Inspire Law
Automatically compiled listing. Details may contain errors.1 lawyer · Waterloo Region
One of 54 law firms listed in Waterloo, and one of 22 handling Family Law.
Free consultationFree consultationAbout Inspire Law
Inspire Law is a Waterloo practice for people building their families, with work that spans adoption, kin and customary care, surrogacy, embryo donation, egg and sperm donation, and parentage declarations. It supports individuals and their families in Waterloo, serves families across Ontario in fertility and adoption law, and offers its family-building services throughout Canada.
Teneil MacNeil runs the practice. MacNeil earned an honours BA at the University of Waterloo in 2003 and an LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School in 2006, was called to the Bar in 2007, and became a partner at a national law firm in 2016. Today MacNeil practises independently, concentrating on adoption, kin and customary care and fertility matters. That focus is personal too: MacNeil adopted a child and also grew the family through gamete donation.
Family building isn’t all Inspire Law does. It also offers child welfare navigation and advocacy, wills and powers of attorney, and help with legal disputes and general litigation. A civil litigator by background, MacNeil still takes on disputes in matters that have nothing to do with family building.
Organizations can get help too: Inspire Law is keen to help fertility clinics, hospitals and others get a better grasp of fertility law.
Practice areas
Adoption, surrogacy and parentage
Adoption work covers relative, kinship, step-parent and adult adoptions, alongside kinship and customary care and surrogacy. Inspire Law also handles birth registrations and declarations of parentage, and gives surrogates, donors and intended parents their own independent legal advice.
Our guide: How to Get a Divorce in Ontario
Child welfare navigation
Child welfare help is open to intended parents, foster parents, 2SLGBTQIA+ families and caregivers, and Indigenous families. Foster parents can get guidance on their role and on taking part in planning or court processes, and Indigenous families can get support with customary care, band involvement or child welfare paths particular to their culture.
Basic wills and powers of attorney
Will-drafting at Inspire Law is deliberately basic: naming an estate trustee, deciding how assets are divided, choosing guardians for minor children and leaving guidance for the trustee. Powers of attorney for both property and personal care are prepared as well.
Contract and negligence disputes
Inspire Law brings 18 years of litigation experience to a wide mix of disputes, contract disputes and negligence claims among them.
Good to know
Accessible parking
Woman-ownedFees & payment
Free consultationHow Inspire Law works
Inspire Law’s goal is to help, legally and beyond. If your own experience has led you to useful adoption resources, the firm invites you to email them in so it can pass them on to others, and supporting birth parents is another of its goals.
In child welfare matters, Inspire Law grounds its work in empathy, clarity and a commitment to all families. With wills, it aims for clear, practical documents that carry out your intentions in a legally effective way.
Milestones & recognition
- In 2024, MacNeil completed the Adoption Council of Ontario's 54-hour ACT curriculum on adoption and permanency for child welfare and mental health professionals.
- Also in 2024, MacNeil took a nine-hour Mental Health First Aid course through the Mental Health Commission of Canada's Opening Minds program.
- MacNeil's recent training includes Rainbow Diversity Training 301 with Spectrum in 2025 and Osgoode Hall Law School's Fertility Law: Current & Emerging Issues in 2026.
- MacNeil is a member of the Waterloo Law Association.
In the community
- MacNeil writes "The Blogging Lawyer" posts as the firm's founder, on subjects such as adult adoptions and the Office of the Children's Lawyer.
- One of those posts profiled Never Too Late, a charity that helps young people aging out of care build lasting connections.
Affiliations & connections
- Interwoven Connections: Teneil MacNeil is a board member of Interwoven Connections, which provides education, advocacy and community to families connected through adoption, kinship and customary care. As an adoption and fertility lawyer at Inspire Law, MacNeil prepares agreements for surrogacy and for embryo and gamete donation, and seeks parentage declarations when they’re needed.
Who handles what
Frequently asked questions
- What does Inspire Law charge for a gestational surrogacy agreement?
- A gestational surrogacy agreement costs $4,000 at Inspire Law. All rates are subject to disbursements and HST.
- How fast does Inspire Law turn around its fertility law work?
- Fertility law files are turned around within two weeks, unless an emergency on the file changes that.
- How much does Inspire Law charge for an individual will?
- An individual will is $350. Pairing it with powers of attorney for property and personal care brings it to $650.
- Can I send Inspire Law a retainer by e-transfer?
- Yes. E-transfers go to payments@inspirelaw.org, but please only send a retainer once Inspire Law has asked for one.
- Whose traditional territory does Inspire Law acknowledge?
- The firm works on Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe and Neutral traditional territory, on lands covered by the Dish With One Spoon Wampum.
- How long is Inspire Law's free consultation?
- The free consultation runs 20 minutes, and you can book it online.
Where to find them
106-191 King Street South, Waterloo, ON N2J 1R1 · 519-404-7593
Is this your firm?
Fix or remove this listing, or add a free listing badge
Something wrong with this listing? Tell us and we’ll hide it right away while we review your request, then correct it or take it down.
Add your free listing badge
Add the free LawOnline listing badge to your website. It tells visitors you’re listed in an independent Canadian lawyer directory and links back to this profile. Being listed isn’t a certification or an endorsement, and the badge doesn’t mean we’ve checked your credentials.
Similar firms in Waterloo Region
Ted Dueck Mediation & Arbitration is a solo practice based in Waterloo, Ontario, run by lawyer Ted Dueck. It focuses on mediating and arbitrating family law and estate disputes, offering a way to resolve conflict outs…
Family Law
Wills, Estates & Trusts
Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution
CWM Law is a small general practice serving Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, and the surrounding area. It handles family law, civil litigation, wills and estates, corporate law, real estate, and Landlord and Tenant Boa…
Family LawCivil Litigation & Dispute ResolutionWills, Estates & Trusts
Business & Corporate LawU5Global Law Professional Corporation is a Waterloo, Ontario firm providing legal services across the province, with a focus on real estate, family law, immigration, wills and estates, civil litigation, and notary pub…
Real Estate LawFamily Law
Immigration LawWills, Estates & TrustsThis 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 ↗
How this data is compiled and checked · Correct or remove this listing