Focused guidance for estate planning, long-term care, estates, and fiduciary decisions
Estate and elder law questions often bring family, property, health, taxes, and responsibility together. Battlefield Estate & Elder Law helps clients understand the choices, make a practical plan, and carry it through with a team that stays involved.
Erik D. Spurlin, Esq., CELA, LL.M.
Certified Elder Law Attorney
National Certified Guardian
LL.M. in Taxation
Super Lawyers Rising Stars 2019–2025
15+ years
From offices in Gettysburg and York, we advise individuals, families, business owners, executors, trustees, agents, and guardians throughout south-central Pennsylvania and in appropriate matters across the Commonwealth.
Erik Spurlin is certified as an Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation, an organization approved by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. He also holds an LL.M. in Taxation and is a National Certified Guardian.
How we help
Estate and Trust Planning
Wills, revocable living trusts, powers of attorney, health-care documents, beneficiary designations, business succession, and advanced planning for substantial or tax-sensitive estates.
Elder Law, Medicaid, and Long-Term Care
Wills, revocable living trusts, powers of attorney, health-care documents, beneficiary designations, business succession, and advanced planning for substantial or tax-sensitive estates.
Will Contests and Estate Litigation
Representation in will challenges, fiduciary disputes, power-of-attorney matters, contested accountings, trust disputes, and related Orphans' Court proceedings.
Guardianships and Special Needs Planning
Adult guardianship proceedings, less restrictive alternatives, guardian duties, special needs trusts, ABLE accounts, and planning for adulthood and long-term support.
Professional Fiduciary Services
Erik is available to serve in appropriate matters as executor, administrator, trustee, agent under a power of attorney, or guardian when independence and continuity are important.
Probate and Estate Administration
Guidance for executors, administrators, trustees, and families through probate, Pennsylvania inheritance tax, complex assets, accountings, distributions, and closing.
Sophisticated estate and tax planning, explained clearly
Clients with substantial or complicated assets may need more than a standard set of documents. Erik's LL.M. in Taxation adds depth when a plan involves transfer taxes, Pennsylvania inheritance tax, income-tax basis, trusts, businesses, significant real estate, charitable objectives, or estate liquidity.
Federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax planning.
Lifetime gifts, irrevocable trusts, and tax-sensitive beneficiary planning.
Closely held businesses, succession, valuation, and liquidity.
Coordination with accountants, financial advisers, appraisers, and insurance professionals.
The goal is not complexity for its own sake. It is a plan that fits the family, the assets, the tax issues, and the people who will eventually carry it out.
Medicaid applications when timing matters
A nursing home admission or Medicaid application can require quick decisions and years of financial records. We help families evaluate available options, organize documentation, prepare applications, respond to verification requests, and coordinate the work with powers of attorney and the broader estate plan.
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Before making gifts, changing ownership, returning transferred property, or purchasing a financial product, families should understand how the step may affect eligibility, taxes, control, and future planning.
An independent fiduciary when family is not the right fit
The person chosen to serve as executor, trustee, agent, or guardian may be as important as the documents themselves. A professional fiduciary can provide neutral judgment, organized records, continuity, and coordination when a family appointment would be impractical or likely to create conflict.
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Erik accepts professional fiduciary appointments after reviewing the role, assets, parties, risks, expected duration, and compensation.
Credentials with practical relevance
Certified Elder Law Attorney through the National Elder Law Foundation.
Certified Elder Law Attorney through the National Elder Law Foundation.
National Certified Guardian through the Center for Guardianship Certification.
Selected to Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Rising Stars each year from 2019 through 2025.
More than fifteen years of experience in estate, elder-law, tax-sensitive, fiduciary, and Orphans' Court matters.
A small team with longstanding working relationships
Clients work with Erik and an experienced team that includes Bridgett R. Grove, Chief Operations Officer, and Stephanie Finsterbush, Paralegal. The firm is small enough for the team to know the matter and organized enough to keep the work moving.
Erik D. Spurlin, Esq., CELA, LL.M.
Attorney
Certified Elder Law Attorney, LL.M. in Taxation, and National Certified Guardian with more than fifteen years in estates, elder law, tax, and fiduciary matters.
Bridgett R. Grove
Chief Operations Officer
Bridgett has worked with Erik for approximately ten years and is central to the way Battlefield Estate & Elder Law operates.
Stephanie Finsterbush
Paralegal
Stephanie supports estate planning, estate and trust administration, and elder-law matters, and frequently helps new clients begin the process.
Gettysburg roots. An established York practice.
Gettysburg is the firm's principal office and the center of its Adams County growth. York is an established part of the practice and of Erik's longstanding client and professional relationships. The same team and telephone number serve both locations.
Client forms and online payments
Use the links to complete a form requested by the firm or to make a secure online payment. Call 717-862-4717 if you are not sure which link to use.
Client forms
Estate planning, probate, elder law and Medicaid, guardianship, and fiduciary questionnaires.
Pay online
Pay an invoice or earned fee through the operating account, or deposit advance fees to trust when instructed.