Meet Veronica Manski, Estate Planning Lawyer at Onyx Law Group

Veronica Manski practises estate planning at Onyx Law Group. She came to the law by way of a business degree and a short career in corporate banking in Toronto before heading west for law school, drawn to work that puts her alongside people on everyday matters rather than in the courtroom.

She enjoys estate planning because it lets her help clients do something meaningful: put their wishes and values into a plan they can rely on. That work often touches asset structuring, division among beneficiaries, and the causes clients want to support. Read more on her bio page, or explore the firm’s approach to estate planning.

How Veronica can help

• Draft wills and estate plans that reflect each client’s values and wishes.
• Advise on asset structuring and how an estate is divided among beneficiaries.
• Guide executors through estate administration, including the probate process, one step at a time.

Full transcript

So, Veronica, how did you decide you wanted to become a lawyer? From a young age, my mom had always been instilling in me this interest in the law and in becoming a lawyer. She'd say, "You should really be a lawyer. You'd be a good lawyer." And it wasn't always a compliment, but it was something that always stuck with me. It hadn't been a viable career option for her, so it was something that I always considered, and thought, well, the law is pretty interesting. At least when you read John Grisham books and other legal thrillers, you get really interested in what the law is all about. At first, I did study business school before deciding fully that I wanted to attend law school, and wanted some real-world experience. So I had a short career in corporate banking in Toronto before realizing that the law was still my primary interest and my primary focus. I was fortunate to come out west for law school, and I was able to focus on people and law that has a focus on helping people. For me, that involved family law and estates law. When I articled, that was my primary focus, and I got amazing opportunities to pursue both areas, and did start the beginning of my practice in family law. After doing that for a few years though, I did have an interest in coming back to estate law. That had been one of my original focus areas, and I decided it was a better fit for me to transfer from doing the interesting courtroom legal work that a litigator does to the solicitor's work that you do meeting with people every day and helping people with everyday issues. And that brought me back to estate law, which I've never looked back on.

Why are you passionate about estate planning? I really enjoy being an estate planning lawyer because it means getting to help clients do something incredibly meaningful. Many clients have really deep-seated beliefs and values in how they want to have their estate wishes fulfilled once they've passed away. They might require advice about asset structuring or division between and among beneficiaries, special causes that they want to benefit. We take all that into account when we craft the right solutions that fit for meeting their wishes.

So, Veronica, why are you passionate about probate and estate administration? I really enjoy getting to take clients through an otherwise anxiety-inducing and complicated process and making it simple for them. Clients tell me that it brings them a lot of relief to rely on me and entrust me to provide guidance and advice through that process and walk them through each step to obtaining the grant of probate, distributing the estate, dealing with any complicated issues, and resolving the final process through obtaining a tax clearance certificate. It gives them a lot of comfort knowing that they had professional advice to take them from start to finish. And that gives me a lot of personal fulfillment.

If you are ready to plan your estate or want advice on where to start, Veronica is glad to help. Book a consultation.