WealthCounsel® Announces the Winners of the Creating Lasting Legacies Video Competition at the 2012 Planning for the Generations Symposium

DENVER, July 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- WealthCounsel®, a nationwide collaborative organization for attorneys and wealth planning professionals, today announced the winners of the Creating Lasting Legacies video competition. The announcement came during the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Planning for the Generations Symposium that drew more than 500 attorneys and other wealth management professionals. Nearly 1,700 consumers and industry professionals voted in the competition, which took place from June 4 through July 6, 2012 at www.estateplanning.com.

The three WealthCounsel members who took top honors in the 2012 Creating Lasting Legacies video competition are:  

• M. Merrell Bailey, Esq., Maitland, Florida, first place award. 
• Louis V. Pavone, Esq., Lombard, Illinois, second place award.
• Michael G. Stuart, Esq., Rolling Meadows, Illinois, third place award.

"On behalf of WealthCounsel and our entire membership, I would like to extend our sincere congratulations to the three winners of this year's competition," said WealthCounsel's CEO Matthew T. McClintock, J.D.  "I would also like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the nine other attorney members who took the time to participate in this year's video competition.  Their video stories clearly exemplify the phrase "practice excellence."

The Creating Lasting Legacies campaign is a nationwide public awareness initiative designed to educate the public about the importance of estate planning while showcasing the expertise of WealthCounsel attorneys. The 2012 campaign officially kicked off with a WealthCounsel announcement in fall 2011 commemorating National Estate Planning Awareness Week held each year in October. The ultimate objective of the video campaign is to inspire individuals to reflect on their own family situation and to examine whether they have planned properly for loved ones in the event of disability or death.

The 2013 Creating Lasting Legacies campaign and video competition will kick off the week of October 15-21, 2012. Details will be posted on www.estateplanning.com.

About The WealthCounsel Companies
The WealthCounsel Companies equip professionals to improve clients' lives through proper planning. Established in 1997 and celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, WealthCounsel® is a membership-based organization of thousands of estate and business planning attorneys located in all 50 states. WealthCounsel believes that proper planning is the key to better lives—for clients, for their families, and for the professionals who serve them.  As a community of professionals, WealthCounsel members are best equipped to serve clients with the highest level of excellence. WealthCounsel shares ownership in ElderCounsel, and is the publisher of the WealthDocx® Trust and Estate Planning Software system, the nation's leading automated drafting system for trust and estate attorneys.

SOURCE WealthCounsel