good to know

Wheelchair accessible

Lawyers 12

Certified Specialists

A designation granted by the Law Society of Ontario, not a self-declared area of focus.

Kimberly A. WhaleyEstates and Trusts Law, Law Society of Ontario

This firm’s lawyers at a glance

Called to the bar: 1966–2025 · median 8 years in practice 11 of 12 lawyers
Law schools: Queen's University (3), Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, Lakehead University, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University, University of Kent, University of Windsor / University of Detroit Mercy (Dual JD) 7 of 12 lawyers
Languages on the roster: Farsi, French

Who handles what

The neighbourhood

WEL Partners works out of an office tower built in 1969 in the Yonge/St. Clair area of midtown Toronto, close to the St. Clair subway station. The stretch is a mix of corporate offices, restaurants and theatres, the kind of area where the wealth succession and estate disputes the firm handles often start.

Frequently asked questions

Can WEL Partners help if I want to contest a will in Ontario?: Yes. Will and estate disputes are one of WEL Partners' core practice areas, and the firm represents beneficiaries, executors and other parties in will challenges across Ontario.
Does WEL Partners handle power of attorney and guardianship disputes?: Yes. The firm acts in power of attorney disputes, capacity proceedings and guardianship applications, including matters before Ontario's Consent and Capacity Board.
I think an elderly relative is being financially exploited. Can WEL Partners help?: Elder financial abuse is one of the firm's listed practice areas. WEL Partners has also worked on public education about the issue through the Toronto Police Service's Seniors Community Consultative Committee.
Does WEL Partners go to court, or does the firm also offer mediation?: Both. WEL Partners litigates estate and capacity disputes and also mediates and arbitrates them, in person or virtually, for clients across Canada.
How long has WEL Partners been practising, and where is the firm located?: Kimberly Whaley founded the firm in 2005. WEL Partners is now located at 45 St. Clair Avenue West, Suite 600, in Toronto.
Does WEL Partners prepare wills, or only handle disputes?: WEL Partners itself focuses on litigation and mediation, not estate planning. For will and estate plan preparation, the firm refers clients to an associated practice, Gertzbein Law.

Where to find them

45 St. Clair Ave. West, Suite 600 Toronto, Ontario, M4V 1K9 · 416-925-7400

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Listing compiled from the firm’s public website in September 2026. Verify licence status in the Law Society of Ontario directory ↗