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Eric R. Strauss

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  • Attorney

Location:

Allentown, PA

Phone:

Fax:

610-433-3955

Email:

 ACTEC | The American College Of Trust And Estate Council | Fellow

Eric has been with the firm since 1990. He focuses his practice on Estate Planning, Probate and Estate Administration, Revocable and Irrevocable Trust Planning and Administration, Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax, Federal Estate and Gift Tax, Fiduciary Income Tax for Trusts and Estates and Orphan's Court litigation. He also handles related real estate and small business succession and transactional matters. He received his B.A. from Syracuse University in 1987 and his J.D. from the Western New England College School of Law in 1989. Eric is a member of the Lehigh and Carbon County Bar Associations as well as the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA). He is an active member of the PBA Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law and was elected to serve as Vice Chair of the Probate and Trust Division in 2012-2013 and served as Section Chair in 2014.  In that capacity, he built valuable networks with skilled real estate and trust and estate attorneys across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and helped influence several important pieces of legislation involving trust and estate law.

Eric primarily practices in Lehigh, Carbon, Berks, and Northampton Counties but routinely assists with estate planning and estate administration for clients in all counties of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He often assists personal representatives from other states with ancillary probate and inheritance tax matters.

Eric has authored numerous articles and is a critically acclaimed speaker for community and professional groups, including the National Business Institute and Pennsylvania Bar Institute and National Business Institute on the topics of estate planning, estate administration, trust administration, use of trusts, health care and financial powers of attorney, advance health care directives, fiduciary income tax, planning and administration for art, antiques and collectibles, digital assets, creditors rights and insolvent estates, fiduciary misconduct, fiduciary accounting, land title issues in estates, will contests, Pennsylvania inheritance tax, federal estate tax, and related areas.

 Eric also supports his community and has actively volunteered for community organizations including the Allentown YMCA-YWCA ( Board of Directors, President 1997-1998), Trustee (1999-present); Lehigh County Senior Center, Board of Directors (2003-2009, Vice President 2009); Boy Scouts of America, Minsi Trails Council and Hawk Mountain Council Volunteer; and Trout Unlimited. He is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and has earned a BV rating in the Martindale-Hubbell peer-related directory of attorneys.

Most recently, Eric was elected into the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC). To qualify for membership, a lawyer must have no less than 10 years' experience in the active practice of probate and trust law or estate planning. Lawyers and law professors are elected to be Fellows based on their outstanding reputation, exceptional skill, and substantial contributions to the field by lecturing, writing, teaching and participating in bar activities. It is their aim to improve and reform probate, trust and tax laws, procedures, and professional responsibility. For more information, see https://www.actec.org.

In his free time, Eric enjoys spending time with his family. He enjoys time in the outdoors and is an avid fly fisherman and advocate for conservation and habitat preservation and improvement. He also enjoys art, music and travel.

Areas Of Practice

  • Estate Planning, Wills and Trusts, Powers of Attorney 40%
  • Estate Administration and Taxation 40%
  • Orphans' Court Litigation 20%

Bar Admissions

  • Pennsylvania, 1990
  • U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 1992
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit, 1992

Education

  • Western New England University School of Law, Springfield, Massachusetts
    • J.D. - 1990
  • Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York
    • B.A. - 1987
    • Major: English
    • Minor: Political Science

