Legal Services from Signal Mountain, TN

Why “Trailhead Estate Planning?"

The name “Trailhead Estate Planning” comes from the way I describe my practice. 


For too many families, estate planning is experienced in a time of crisis. A family member puts off estate planning until disaster strikes, leaving their loved ones to have to scramble to put together a plan. Everyone feels lost and completely overwhelmed trying to make huge decisions under pressure, with predictably unpredictable and usually undesired results. The best way to describe it is that the family is lost in the woods at night with the wolves in the distance, hoping for the best. 


I've been brought in to save many a family in this kind of situation, crashing through the brush (fedora and bullwhip optional) with a floodlight, air horn, and GPS to get the family as close as possible to back on track. It's great to be the bearer of hope in a crisis, but I would've preferred to meet you at the trailhead to guide you through the sights and around those briar patches. That’s why I created Trailhead Estate Planning.

The Founder

Hi! I'm Peter, but most people know me as the guy who has the idea to solve a problem. I'm an estate planner and special needs/elder law attorney by trade, but I like to think of myself more as a trail guide.  


My practice combines a wide perspective of angles in estate planning, from traditional planning issues like reducing the costs to transfer assets to heirs (e.g., probate administration and estate or capital gains taxes), to protecting clients from the hazards of aging (e.g., loss of capacity or the cost of long-term care). These diverse issues frequently involve competing rules in the law, and having navigated those conflicting issues lets me mark a trail for you.


I help clients fuel their goals by guiding them to more efficient and protective ways to pass along assets, and I love doing it. 

  • State Law Licenses

    • Tennessee
    • Georgia
    • Alabama
    • Connecticut (retired)
  • Education

    • LL.M., (Masters of Law) Taxation — Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., with a certificate in estate taxation.
    • J.D. (Law Degree) — Mercer Law School, Macon, GA, with a certificate in advanced legal research and writing.
    • B.A., Economics — University of the South, Sewanee, TN
  • Professional Associations

    • Tennessee Bar Association — Elder Law Section, Director, Past Chair
    • Estate Planning Council of Chattanooga — Board Member, Past President, Past Vice President
    • Chattanooga - Happy Hour Chapter BNI— President, Past Membership Committee Member, Past President, Past Vice President, Past Secretary-Treasurer, Past Mentor Coordinator, Past Education Coordinator, Past Ambassador for BNI Southeast Tennessee 
    • YPAC Chattanooga, Protégé 2018-2019
  • Personal Associations

    • Boy Scouts of America
    • Eagle Scout
    • Vigil Honor, Order of the Arrow
    • Pack Treasurer, Past Cub Scout Den Leader
    • Past District Chairman
    • Episcopal Church — Past Vestry, Past Lay Reader, Past Choir Member (Bass)

Biography

Born and raised in metro Atlanta, Peter was deeply involved in marching band (trombone), serving as an acolyte in the Episcopal Church, and Scouting. He earned his Eagle Scout rank, was awarded the Vigil Honor, and served on the Ceremony Team of the Order of the Arrow—the service fraternity of Scouts BSA. 


Guided by his faith and love of the outdoors, Peter went to the University of the South, where he earned his bachelor of the arts in Economics and met his beloved wife, Kate.


Peter then went to Mercer University for his law degree (the J.D.), where he fell in love with estate planning, taking every course tangentially related to the practice area. He'd so thoroughly cleaned out the course catalog that his professors asked him and a few of his colleagues what additional courses they should offer future students.


Knowing that estate planning requires a great depth of understanding of the tax code, Peter then went to Georgetown University for his master's of law (the LL.M.), focusing on the estate tax and gift tax.


On completing his formal studies, Peter began practice in Connecticut, where the state's low threshold estate tax and high cost of nursing care introduced him to the competing laws of estate taxation and Medicaid planning.


After several years up North, Peter returned to his native South, where he continues to practice today while raising his wonderful children with his wife, Kate.

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