Vancouver Family Lawyers of MacLean Law were selected to author the Chambers and Partners Global Practice Guide for Canadian Family Law 2026, an acknowledgment of our leadership in ultra high net worth, high net worth and international family law.
Safeguard your wealth before it becomes exposed during major life transitions such as marriage, ultra high net worth divorce, intergenerational succession, or high-conflict family disputes. We work closely with family offices to deliver strategic, specialized family law protection tailored to complex estates and global assets. Without experienced high net worth counsel, a separation or internal dispute can unravel decades of disciplined wealth creation, tax planning, and succession strategy in a matter of months.
About the Chambers and Partners Canada Legal Guide 2026
The Chambers and Partners Family Law Guide offers a comparative look at how different countries approach relationships and the financial consequences of their breakdown. Designed for both legal professionals and informed readers, it explains how family law systems address key issues within their broader social and cultural context.
Covering more than 30 jurisdictions worldwide, the guide provides current analysis of divorce procedures and jurisdiction, asset division, spousal maintenance, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, child custody and support, and alternative dispute resolution.
The Canadian chapter was co-authored by the team at MacLean Law, offering an up-to-date overview of Canada’s evolving legal framework and societal norms.
For the 2026 edition, Lorne MacLean, KC, was selected as a co-author of the Canadian Family Law chapter of the Chambers and Partners Global Practice Guide, along with Fraser MacLean, Sophia Bartholomew and Rana Yavari. This work reflects the firm’s leadership and recognized expertise in complex and high net worth family law matters.
Chambers and Partners Authors and Ultra High Net Worth Family Law Lawyers – Tel: 604 602 9000
Led by Lorne MacLean, KC, MacLean Law is nationally and internationally recognized for representing ultra high net worth individuals and family offices in complex family law matters. We act for executives, entrepreneurs, founders, investors, and multi-generational families whose priority is wealth preservation, privacy, and strategic resolution when divorce or separation places significant assets at risk.
MacLean Law is known for handling sophisticated, high-stakes cases involving multi-million and nine-figure estates, private corporations, holding companies, trusts, cross-border real estate portfolios, and international business interests. Our Vancouver family lawyers regularly advise family offices navigating divorce, asset division, income determination, support claims, and complex financial structures spanning multiple jurisdictions.
MacLean Law’s senior lawyers are respected for decisive, strategic advocacy in high-conflict litigation. We are results-driven and courtroom-tested, with a history of precedent-setting decisions in child parenting matters and spousal support disputes. Our litigation record includes substantial cost awards, significant penalties, and enforcement remedies secured for our clients in contested proceedings, giving us the insights and the expertise to co-author the Chambers and Partners Family Law Guide 2026.
We also have extensive experience with international jurisdictional disputes, cross-border enforcement, and intricate tax-related issues arising from corporate reorganizations, trust structures, and global asset protection planning. Our approach integrates legal precision with financial sophistication, working closely with accountants, tax advisors, valuators, and wealth managers to protect complex estates.
When substantial wealth, business control, and family legacy are at stake, experience matters. We provide strategic, discreet, and formidable representation for family offices and ultra high net worth individuals worldwide.
Lorne MacLean Leads MacLean Law’s High Net Worth Divorce Lawyers – Tel: 604 602 9000
MacLean Law represents high and ultra high net worth individuals in complex divorce and separation matters across Western Canada including Vancouver, Victoria, West Vancouver, Kelowna, Surrey and Calgary. Our team has secured precedent-setting court decisions that other lawyers now rely on—including unequal division of a real estate development company in favour of our client and a court-ordered combined child and spousal support award of $116,000 per month, one of the highest ever ordered in Canada.
High-income earners are subject to specialized legal principles in both property division and support calculations. If significant wealth, corporate structures, or substantial income are involved, the strategy must be precise from day one.
Lorne MacLean, KC – Tel: 604 602 9000
Lorne MacLean, KC, is the founder of MacLean Law and has practised family law since 1983. For more than four decades, he has focused on some of Canada’s most complex and high-net-worth family law disputes, earning a reputation for strategic, high-stakes advocacy.
Mr. MacLean regularly represents clients in matters involving international jurisdictional conflicts, ultra high net worth (UHNW) spousal and child support claims, significant property division disputes, parenting and guardianship litigation, and cases concerning marriage-like relationships. His work often involves intricate corporate structures, trusts, cross-border assets, and substantial income determination issues.
He has appeared twice before the Supreme Court of Canada, including in Young v Young and Leskun v Leskun, reflecting the national importance of the legal issues in which he has been involved.
Over the course of his career, Mr. MacLean has established numerous awards, records and precedents, including some of the highest child and spousal support awards ordered in Canada for both men and women, multi-million-dollar property divisions, and record-setting Mareva injunctions and special cost awards.
What Is an Ultra High Net Worth Divorce?
According to Lorne MacLean, KC, an Ultra High Net Worth divorce typically involves:
- Matrimonial property valued at $10 million or more, and
- Family income exceeding $1 million annually.
In one landmark case, Mr. MacLean secured a BC record-setting outcome that included:
- $116,000 per month in combined child and spousal support
- $23 million in property division
- $1.5 million in legal costs payable to our client
These are not ordinary cases. They demand financial sophistication, aggressive advocacy, and meticulous preparation.
About MacLean Law’s Ultra High Net Worth Team
MacLean Law is a Western Canadian boutique family law litigation firm dedicated to ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) and high net worth matters involving complex, high-stakes financial and international legal issues. Since 1983, the firm has built a reputation for strategic, courtroom-driven advocacy in sophisticated family law disputes where significant wealth, corporate control, and global assets are at risk.
With a team of 17 lawyers, MacLean Law represents entrepreneurs, executives, professionals, investors, and family offices in matters including separation and divorce, child and spousal support, division of worldwide family property and business interests, marriage and cohabitation agreements, international jurisdictional disputes, and cross-border injunctions. The firm is frequently retained in cases requiring urgent asset preservation, complex income analysis, and coordinated multi-jurisdictional strategy.
MacLean Law has one of the largest Mandarin- and Cantonese-fluent family law teams in Canada, allowing it to effectively represent international clients and families with global business and property interests. Its practice includes worldwide identification, tracing, valuation, and division of income, family assets, and liabilities—including private corporations, professional practices, pensions, stock options, investment portfolios, trusts, and overseas holdings.
The firm acts at every stage of the litigation process, from negotiated settlements and interim applications to trials and appeals.
Lorne MacLean, KC, has made two rare appearances before the Supreme Court of Canada, reflecting the national significance of his cases. In addition, Fraser MacLean brought national attention to emerging legal technology issues by exposing Canada’s first reported AI “hallucination” in a court proceeding—demonstrating the firm’s vigilance and leadership at the intersection of law and innovation.
