Overview
Stephanie practices exclusively in estate and trust law, focusing on all aspects of estate planning and estate administration in order to provide clients with sound and helpful legal advice.
Stephanie regularly advises clients on their succession plan including wills, trusts, powers of attorney and domestic contracts. Her clients range from blended families, business owners and entrepreneurs, medical professionals, high net worth clients and young couples, and those with complex cross-border and multijurisdictional issues and needs.
Stephanie works closely with clients and their professional team to develop custom plans based on each client’s specific needs and objectives while ensuring tax minimization
Stephanie also advises executors, trustees, and attorneys on their duties and obligations, and provides guidance through the complexities of the estate administration process including where there are cross-border and multijurisdictional estate challenges, as well as estate and trust accounting, where needed or appropriate.
Stephanie holds the Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP, 2022) designation from the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). In addition, Stephanie achieved the highest mark in Canada on STEP’s 2021 Wills, Trust & Estate Administration exam.
Stephanie was promoted to partner in January 2022.
Prior to joining O’Sullivan Estate Lawyers LLP, Stephanie articled and practiced trusts and estates law at a boutique law firm.
Professional Activities
- Member, Ontario Bar Association (OBA)
- Member, Toronto Lawyers Association (TLA)
- Accredited Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP), Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP)
- Member, Junior Trusts and Estates Practitioners
Presentations
Upcoming
- The O’Sullivan Team will host an international webinar for members of Mondaq, on “Cross-Border Canada-U.S. Estate Planning and Administration Issues” on Thursday, March 23, 2023.
Recent
- Stephanie Battista spoke on “Wills, Estates and Powers of Attorney” at the Association of Law Officers of the Crown (ALOC) / Government of Ontario Educational Conference, in Niagara Falls on November 7, 2022.
- Stephanie with the O’Sullivan Team hosted a webinar for readers of international legal publication Mondaq, on the topic “It’s Complicated: Solutions for Planning and Administering an Estate with Foreign Connections” on March 24, 2022.
- Stephanie spoke on “Jointly Held Assets” during Administration of Estates, a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) event organized by the Law Society of Ontario (LSO), aimed at estate lawyers on September 23, 2021. The program was co-chaired by Susannah Roth, a partner at O’Sullivan Estate Lawyers.
- Stephanie with the O’Sullivan Team hosted a webinar on the topic “Complex, High Value Estate and Trust Administration: Perils and Pitfalls,” for trust officers across Canada, in conjunction with Estate Research, a genealogy search firm in the U.K., on May 19, 2021. Specific topics included: 1) Gathering in foreign assets; 2) Liability and income tax matters; and 3) Private corporation interests in an estate or trust.
- Stephanie with the O’Sullivan team hosted a private webinar for advisors and clients of Scotia Private Wealth Management, “Foreign Property and Connections: It’s Complicated,” on February 18, 2021.
- Stephanie with the O’Sullivan team hosted a webinar, “Using Multijurisdictional Wills and Powers of Attorney,” on January 20, 2021, in conjunction with Chambers and Partners. Registrants spanned
43 countries around the world. - Stephanie with the O’Sullivan team hosted a webinar, “Planning and Administering an Estate with Foreign Connections,” in conjunction with Key Media, publishers of Canadian Lawyer magazine and The Law Times, on September 23, 2020.
Publications
- The Lawyer’s Daily, Wills, Trusts & Estates, “The trustee as genie: A letter of wishes,” on September 1, 2022. This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.
- Stephanie was quoted in an article, “How does property ownership work in common law relationships?” by James Battison in MoneyWise Magazine, on July 28, 2022. “I think sometimes people are under the mistaken belief that not being married makes things simpler,” says Stephanie Battista, partner at O’Sullivan Estate Lawyers. “But that’s actually not the case.”
- The Lawyer’s Daily, Wills, Trusts & Estates, “Estate planning with joint assets: Think of your executor,” on July 13, 2022. This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.
- The Lawyer’s Daily, Wills, Trusts & Estates, “Make sure you have it before you give it,” on May 13, 2022. This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.
- The Lawyer’s Daily, Wills, Trusts & Estates, “Little orphan assets: Making a list, checking it twice,” on March 22, 2022. This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.
- The Lawyer’s Daily, Wills, Trusts & Estates, Stephanie was promoted to partner in January 2022.
- The Lawyer’s Daily, Wills, Trusts & Estates, “Using language to make wills more inclusive,” on November 18, 2021. This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.
- The Lawyer’s Daily, Wills, Trusts & Estates, “Should I stay or should I go: When to decline acting as executor,” on September 27, 2021. This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.
- The Lawyer’s Daily, Wills, Trusts & Estates, “First create a will, then keep it updated,” on July 20, 2021. This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.
- The Lawyer’s Daily, Wills, Trusts & Estates, “The benefits of choosing an executor who’s a team player,” on May 31, 2021. This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.
- The Lawyer’s Daily, Wills, Trusts & Estates, “Resulting trusts can cause more estate problems than they solve,” on April 20, 2021. This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.
- The Lawyer’s Daily, Wills, Trusts & Estates, “European ‘forced heirship’ in estate planning: a case study,” on February 5, 2021. This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.
- The Lawyer’s Daily, Wills, Trusts & Estates, “We’re moving to Canada: Leaving assets abroad,” on
October 14, 2020. This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc. - The Lawyer’s Daily, Wills, Trusts & Estates, “When you don’t trust a beneficiary, use a trust,” on September 4, 2020. This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (www.thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.