Predrag (Peter) Tomic
Predrag (Peter) Tomic
TEP
Partner
Overview
Experience
Professional
Community
News + Views + Events

Predrag (Peter) Tomic is a Calgary wills, estates and trusts lawyer with a focus on complex estate planning, trust litigation, and will probate services.

Wills, estates and trusts need to be dealt skillfully to ensure assets are distributed the way an owner intends. It is essential to retain a knowledgeable lawyer that handles matters within their local region as laws may differ in each province or territory. Peter Tomic has extensive experience working with legal estate and will matters in Calgary, Alberta and Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

Executors and beneficiaries turn to Peter when facing contentious claims involving issues such as:

  • Will Probate
  • A Trust
  • Executor of Estate
  • Last Will and Testament
  • Executor of Wills
  • Estate Planning
  • Testamentary Trust

Peter also handles power of attorney disputes, mental capacity litigation, adult guardianship proceedings and trusteeship issues. His Calgary and Yellowknife clients vary widely, along with the size and type of the estate administration and planning issues they face. Many also have family businesses with cross-border operational issues requiring sophisticated succession planning strategies to ensure the seamless transition of business ownership and assets between generations.

Peter Tomic has his designation as a Trust and Estate Practitioner through the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, an international body for professional advisors in the trust and estate administration field.

Value to Clients

Peter's estate litigation experience provides unique insight that enables him to prepare wills for clients without the unclear language and other avoidable mistakes that typically give rise to disputes down the road. Clients appreciate his role as a compassionate, trusted advisor while they are facing difficult and highly-emotional circumstances.

Outside the Office

Peter enjoys backcountry camping and hiking in the Alberta Rockies and studying languages. He is fluent in Serbian and Croatian, functional in French and is adding Tagalog to his repertoire.  

Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP)
Member
2018 - Present
Canadian Bar Association Alberta, Wills and Trusts Section (South)
Executive Member
2011 - Present
Canadian Bar Association Alberta, Young Lawyers (South)
Executive Member
2011 - Present
Canadian Bar Association Alberta, Wills and Trusts Section (South)
Member
2010 - Present
Canadian Bar Association Alberta, Young Lawyers (South)
Member
2010 - Present
Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP)
Student Member
2013 - 2018
CJSW 90.9FM Community Radio
Board Member
2018 - Present
Calgary Downtown Association
Board Member
2018 - Present
Kerby Centre
Volunteer
2016 - Present
Chinook Learning Services
Instructor
2015 - Present
Calgary Heritage Initiative Society
Board Member
2011 - Present
Kmech v Dorosh, 2023 ABKB 457
Martin v Hunter, 2021 ABQB 153
Graeff Estate v Huey, 2020 ABQB 330
Hood v South Calgary Community Church, 2019 ABCA 34
Moore Estate (Re), 2018 ABQB 614
Estate of Alec Goodzeck, 2018 NWTSC 68
Rodehutskors Estate (Re), 2018 ABQB 562
Edmunds Estate, 2017 ABQB 754
Anderson Estate (Re), 2016 ABQB 683
Nelson Estate (Re), 2014 ABQB 765
Nelson Estate (Re), 2014 ABQB 413
February 28, 2023
Tips + Resources for Charities and Non-Profits as Estate Beneficiaries
Seminar
Join Field Law’s Wills, Estates + Trusts Group for a complimentary lunch seminar designed to assist charities and non-profit organizations and their staff with an understanding of estate administration laws and procedures so as to better ass...
August 2022 - 3 min read
Do You Own a Business? You Need a Good Estate Plan
Up Here Business Magazine
Estate planning isn’t a fun topic, but it’s essential. That’s especially true for business owners, from sole proprietorships to corporations. Be sure your final plans meet your hopes and expectations for your business—for the sa...
May 2020 - 4 min read
Virtual Witnessing of Wills in Alberta Not so Clear
In Alberta, as in most other provinces, generally wills, powers of attorney and personal directives need to be signed and witnessed in person for the documents to be legally valid.  Our wills legislation allows certain departur...
March 2020 - 2 min read
A Question of Priorities (If You Want to Administer an Estate)
Appointing a personal representative is one of the first substantive things addressed in a Will and one of the key choices a person can make with respect to their estate plan. When a person dies without a will, someone must apply to the Court to obtain...
March 2020
Sticky Situation: Sticky Note Will Accepted by Alberta Court
While our office remains open during the escalating global coronavirus (COVID-19) situation in Alberta, we have taken steps to minimize the potential impact of the virus in accordance with our firm’s business continuity plan and th...
May 2019
Estate Planning for Privacy
The Supreme Court of Canada may soon be considering the intersection between estate and privacy law as well as the public policy behind the “open court” principle.  The personal representatives of the estates of murdered Canadian billi...
May 2019
Act On Your Legal Obligations to Avoid Post-Death Disputes
A recent case from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Birnie v Birnie, 2019 ONSC 2152, has several important lessons for Canadians when it comes to estate planning.  The case is an important reminder to be aware of your existing legal obligati...
June 2018
Probate for Paddington: Michael Bond, CBE (1926-2017)
One year ago, Michael Bond, CBE the creator of the beloved literary character, Paddington Bear, passed away in London, England at age 91. Though I recall seeing snippets of Paddington Bear on the television when I was young, I never actively watched th...
June 2018
Pay Attention to What You Pay For
It is fairly rare for judges to directly criticize lawyers in written decisions relating to estate matters, at least in my experience. When I do run across it, it sends a strong signal because there is usually an important lesson in the criticism. The ...
June 2018
A Star Extinguished: Anton Yelchin (1989-2016)
Two years ago to this day, a promising young actor's life was cut short by a tragic accident at his Los Angeles home. Anton Yelchin, age 27, was killed in his driveway when his SUV rolled back and pinned him against his security fence and mailbox. ...
April 2018
Is Spousal Support Available After Death?
Perhaps encouraged by the recent decision in Marasse Estate, we have another recent case from the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench addressing an estate’s ability to claim spousal support and its liability to pay spousal support. Stalzer ...
March 2018
Rolling the Dice on Costs of Estate Litigation
Alberta Courts have been busy on the topic of costs in estate litigation in the past few months. Four recent decisions issued out of three judicial centres in Alberta provide a good reminder of just how unpredictable litigation is and the Court’s...
March 2018
Mo’ Money, Mo’ Administration
Today marks the 21st anniversary of the death of Christopher Wallace, or probably better known to you as legendary rap artist Notorious BIG or Biggie. Wallace died at the age of 24 after being shot in Los Angeles. The controversy surrounding his death ...
March 2018
Double Duty: Executors’ Tax Filing Obligations
If you dread doing your own taxes, then think twice about becoming an executor of an estate. One of the core duties of a personal representative is to deal with the deceased’s taxes. In Alberta, the duty is contained right in the Surrogate Rules,...
February 2018
You May Have to Keep Your Promises
Some people are good for their word. Others are not. Depending on the circumstances, a promise you make may not be legally enforceable. However, in the words of the outgoing Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada in the recent judg...
January 2018
An Unconscionable Bargain
Generally speaking, the law will not protect you from making a bad bargain. However, when a transaction is so grossly unfair to one party and was obtained through an unfair advantage by the other party, the legal doctrine of unconscionability may ...
January 2018
North of 60 Series: Estate Administration in the Northwest Territories
I have been on quite the hiatus since last year!  I apologize – I have found that a wills and estates practice inevitably ramps up in the last month of the year on both the planning and litigation sides and last December was no exception. I...
December 2017
A Different Kind of Joint Problem
Parents who intend to transfer their assets into joint names with some or all of their adult children need to carefully consider that decision before implementing the transfers. A series of recent Court cases in Western Canada highlight the need f...
November 2017
The Devil is in the Drafting: Is an Estate Entitled to Spousal Support Payments?
The recent Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench decision in Marasse Estate (Re), 2017 ABQB 706 is yet another reminder that drafting legal documents must be done carefully and with a view to their long-term effect. The main issue in this case was wheth...
November 2017
It’s Your Funeral, but Who Calls the Shots?
If you have a will, you may have spelled out your detailed wishes for your funeral in the document. Would you be surprised to know that your personal representative does not have to follow them? You may have also heard that funeral expenses g...
November 2017
My Last Will and Textament
What would you look for in a document to determine if it was a legally valid will? An Australian man’s estate recently made headlines when the Queensland Supreme Court admitted an unsent text message into probate as his valid last will.The d...
October 2017
(Don’t) Live Together, Love Together
A frequent area of estate litigation involves claims by adult interdependent partners against the estates of their deceased partners. An adult interdependent partner is roughly the Alberta equivalent of a common law spouse, but may include other t...
October 2017
You Can Ask for Advice and Directions
Acting as an executor or personal representative is a challenging job. A personal representative is expected to follow the terms of a will, trust document or Court order and to do so prudently and competently. Sometimes, the testator or the s...
June 2017
Define Your Children in Your Will
Clarity matters when preparing your will and estate plan in Alberta. Even a seemingly simple direction to divide your estate equally between your children may run into unexpected problems if you have a complex family structure and are not clear enough ...
June 2017
The King of Pop on Death and Taxes
Today is the eighth anniversary of the death of Michael Jackson, the undisputed King of Pop. Albertans preparing wills and estate plans should look beyond the sensational headlines about the singer’s life and the circumstances of his death a...
Education
Society of Estate and Trust Practitioners, 2018, Diploma
University of Ottawa, 2010, Bachelor of Laws Cum Laude
McMaster University, 2006, Bachelor of Arts, Psychology
McMaster University, 2006, Bachelor of Arts, Communications
Admissions
British Columbia,2022
Northwest Territories,2017
Alberta,2011
Languages
Serbian
Croatian