Legal Services & Lawyers

Attorney Leanna Hamill provides Estate Planning and related legal services to clients of all ages, with a focus on the needs of older individuals and their families. Based in Hingham, Massachusetts, Attorney Leanna Hamill provides the following services:

• Estate Planning
• Estate Administration
• Guardianship and Conservatorship Services
• Comprehensive Estate and Medicaid Planning Evaluations
• Medicaid Advocacy

Leanna works with her clients to plan for and face life’s exciting changes, unexpected challenges and inevitable transitions. By listening to her clients’ needs and helping them identify their goals, Leanna is able to provide solutions to the issues facing today’s families and seniors.

ATTORNEY PROFILE

Leanna graduated cum laude from Suffolk University Law School, and has a degree in Sociology from the University of California, Davis. Prior to practicing law, Leanna worked at Tufts Health Plan, in the Appeals and Grievances Department, for over seven years. Leanna lives in Hingham and is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the South Shore Coalition of Workers with the Elderly. Leanna is also one of the co-founders of the Women Attorneys Network of the South Shore ( http://www.wanss.org/ ) and can sometimes be found on Weymouth Community Television doing yoga with Back to Your Senses.

PRACTICE AREAS

Estate Planning

Leanna provides estate planning for clients of all ages and circumstances. For young families this can include selecting a guardian for minor children and planning for their future, while for older families or individuals this can include long-term care and disability planning, or simply updating their previous estate plans to reflect their current situation. Leanna works with clients to draft Wills, Trusts, Durable Powers of Attorney, Health Care Proxies and Living Wills that that take into account each client’s particular needs and wishes.

If necessary, Leanna can refer her clients to a trusted network of financial planners, accountants, geriatric care managers and other professionals to ensure all of her clients’ needs are met.

Estate Administration

Leanna provides full representation of fiduciaries administering estates. Probate administration includes filing the petition for appointment of the personal representative, preparing and filing the inventory of estate assets, paying decedent’s debts, distributing assets, filing tax returns, and filing accounts with the Probate Court.

Guardianship and Conservatorship Services

Leanna represents clients seeking guardianship and conservatorship of relatives who can no longer manage their personal or financial affairs and assists family members in fulfilling the duties imposed by these new roles.

Comprehensive Estate and Long Term Care Planning Evaluations

Leanna begins her representation of many clients with a comprehensive estate and long-term care planning evaluation. This evaluation determines the best planning strategies to pursue in order to meet the estate planning and long-term health care objectives of the client. Leanna examines all aspects of the client’s financial well-being and issues a follow-up letter which summarizes the client’s unique situation, reviews the law, and explains her recommendations for the best possible estate plan for the client.

Medicaid Advocacy

Leanna prepares or assists in the preparation and submission of the Medicaid application to the appropriate long-term care unit of the Division of Medical Assistance (DMA). At the client’s request, she co-ordinates all communications with the DMA, thereby removing the individual as much as possible from the tedious and often frustrating application process. If needed, Leanna can represent clients in connection with Medicaid appeals in administrative hearings before the Board of Hearings.

David M. Beliveau, Esq., CPA is the founder of the Law Office of David M. Beliveau, LLC ("Beliveau Law Office") with offices in Naples, Florida, Waltham, Massachusetts and Salem, New Hampshire. Attorney Beliveau represents both individuals and businesses. He has clients in Florida, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.

Attorney Beliveau has been named a "Massachusetts Rising Star" by the publishers of Boston Magazine and Law and Politics Magazine. The distinction, awarded to less than five percent (5%) of all Massachusetts lawyers, was based on ballots cast by Massachusetts attorneys, asking them to identify the best lawyers, under the age of forty (40), whom they had personally observed in action.