Classes / Seminars

  • "A WONDERFUL SPEAKER; VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE", Probate: Beyond the Basics, National Business Institute (Reading, PA), 01/28/2000
  • "Very good at explaining difficult to understand concepts" "Knowledgeable and professional" "Good delivery." "Approachable with questions", A Practical Guide to Estate Administration in Pennsylvania, National Business Institute (Allentown, PA) , 09/01/2000
  • "Informative and Precise. " "His speaking and the chapters he wrote were excellent. Very well organized and clear. " "Excellent speaker. Thoroughly knows the topic. Very informative, " "Examples were detail oriented, keeping in mind the careers of the people taking the class. " "Enjoyed your attention to detail. You take this seriously and enjoy what you do. ", Probate Process From Start to Finish, National Business Institute (Allentown, PA), 04/26/2001
  • Elder Law, National Business Institute (Allentown, PA); Rated 4.8 on scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being excellent, 07/11/2002
  • "Good explanation of marital trust. " "Thorough but succinct. " "A lot of info efficiently presented. ", Fundamentals of Estate Planning, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Allentown, PA), 06/04/2004
  • "Eric Strauss is very knowledgeable regarding estates and tax law. " "Well presented", Oddities and Challenges in Pennsylvania Probate Law, National Business Institute (Allentown, PA)
  • "Well prepared and interesting. " "Very informative.", Probate: Beyond the Basics, National Business Institute (Allentown, PA), 04/07/2005
  • "Eric Strauss is a very effective speaker—a little humor keeps everyone interested. "Knowledgeable and humorous, presented in non-legal verbiage. " "Simplified legal language, good explanations of a complicated topic.", Plan While You Can: Estate Planning, Air Products and Chemicals International, Inc. "Lunch and Learn" lecture series (Trexlertown, PA), 05/02/2005
  • "Makes points clearly. Made it easy to follow along with written materials.", Pennsylvania Elder Care Planning: How to Protect Assets and Provide for Services, National Business Institute (Allentown, PA), 08/05/2005
  • "Very eloquent, Explained subject matter with great clarity, Instructed at the right level. Enjoyed his presentation. " " Well versed in topic and presentation. " "Obviously knows the subject very well. Great practical tips. ", The Probate Process from Start to Finish in Pennsylvania, National Business Institute (Allentown, PA), 10/05/2005
  • "Your contributions to the program reflected the highest degree of professionalism. ", Fundamentals of Estate and Trust Administration, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Allentown, PA), 10/19/2005
  • "Excellent, give him the whole program. " "Excellent— provided practical information. ", Use of Trusts in Estate Planning—Basic Trusts, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Mechanicsburg, PA) , 01/06/2006
  • "Very qualified" "Subject is complex and presenters did not hide from the complexity and did a good job of explaining through the complexity, " "Invite them back!" "Excellent program. ", Estate Planning: Federal Estate Taxes, Air Products and Chemicals International, Inc. Lunch and Learn lecture series (Trexlertown, PA) , 01/17/2006
  • "Liked Additional Information from Slides. ", Taxes Affecting Decedent's Estates, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Philadelphia, PA), 02/15/2006
  • "Knowledgeable and Entertaining. ", Confidently Administering the Pennsylvania Estate, National Business Institute (Allentown, PA), 03/01/2006
  • "Excellent presentation, highly recommended. " "Wish he could have talked longer. " "Excellent presenter. " "Thank you Eric for your simplified version making it much easier to understand what many terms mean. ", Estate Planning Seminar, St. Joseph the Worker R.C. Church (Orefield, PA), 06/05/2006
  • "Excellent presentation. Wealth of knowledge on the subject. ", Drafting Effective Wills and Trusts, National Business Institute (Allentown, PA), 09/12/2006
  • "Kept it short and specific. ", Pennsylvania Uniform Trust Act, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 10/12/2006
  • "Good visual use. Challenged other speakers at appropriate times to (Allentown, PA), The Probate Process From Start to Finish, National Business Institute, 12/13/2006
  • "Attorney Strauss was extremely knowledgeable and explained things in a way that was easy to comprehend. " "Nice presentation, great job answering questions.", The Probate Process from Start to Finish for Paralegals, Institute for Paralegal Education (Allentown, PA), 04/24/2007
  • "Power Point was very nice. " "Great teacher", Use of Trusts in Estate Planning—Basic and Intermediate Trusts, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Philadelphia, PA March 13, 2007; Malvern, PA, April 27, 2007), 05/17/2007
  • "Enthusiastic and Informative.", Estate Law Update, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Philadelphia, PA), 05/21/2007
  • "Great knowledge and delivery. He also has a great sense of humor. " "Very knowledgeable seemingly in all categories. " "Very clear. Good examples and tips given to understand concept", Estate Administration Procedures: Why Each Step is Important, National Business Institute (Allentown, PA), 06/06/2007
  • Estate Planning Basics, National Business Institute (Philadelphia, PA), 08/20/2007
  • "Extensive knowledge and experience in the topics discussed, ", Oddities and Challenges in Probate Law, National Business Institute (Allentown, PA), 12/17/2007
  • "Very engaging and informative.", Death and Taxes, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Mechanicsburg, PA), 01/06/2008
  • "Our conversation on estate planning was informative and enlightening due to the information you provided. ", Estate Planning Bootcamp, Your Financial Choices, a radio program on WAEB AM790, host Laurie Siebeit CPA,CFP, 02/05/2008
  • "Very clear, excellent. " "Good with examples. " "This was the most informative presentation and the reason I registered for this seminar. ", Death and Taxes, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Philadelphia, PA), 02/07/2008
  • Estate Planning for the Married Couple, Your Financial Choicest radio program on WAEB AM 790, 05/16/2008
  • Estate Administration, Why Each Step is Important, National Business Institute (Allentown, PA)., 07/18/2008
  • "Great. Very easy to understand and very knowledgeable on the subject matter. " " Liked the things he wrote on the board to describe the concepts. " "Very good.", Estate Forms for Paralegals. Institute for Paralegal Education (Allentown, PA), 09/18/2008
  • Pennsylvania Uniform Trust Act, A Practical Update, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Philadelphia, PA), 09/19/2008
  • Pennsylvania Uniform Trust Act, A Practical Update, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Philadelphia, PA)., 09/19/2008
  • "Excellent seminar", How to Prepare Fiduciary and Decedent's Final Lifetime Income Tax Returns, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Allentown, PA) , 10/30/2008
  • "Excellent seminar", How to Prepare Fiduciary and Decedent's Final Lifetime Income Tax Returns, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Mechanicsburg, PA), 11/07/2008
  • "Excellent. Explained in layman's terms ", Probate: Beyond the Basics, National Business Institute (Allentown, PA), 11/17/2008
  • Probate: Beyond the Basics, National Business Institute (Reading, PA), 11/17/2008
  • Estate Law Update, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Philadelphia, PA), 05/06/2009
  • Use of Trusts, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Mechanicsburg, PA and video simulcast), 05/14/2009
  • "Your presentation was top drawer- it was practical; it was interesting; it was understandable; and it was very authoritatively presented. ", Estate Law Update, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Mechanicsburg, PA and video simulcast), 05/20/2009
  • Use of Trusts, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Allentown, PA), 05/21/2009
  • "engaging, humorous "; "easy to follow presentation"; "articulate, knowledgeable, fast paced, practical"; "good speaker, knowledgeable of topic "; "an excellent speaker and very knowledgeable "; "moved quickly and explained thoroughly "; "wonderfully presented and explained "; I actually understood him—good practice tips "., Fundamentals of Estate Administration, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Philadelphia, Mechanicsburg, PA) , 09/15/2009 to 09/23/2009
  • "Insolvent Estates, a Primer for These Hard Times ": "He had good humor and tone, and was engaging ", "It was one of the better classes I have attended all year. ", Estate Law Institute, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Philadelphia. PA), 12/10/2009
  • Death and Taxes, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Philadelphia, Mechanicsburg PA), 12/27/2009 to 03/03/2010
  • Estate and Elder Law Symposium, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Philadelphia, Mechanicsburg, PA), 02/17/2010
  • "A tough topic very well done by two good speakers. A job very well done ", "He was very thorough ", "Best program I've attended in years ", "Program was a well presented and packaged product which successfully incorporated basic information with appropriate esoteric detail— something for novice and experienced practitioner. ", Insolvent Estates, A Practical Primer for These Hard Times, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Philadelphia, Mechanicsburg, PA), 05/06/2010 to 05/19/2010
  • Estate Law Institute—Creditors Rights to Non-Probate Property, 11/11/2010
  • Death and Taxes, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Philadelphia, PA), 12/10/2010
  • Estate and Elder Law Symposium, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Philadelphia, Mechanicsburg, PA), 02/17/2010 to 02/24/2010
  • Use of Trusts, Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Mechanicsburg. PA), 03/10/2010
  • Estate Law Symposium—Creditors Rights to Non-Probate Property Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Philadelphia, Mechanicsburg, PA), 02/16/2011
  • Valuing Antiques Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Philadelphia, PA), 03/27/2012
  • "materials were great; presenters were very knowledgeable and did a great job giving practical examples", Looking Under the Hood: Drafting Better Trusts to Accomplish Your Clients' Estate Planning Goals Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Philadelphia PA), 07/20/2012
  • Avoiding the Empty Hook: Estate Planning and Administration for Art, Antiques and Collectibles Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Philadelphia PA), 11/15/2012
  • The Probate Process From Start to Finish National Business Institute (Allentown, PA), 03/18/2013 to 08/30/2013

