VA Benefits Overview for Estate Planners

Hillary P Gagnon Related Seminars and Products

Of Counsel

is certified as a specialist in Estate and Probate Law with the State Bar of Arizona. Hillary has been licensed to practice law in Arizona since 1998. Her practice has focused primarily on estate planning, guardianships, conservatorships, protection of incapacitated and vulnerable adults, probate administration, trust administration, and litigation in contested probate and trust administration matters since 2006.

Hillary's estate planning practice consists of assisting clients develop and prepare a personalized estate plan appropriate for their individual and family needs. An estate plan may include, among other things a will, revocable living trust, special needs trust for a disabled family member, irrevocable trust, life insurance trust, estate tax planning, power of attorney, health care power of attorney, and living will. She also works with small business owners to prepare a succession plan and buy-sell agreements.

She is skilled in handling a variety of contested and uncontested probate and post death administration matters including, but not limited to:

Assisting families and individuals establish guardianships and conservatorships for a disabled or incapacitated family member;
Representing disabled and incapacitated adults in guardianship and conservatorship proceedings;
Representing private fiduciaries in guardianships, conservatorships, trust administration and probate estate administration;
Advising Trustees in the administration of a trust;
Representing personal representatives in the probate of a will or intestate estate;
Representing trust beneficiaries or estate heirs in the protection of their rights as a beneficiary or heir; and
Litigation and trials in contested probate matters.

Marsha Goodman Related Seminars and Products

Owner

Specific Law Firm

is a Partner with the law firm of Frazer, Ryan, Goldberg and Arnold, LLP. Her Elder Law practice includes traditional elder law services, such as guardianships and conservatorships; Powers of Attorney and other Advance Directives; estate administration; planning for eligibility for Veterans’ and Medicaid benefits and applying for those benefits when appropriate; and advocating for her clients to assure that they receive all of the Medicare, private health insurance and long term care insurance coverage to which they are entitled. In addition, her staff includes human services professionals who work with Ms. Goodman and their clients’ families to bundle asset protection, public benefits qualification, insurance assistance, nursing home advocacy and crisis intervention into a comprehensive package called a Life Care Plan. Ms. Goodman graduated summa cum laude from St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY, and earned her JD degree from he Vanderbilt University School of Law in Nashville, TN. She is admitted to practice in Arizona and Michigan (inactive), and is an accredited attorney before the Department of Veterans Affairs. She is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and is the immediate Past-President of the Board of Directors of the Life Care Planning Law Firms Association. She is a member of the Elder Law, Mental Health and Special Needs Planning section of the State Bar of Arizona, and Immediate Past President of the Executive Council of the State Bar’s Probate and Trust section. Ms. Goodman previously served on the State Bar’s Military Legal Assistance Committee, and she provides pro bono services through the Maricopa County Bar Association’s Probate Legal Assistance Project, and Veterans Legal Clinics conducted by the Disabled Veterans Association (“DAV”). She was recognized as a Certified Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation in November, 2015. Ms. Goodman enjoys staying active, on the golf course and in the gym. She holds the Arizona state dead lift record with the World Association of Benchpress and Deadlifters for her age and weight class.
(04/2018)