Debra Lynn Stephens

Passing of Accounts Guardianship Fiduciary appointments and representation Estate administration Mediation Estate and trust litigation

Debra is Counsel to Tupman & Bloom LLP and practices exclusively in the following areas:

Debra (or Deb as she is known to her colleagues and friends) was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1982. Her practice initially focused on general litigation, but primarily in the areas of family, estate, trust and guardianship issues. Since 1998 she has specialized in estate litigation, administration, and planning.

She began her career at Mills and Mills, a full-service firm where she remained for 18 years, having articled there and then becoming a partner. While she initially was involved in all aspects of civil litigation, over the years she concentrated in the areas of estate, trust, capacity and family law litigation. In 1998, upon joining Schnurr Kirsh Stephens (a leading boutique estate litigation firm) she narrowed her focus to estates, trusts and capacity issues, maintaining her litigation practice, but expanding it to include estate planning, administration, and mediation.

In 2008, Deb was appointed The Children’s Lawyer for the Province of Ontario, a branch of the Ministry of the Attorney General which is responsible for providing legal services and clinical services for children in all aspects of estate, tort, and family law proceedings.

Deb returned to private practice in late 2010 and joined Goddard Gamage Stephens, a firm also specializing exclusively in the estate, trust, elder law and capacity fields.