Geneva N. Perry
Practice Areas: Elder Law; Guardianships and Conservatorships; Probate and Estate Administration; Wills, Trusts and Estates
Email: gperry@mcdermottward.com
Call: 757-722-0611
Fax: 757-722-1312
Geneva’s practice includes primarily Estate Planning, Probate and Estate Administration, and Guardianships and Conservatorships.
Geneva’s estate planning clients represent a diverse range of legal needs. Clients include individuals in blended families or second marriages with concerns about asset protection and widowed or elderly persons. She prepares estate plans to address the concerns of clients with a disabled or special needs beneficiary and beneficiaries with creditor issues. Geneva has a particular interest in the unique estate planning needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered (LGBT) individuals and partners. She also prepares estate plans designed to address estate tax and gift tax concerns.
Geneva’s estate administration practice involves advising and assisting clients through probate administration and counseling trustees on the appropriate administration of trusts both during the grantor’s lifetime and at their passing. Her practice involves administration in complex matters too, for example, petitioning the court for interpretation of provisions in a will or trust, resolving disputes among beneficiaries, and handling unexpected issues such as the disability or incapacity of a beneficiary.
Geneva represents clients in both contested and uncontested guardianships and conservatorships. She has assisted clients with petitions involving elderly persons who dispute their incapacity and persons with mental health concerns. Geneva is also a Supreme Court qualified guardian ad litem (a court appointed attorney) for incapacitated adults.
Her other area of practice includes Elder Law.
In addition to her practice, Geneva participates in several professional and business organizations including Hampton Roads Business OutReach (organization for LGBT business owners and their allies) (current Board Member), Peninsula Estate Planning Council (current Board Member), Newport News Bar Association (past Board Member), Hampton Bar Association and the Peninsula Bar Association. She also served as a past Board Member for the Hampton Roads Good Samaritan Fund.
Geneva earned her Bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Wyoming in 1997. Before she began her legal career she worked in higher education and was associate director of admission at Smith College. Geneva graduated from the College of William & Mary Law School in 2006 and clerked for the Honorable Cleo E. Powell before entering private practice. She also has taught at the College of William & Mary Law School as adjunct professor.