North Carolina Estate Planning Blog : North Carolina Estate Planning Lawyer & Attorney : Trust Counsel, PA : Trust Administration : Serving Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, Pittsboro, Orange County, Chatham County

Specializing in Wealth Planning, Protection and Management, Gregory Herman-Giddens, JD, LLM, CFP and the team at TrustCounsel have the knowledge and experience to help you develop an estate plan carefully designed to protect your family, preserve your assets, and save taxes.

Gregory Herman-Giddens is a Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law, and his areas of practice include gift and estate tax planning, asset protection planning, business succession planning, and estate and trust administration. Some of the techniques utilized by Greg include family limited liability companies, dynasty trusts, generation-skipping trusts, private split dollar life insurance, grantor retained annuity trusts, charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts, and special needs trusts.  He is a member of WealthCounsel, LLC, a national organization of estate planning attorneys dedicated to provided the highest level of service and expertise to their clients.

Licensed in North Carolina, Tennessee and Florida, Greg is also a member of the Bars of the United States Supreme Court and the United States Tax Court. In addition to being a certified estate planning specialist, Greg has an LL.M. in Estate Planning from the University of Miami School of Law. and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER(TM).  He is the only attorney North Carolina with all three credentials.  Most recently, Greg earned the designation Registered Guardian from the North Carolina Guardianship Association.

Greg was voted by his fellow attorneys as a member of the 2007 "Legal Elite" in Tax and Estate Planning in the January 2007 issue of Business North Carolina.  Only slightly over 3% of North Carolina attorney were elected to the Legal Elite.  He was also selected as a 2007 North Carolina "Super Lawyer" in Estate Planning and Probate Law. Only 5% of the State's attorneys received this designation.

In the April 2008 edition of Business Leader magazine, Greg was named as a Triangle Impact Financial Leader.

Rebecca J. Streamo, JD is an associate attorney with TrustCounsel.

PRACTICE AREAS: Estate Planning Law; Probate Law; Guardianship Law; Trust Administration Law; Nonprofit Organizations Law; Real Estate.

BAR ADMISSIONS: North Carolina (2006).

EDUCATION: University of North Carolina (B.A.); North Carolina Central University School of Law (J.D. 2006)

Kristin L. Burrows focuses her practice on helping the aged and disabled and their families. This area of law is known as Elder Law, and it is unique in that it draws from many areas of the law to serve a particular type of client – seniors. Kristin takes a holistic approach to advising her clients regarding both their financial well-being and their long-term healthcare needs. She has a broad range of expertise in estate planning, Medicaid planning, disability planning, guardianship and veterans benefits, which she combines with her knowledge of non-legal resources in the community to ensure and protect her clients’ quality of life.

Kristin realizes that it can sometimes be difficult or even impossible for an elderly or disabled client to travel to our office. She is pleased to accommodate her clients by traveling to meet with them as the situation requires.

PRACTICE AREAS: Elder Law; Estate Planning; Advanced Directives – Powers of Attorney and Living Wills; Medicaid Eligibility; Medicaid Estate Recovery; Long-Term Care Planning; Disability Planning; Guardianship Law; Special Needs Trusts; Veterans Benefits; Trusts and Estates Law; Probate Law.

BAR ADMISSIONS: North Carolina (2006).

EDUCATION: Dickinson College (B.A., 2002); Wake Forest University School of Law (J.D., Dec. 2005).

QUALIFICATIONS: Accredited to represent Veterans by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

PUBLICATIONS: “Physician Immunity in Honoring a Patient’s Advance Directive,” Passages, Vol. 1, No. 2, Sept. 2008 (Newsletter Article) http://www.endoflifecarecoalition.org/EOLCCEC/Newsletter_files/Passages808.pdf ; “Legal Update: Recent Changes to North Carolina’s End-of-Life Care Planning Statues,” Passages, Vol. 1, No. 1, June 2008 (Newsletter Article) http://www.endoflifecarecoalition.org/EOLCCEC/Newsletter_files/Passages608.pdf; “A New Era in End of Life Planning,” Legal Aid’s Train the Trainers Workshop, April, 2008 (PowerPoint Presentation, follow link and click “New Advance Directives Statutes”) http://www.legalaidnc.org/public/learn/Statewide_Projects/SLP/default_SLP.aspx.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS AND ACTIVITIES: North Carolina Bar Association (Member: Elder Law Section; Estate Planning and Fiduciary Law Section; Young Lawyers Division); North Carolina State Bar; National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys; End of Life Care Coalition of Eastern North Carolina, 2006-2010 (Board Member, 2007-2010); Pitt Aging Coalition, 2006-2010.

Thomas J. Neagle is Of Counsel with TrustCounsel.

PRACTICE AREAS: Estate Planning and Probate Law; Guardianship Law; Trust Administration Law; Probate Litigation; Corporate Law; Contract Law; Intellectual Property and Technology Law.


BAR ADMISSIONS: North Carolina (2003); U.S. District Court, Middle District of North Carolina (2003); Patent and Trademark Office (2005).


EDUCATION: University of Notre Dame (B.A., 1976); Fairleigh Dickinson University (Masters, Computer Science, 1990), North Carolina Central School of Law (J.D. Magna Cum Laude, 2002).


PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS AND ACTIVITIES: North Carolina Bar Association (Member: Estates and Business Law Sections); American Bar Association, Member: Probate and Trust Law Sections; North Carolina State Bar; Member: Orange County Bar Association; Member: Judicial District 15-B; Member: American Association for Justice; Member: American Economic Association; Member: Association for Computing Machinery.