Rachel Blumenfeld

Rachel advises clients on estates, tax and succession planning matters. By asking the right questions and listening carefully, Rachel gets the information she needs to structure her clients’ affairs effectively. She is an active speaker and participant at conferences and professional development events, ensuring she remains a leader on rapidly changing legal and tax rules and regulations.

As a member of the Aird & Berlis Estates & Trusts and Tax Groups, Rachel’s practice focuses on trusts and estates, personal tax planning and charities law. She advises on tax, trusts, estate planning and administration, preparation of wills, power of attorney documents, business succession and insurance planning. Rachel has significant experience with cross-border planning for clients who have U.S. or other foreign connections. She also works with families with disabled children to plan and structure their estates appropriately and offers advice to charities and donors on planned giving, philanthropic programs, administration of bequests and other gifts.

Rachel has been a director of STEP Canada since 2015 and currently serves as the Deputy Chair.  She served on the STEP Toronto Executive and co-chaired and chaired the National Conference for a number of years. As well, Rachel was the President of the Toronto Estate Planning Council in 2016-2017 and chaired the CALU Associate Member Conference in 2016 and 2017. She is currently a director of the McMichael Canadian Art Foundation, REENA, and a past director of the Toronto Partnership Minyan.

Rachel is recognized in Chambers HNW: The World’s Leading High Net Worth Advisers, The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory (Estate & Personal Tax Planning and Charities and Not-for-Profit Law), the Lexpert Guide to US/Canada Cross-border Lawyers in Canada, The Best Lawyers in Canada (Trusts and Estates), Who’s Who Legal: Canada (Private Client) and Who’s Who Legal: Private Client. She was awarded the 2021 STEP Founder’s Award for Outstanding Achievement and honoured as the 2018 STEP Canada Michael Cadesky Volunteer of the Year and as the 2016 Volunteer of the Year by STEP Toronto. Rachel was also awarded the 2012 Ontario Bar Association Trusts and Estates Section Hoffstein Book Prize.