About BUTLER Wills and Estates Consulting Services
Our Team
We're not your average law firm. Butler Wills and Estates Consulting Services is accessible,
informal, and affordable. We offer more than thirty-five years of experience in wills and estates matters and
high-end results, provided in ways that work for our clients. We're proud to be a family-owned business serving our community.
What makes us so different? We have a fresh mindset that sets us apart.
• Our focus is on practical problem solving and conflict resolution, not on lengthy, expensive litigation.
We conduct mediation sessions aimed at resolving disputes without tearing families apart or
costing tens of thousands of dollars.
• We don’t use the billable hour system used by most lawyers. We use set prices for set jobs,
so you know what the work will cost before you start.
• We carry a large selection of books, legal articles, and how-to kits we’ve prepared on wills and estates topics that you can purchase at low prices, without being obligated to hire us for anything. Anyone can come in and purchase the materials they want at any time.
• We’ll tailor our services to help you as much or as little as you need.
• You can come in for a single consultation at a reasonable price without being obligated to hire us to do work for you. If you decide to hire us after a consultation, we'll deduct the fee for the consultation from your final bill.
We also offer consultations with a Certified Executor Advisor.
If you need information about acting as an executor, help with managing an estate, or you have questions about what an executor is supposed to do, we offer one-time consultations with a Certified Executor Advisor. Currently there are only eight CEAs operating in Newfoundland and Labrador, and two of them are in our office!
CEAs can assist you with getting ready to do your own estate planning, or step in after a loved one has passed away.
A CEA can help you with:
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Completing estate paperwork, such as applications for government benefits, cancelling subscriptions, or filing taxes.
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Contacting beneficiaries and creditors.
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Setting up an executor's recordkeeping log and preparing an accounting.
Lynne Butler, BA, LLB, TEP
Lawyer, mediator, public speaker, author
Lynne graduated from UBC law school and was called to the bar in Alberta in 1986. Her enjoyment of wills and estates law began early, and this grew into a passion over the years. After more than 30 years, thousands of wills drawn and hundreds of estates probated, Lynne joined a leading trust company and worked as an estate planner for a further seven years. She now works in her home province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Lynne has appeared on, or been interviewed by, CPAC, CityTV, Global TV, BNN, CBC Radio, the Wall Street Journal, the Globe and Mail, the Vancouver Province, the Edmonton Journal, the Toronto Star, the Montreal Gazette, Canadian Lawyer Magazine, Today's Parent Magazine, Caregiver Solutions Magazine, Advisor's Edge Magazine and Maclean's Magazine, as well as several websites.
Currently Lynne is the chair for the Wills and Estates section of the Bar Admission Committee in Newfoundland, and has previously taught the legal writing and research portion of the Alberta Bar Admission course.
Chelsea Kennedy, BA, CEA
Executive Practice
Co-ordinator
Chelsea holds a bachelor's degree in Criminology and Sociology from MacEwan University in Alberta, and is a Certified Executor Advisor. She has a strong background in customer service, problem-solving, and analytics.
Chelsea is responsible for coordinating all of Butler Wills and Estates Consulting Services events, seminars, appointments, public relations, social media, marketing, and human resources, in addition to the day-to-day running of the office.
Daisy outside the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's.
April 2021.
"Your assistance is invaluable with the information you provide. Big HUGE thanks." - T.B.
"I wish I had come to you first." - C.C.