In 1992, Tom Murphy opened his own law practice after ten years of working for various government agencies. Our practice is concentrated in the areas of estate planning, probate and elder law.

Estate planning – We assist clients in all areas of estate planning, ranging from a simple will or power of attorney to complex trusts, family limited partnerships and other entities. We stress addressing all needs relating to health care, especially issues that may arise if you become incapacitated. This includes effectively dealing with the obstacles created by the 2003 implementation of the HIPAA privacy regulations. We also advise clients on sensitive problems such as second or subsequent marriages and young, minor or otherwise irresponsible children. We provide explanations and solutions to all estate and income tax issues.

Probate – We handle any and all probate matters, to include all post-death estate administration issues. This includes assisting the personal representative or trustee in locating, valuing and distributing estate assets, in preparing all income and estate tax returns and in executing deeds and other transfer documents. We routinely handle all guardianship and conservatorship matters. We are the main source for referrals from other Phoenix-area probate attorneys for all contested or unusually complicated probate matters, such as will contests, allegations of financial exploitation, breaches of fiduciary duties by a guardian, personal representative, trustee or agent and contested guardianships.

Elder Law – We assist families who have a spouse or parent who is in a nursing home or is about to enter one. We advise clients on how they can protect a sizeable portion of their estates from nursing home costs so that their spouse or family does not become impoverished. We also assist clients with the special problems as they relate to a disabled spouse or child.
 

THOMAS J. MURPHY is the sole shareholder in Murphy Law Firm, Inc., located in the Ahwatukee area of Phoenix.  His practice emphasizes estate planning, elder law (to include nursing home issues), all probate matters (to include contested matters) and tax controversies. 

He was the 1999-2000 President of the Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Section of the Maricopa County Bar Association.  He was selected by the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys to serve on its prestigious Steering Committee to plan  NAELA’s annual 2002 Advanced Elder Law Institute.  He serves on the Advisory Board of the Phoenix Tax Workshop and the Editorial Board of the Maricopa Lawyer.

He has been published in many national, state and local professional journals writing on a wide variety of legal and tax matters.  His articles on the impact of the new HIPAA regulations on health care powers of attorney and related documents have  garnered Tom wide recognition as one of the nation’s foremost authorities in this field.  His articles explaining new IRS regulations for required minimum distributions from retirement plans have been widely published and were the featured articles in the August 2, 2002 and April 6, 2001 editions of Tax Practice, the nation’s leading weekly tax journal.  His articles on beneficiary deeds and financial powers of attorney were prominently featured in the June 2002 and December 1998 issues of Arizona Attorney.  Both articles have been widely praised and are considered to be the definitive source of authority in Arizona on the topics.  He has been cited as a leading authority on estate planning law in the March 2002 edition of SmartMoney magazine, published by the Wall Street Journal.  He has been invited to speak before such groups as the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the State Bar of Arizona, the Arizona Society of Certified Public Accountants, the Arizona Federal Tax Institute, the Maricopa County Bar Association, the West Maricopa County Bar Association, the Mohave County Bar Association, the Coconino County Bar Association, the College of Estate Planning Attorneys, the Phoenix Tax Workshop, the Estate Planning Tax Study Group, the Prescott Estate Planning Council, Prudential Financial, Mesa Community College and Phoenix College.

He is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the Tax Law, Probate & Trust Law and Mental Health & Elder Law Sections of the State Bar of Arizona and the Arizona Medicaid Planning Council.  He has served on numerous state and county bar association committees and was selected to be the State Bar representative to the Arizona Supreme Court’s Committee on Reform of Lower Jurisdiction Courts.  He has testified as an expert witness in cases before the Maricopa County Probate Court regarding probate practices in Arizona.  He is also one of the most experienced trial attorneys in the Southwest, having been the sole or lead counsel in over 100 jury trials.  He has successfully litigated cases in the United States Tax Court, the Arizona Tax Court and the Arizona Board of Tax Appeals.  He has represented clients before all levels of the Internal Revenue Service and Arizona Department of Revenue.

He was born and raised in Attleboro, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston.  He is an honors graduate of Tufts University with a double major in economics and history.  He received his law degree from Suffolk University Law School with a concentration in taxation.  He is a former officer in the United States Air Force with assignments to the 314^th Combat Support Group, Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas and the 401^st Tactical Fighter Wing, Torrejon Air Base, Spain.  He is married to the former Ana Maria Orrantia, a native Arizonan who is a Professor of Nursing at Mesa Community College.  They have four children.  Tom has coached many teams in the Ahwatukee YMCA,  Mountain Pointe Pony League and the Ahwatukee/Tempe/Chandler region of the American Youth Soccer Association.  He has also served for many years as Outdoor Activities Coordinator in his sons’ Cub Scout Pack 179.  His hobbies include running,  cooking, blues and R&B music and reading about the Civil War and World War II.

BETTY L. WHITE, ACP
Advanced Certified Paralegal
Probate and Estate Planning Specialist

BETTY L. WHITE has been a paralegal since 1976, with a background in business entities, business transactions, real estate, probate and estate planning. She has assisted in the administration of hundreds of probate estates, as well as in trust preparation and funding, trust administration, and preparation of documents reflecting business formations, restructurings and other business transactions. In estate administration she works regularly with CPA's to ensure the completion of all required tax returns. She also works extensively with guardianships and conservatorships.

She has attained the designation of Certified Legal Assistant Specialist (CLAS) in Probate and Estate Planning issued by the National Association of Legal Assistants. This specialist designation has been awarded to only ten paralegals in the state of Arizona (out of 3,200 paralegals statewide) and 119 paralegals nationwide (out of 206,700). She has attained the designation of Certified Legal Assistant (CLA), which is also awarded by the National Association of Legal Assistants. The CLA designation has been awarded to only 13,509 paralegals nationwide.

As of 2006 the National Association of Legal Assistants has given paralegals with CLA and CLAS designations the option to be referred to as Certified Paralegal (CP), and Advanced Certified Paralegal (ACP), respectively.

Ms. White is a graduate of Arizona State University, with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science. She also completed the paralegal program at Phoenix College, which is endorsed by the American Bar Association.

She is a member of the Arizona Paralegal Association, the National Association of Legal Assistants, College of Estate Planning Attorneys, and East Valley Estate Planning Council. She is an associate member of the Estate Planning, Probate, and Trust Section of the Maricopa County Bar Association, and the State Bar of Arizona Tax Section. She resides in Phoenix with her husband Robert. They have two adult children and three grandchildren.
 

MARY ESTHER AGUIRRE, A.A.C.P.
Certified Paralegal

Mary Esther Aguirre has been with Murphy Law Firm since January 1, 2000. She works primarily with estate planning, business formations, and assisting clients to qualify for Arizona Long Term Care System (ALTCS) benefits.

Prior to joining with Murphy Law Firm, she worked 15 years with Texas Instruments, Inc., primarily in a secretarial capacity, in Richardson, Texas. She then moved to Tempe, Arizona where she worked four years with Chase Manhattan Bank.

She has an Associate of Arts degree in general studies, and also in Spanish, from Mesa Community College, where she was selected as student of the year in 1995-1996. She received an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Legal Assisting from Phoenix College, which she received with Honors. The program is approved by the American Bar Association.

She is a member of, and certified by, American Alliance of Paralegals.

Her fluency in Spanish is an asset with the firm, as she communicated with Spanish-speaking clients in their primary language when the needs arises.

She is also a member of the Arizona Paralegal Association, and of the Maricopa County Bar Association paralegal division.

She has two adult children and four grandchildren.