
Mark Horne K.C. has practised in Victoria since 1979, principally in the Wills, Estates, Trusts and Charities area within the firm and is the senior member of the firm’s Inheritance and Incapacity Planning Group comprised of six solicitors and six paralegals.
From 1958 to 2002 the firm, through Ian Horne and Mark Horne, provided estate administration services to the Government of British Columbia as Official Administrator for the County of Victoria and to the Public Guardian and Trustee as Deputy Official Administrator for the Vancouver Island Region.
After a decade in private practice, Mark received the first Fellowship in Equity, Trusts & Fiduciary Relationships and returned to UVIC Law School where he worked and studied with Professor Donovan Waters.
Mark has written and taught for the Continuing Legal Education Society and Professional Legal Training Programme and taught the Succession course at the University of Victoria Law School for many years. In 1992, he was elected a fellow of the American College of Trusts and Estates Council and in 1994, as an academician in the International Academy of Estates and Trust Law reflecting his experience in cross border and international estate planning. He is a Past President of the Victoria Estate Planning Council and a Past President of the Victoria Wills and Trusts Subsection of the Canadian Bar Association. In 2009 he was appointed Queen’s Counsel (King’s Counsel effective September 8, 2022).
Effective March 18, 2021, Mark was elected a Trustee of the British Columbia Government House Foundation, whose mandate is to foster the preservation of Government House and its grounds; to enhance its decor, character, maintenance, historical and cultural values; and to provide funding for the Lieutenant Governor’s programs and awards that have a positive impact provincewide. The Foundation’s Trustees are British Columbians who represent particular areas of knowledge — law, history, engineering, horticulture, the arts, etc. — as their role is not only to guide the Foundation’s activities but also to serve as advisors to Government House when so requested by the Lieutenant Governor.
Both personally and through the law firm, Mark is an active supporter of the arts and the environment. The firm is a proud member of the 1% For The Planet initiative, contributing 1% of its gross revenues to environmental sustainability, principally on Vancouver Island. Mark has served as a director of the Pacific Opera Foundation, Sierra Club of BC Foundation, and an Honorary Governor of the Victoria Foundation.
For recreation he will often be found in the in the gloaming braving the elements at the Victoria Golf Club in a Sisyphean quest to master the game of golf.
Education
Batchelor of Arts (cum laude) – University of Victoria
Diploma in Secondary Education – University of Victoria
LLB – University of Victoria
Fellowship in Equity, Trusts & Fiduciary Relationships – University of Victoria