About Battlefield Estate & Elder Law
A focused firm built around experience and longstanding relationships
Battlefield Estate & Elder Law was created to provide the depth of a focused estates practice with the accessibility of a small firm. We serve individuals, families, fiduciaries, and business owners from offices in Gettysburg and York.
Why Battlefield
The name reflects Gettysburg, the firm's principal office, and the history and landscape that surround it. It also fits the work: helping clients protect family, property, independence, and legacy through careful planning and disciplined administration.
When a genuine dispute arises, the same name supports a measured willingness to advocate firmly without making conflict the identity of the practice.
Erik D. Spurlin, Esq., CELA, LL.M.
Erik has more than fifteen years of experience in estate planning, estate and trust administration, elder law, Medicaid and long-term care planning, estate and fiduciary tax matters, guardianships, professional fiduciary work, and estate-related litigation.
Before founding Battlefield, Erik was a partner and estates and tax attorney at MPL Law Firm. Earlier, he owned the Estate & Elder Law Firm of Erik Spurlin in Red Lion, practiced as a principal with the Elder Law Firm of Robert Clofine, and worked with Appel & Yost in Lancaster.
His approach is direct: identify the real decision, explain the legal and practical consequences, and give the client a workable path forward.
Super Lawyers Rising Stars 2019–2025
CELA
National Certified Guardian
LL.M. in Taxation
Credentials and recognition
Certified as an Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation, an organization approved by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
National Certified Guardian through the Center for Guardianship Certification.
Selected to Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Rising Stars each year from 2019 through 2025.
LL.M. in Taxation, with distinction, Temple University Beasley School of Law.
Certificate in Estate Planning and recipient of the Joseph Price Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in Tax Law.
J.D., cum laude, Temple University Beasley School of Law.
M.A. and B.A. in Political Science, Arizona State University; undergraduate degree awarded summa cum laude.
Admitted in Pennsylvania and the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania.
Why the CELA and tax credentials matter
CELA certification reflects substantial involvement in elder law, advanced continuing education, peer review, and successful completion of a comprehensive examination. It is especially relevant to long-term care, Medicaid, incapacity, guardianship, special needs planning, and the way those issues interact with an estate plan.
Erik's LL.M. in Taxation adds depth when planning or administration involves federal transfer taxes, Pennsylvania inheritance tax, fiduciary income tax, basis and capital gains, lifetime gifts, trusts, retirement assets, businesses, significant real estate, or tax-sensitive distributions.
Teaching, writing, speaking, and professional involvement
Erik has taught estate planning and administration, legal research and writing, federal taxation, business law, and related subjects as an adjunct professor and course developer. He has also presented continuing legal education programs for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute on powers of attorney, trusts, estate-law developments, IRAs, Medicaid planning, guardianships, and related topics.
He has published on federal tax law. His professional activities have included the Pennsylvania Bar Association, York County Bar Association, National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Pennsylvania Association of Elder Law Attorneys, and relevant estate and elder-law sections.
The team
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. She combines extensive paralegal experience with responsibility for the systems, workflow, and day-to-day operations of the firm.
She helps gather and organize client information, coordinate documents and filings, track deadlines, maintain communication, supervise workflow, and keep matters moving from intake through completion.
Bridgett is an avid animal lover. Some would say she even has her own little zoo with 5 dogs (Gizmo, Sadie, Sophie, Buttercup, and Gemini), 2 cats (Toots and Binx), and 3 cockatiels (Little Foot, Ducky, and Spike). When she's not maintaining the chaos of our firm she enjoys reading, anything related to animals, gardening, and nature.
Stephanie Finsterbush
Paralegal
Stephanie has worked with Erik for approximately two years and supports estate planning, estate and trust administration, and elder-law matters. She frequently helps new clients begin the process by gathering and organizing the information the attorney and team need.
Her work includes client onboarding, document organization, case support, and communication as a matter moves from the first inquiry into active representation.
How clients experience the team
Direct access to Erik for legal analysis, recommendations, and strategy.
Experienced support from Bridgett and Stephanie for information, documents, scheduling, deadlines, and workflow.
Plain-language explanations of what is needed, what remains unresolved, and what happens next.
Coordination with accountants, financial advisers, care providers, facilities, banks, appraisers, brokers, and other counsel when the matter requires it.
A written engagement that defines the client, the work the firm will perform, and the fee arrangement.
Gettysburg and York
Gettysburg is the firm's principal office and the center of its Adams County practice. York remains an important part of the firm and of Erik's longstanding client and professional relationships. The same team and telephone number serve both locations.
Erik is a Pennsylvania native and lives in York. Outside his practice, he enjoys music, fiction, and stargazing.