Honors And Awards

  • Volunteer Service Award, Allentown YMCA, 2006 - Present
  • Donald P. Miller Award for Vision and Leadership
  • Allentown YMCA's Outstanding Service to the Community
  • BV rating, Martindale-Hubbell

Professional Associations And Memberships

  • Pennsylvania Bar Association, Real Property Probate & Trusts Law Section, 2009 - Present, (Vice Chair, Probate Division 2013-2014; Section Chair 2014)
  • Lehigh Valley Estate Planning Council, Member
  • Lehigh County Bar Association, Member, 1990 to Present
  • Carbon County Bar Association, Member, 1993 to Present

Pro Bono Activities

  • Allentown YMCA, Trustee, 1995 to 2000
  • Allentown YMCA, President, 1997 to 1998
  • YMCA USA: Delegate, National Assembly Chicago, Illinois, 2000
  • Lehigh County Senior Center, Board of Directors, 2002 to 2008
  • Lehigh County Senior Center, 1st Vice President, 2007 to 2008
  • Boy Scouts of America, Minsi Trails Council Career Awareness Program; Volunteer Speaker, 1996 to Present
  • Boy Scouts of America, Hawk Mountain Council, Troop 575 Longswamp Township; Assistant Scoutmaster

Ancillary Businesses

  • Fiduciary income tax and Personal Income Tax Pennsylvania

Languages

  • English

Fraternities / Sororities

  • Sigma Chi