Attorney Beliveau focuses his practice on asset protection, business law, civil litigation, estate planning, estate & trust administration, Medicaid, real estate, and taxation. He has experience with buy-sell agreements, corporations, Charitable Lead Trusts (CLTs), Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs), Family Limited Partnerships (FLPs), Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs), irrevocable trusts, Limited Liability Companies (LLCs), Medicaid applications, Medicaid irrevocable income only trusts, private foundations, Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs), revocable trusts, and wills. Attorney Beliveau has lectured to both individuals and professionals regarding the same. He counsels clients in connection with choice of business entity decisions and business operations. Attorney Beliveau is a title insurance agent in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire for Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company. He represents lenders in connection with real estate closings. Attorney Beliveau also represents buyers and sellers in connection with such closings. He has experience representing fiduciaries in civil litigation cases as well as individuals and businesses with tax matters before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Prior to forming the Beliveau Law Office, Attorney Beliveau was an Associate of the Probate, Trust and Estate Planning Group at the law firm of Brecher, Wyner, Simons, Fox & Bolan, LLP in Newton, MA (2003-2005), the Estate & Trust Administration Department Manager (2002-2003) and the Estate Planning Department Manager (2000-2002) at the law firm of Cushing & Dolan, P.C. in Boston, MA, and an Associate at the law firm of William H. Kelley, P.A. in Manchester, NH (1998-2000). He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the State of New Hampshire where he worked for the international accounting firm of Ernst & Young, LLP (1993-1995).

Attorney Beliveau is a member of the Bars of Massachusetts (1999), New Hampshire (1998), and Florida (1999). He is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Law, Cum Laude (1998), and the University of Notre Dame (BBA Accounting; Computer Applications) (1993).

I graduated from Washington University in 1985 and obtained my J.D. degree from Northeastern University School of Law in 1988. I clerked for the justices of the Massachusetts Superior Court from 1988-1989 and in 1989 began practicing as an attorney with Burres Fidnick and Booth. I became a partner at what then became Burres Fidnick Booth and Kaufman in 1996. In 2004, after 15 years of working with my law partners I decided to start a solo practice. Since 1989 my practice has concentrated in the area of domestic relations. This includes divorces, paternities, divorce modifications, work with non-traditional families, guardianships.

In 1994, I founded Amherst Mediation Services. My decision to offer mediation as an alternative to the traditional litigation system stemmed from my years of experience in the Probate and Family Court and in particular my concern that in many ways the court system was not the most efficient and best equipped system for handling family crisis such as divorce. Mediation offers participants more control over their own destiny and works to increase rather than discourage communication. Mediation is also far cheaper and often far quicker than traditional litigation. However, mediation is not appropriate in every situation. I continue to provide my clients with legal services. In my capacity as an attorney I provide services which are professional, courteous and sensitive to my clients' financial needs, emotional needs and family situation.

Peter C. Herbst Jr. joined Baker, Braverman and Barbadoro, P.C. in September of 2008. Attorney Herbst concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial real estate, estate planning and estate administration. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Herbst was a partner in the firm of Herbst & Herbst, LLC where he concentrated on residential real estate, estate planning and land use.

Mr. Herbst is admitted to practice law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the State of Connecticut. Mr. Herbst graduated cum laude from Vermont Law School where he served as a member and Managing Editor of the Vermont Law Review. Mr. Herbst was also active in the Student Bar Association serving as its Webmaster and IT Coordinator. During his third year of law school, Mr. Herbst taught Legal Writing and Reasoning to first year law students. As an undergraduate, Mr. Herbst attended the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resources and the Environment. He is also an alumnus of Phillips Andover.

Mr. Herbst served on the Board of Directors of LARC, Inc., a non-profit organization working to improve the lives of those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Mr. Herbst also served as a Zoning Hearing Officer for the City of Torrington, a position appointed by the City's Mayor.

Valedictorian law school honors graduate - S. New England
Attended Harvard University's Graduate Management Program.

Creative, energetic, result-oriented attorney with substantial legal experience. Focus on real estate and business transactions, elder law, estate planning, and municipal law.

Seventeen year member of the Massachusetts Bar.

Town of Petersham:
- Nine year member/attorney for the Zoning Board of Appeals.
- Eight year member/attorney for the By-law Revisions Committee.
- Six year member/attorney for the Affordable Housing Partnership.

Board of Directors - Mt. Grace Land Conservation Trust (2001 - 2004)

Accomplishments include:

-Drafted the Petersham Affordable Housing Plan (approved by the Mass. Dept. of Housing & Community Development - 08/2005.)

- $1.4 million client settlement.

- Defeated multi-billion dollar and multi-milliion dollar commercial developers.

- Drafting and strategically garnering community support/adoption of municipal by-laws.

- Helping people keep their homes in the event of foreclosure or nursing homes