Top Rated Estate Planning & Probate Attorney in Naples, FL

Honors/Awards:

• AV-Preeminent Peer Review Rating, Martindale Hubbell
• Best Lawyer
• Florida Trend Legal Elite
• Naples Illustrated Top Lawyer

Special Licenses/Certifications:

• Board Certified in Wills, Trusts & Estates by the Florida Bar
• Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil Mediator

Bar/Professional Activity:

• Co-Chair - RPPTL Section IRA, Insurance & Employee Benefits Committee
• Executive Council - Florida Bar Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section
• Member - Estate Planning Council of Naples
• Member - Florida Probate Rules Committee
• Committee Member - Florida Bar Real Property Probate & Trust Law Section - IRA, Insurance & Employee Benefits Committee; Probate Law & Procedure Committee; Asset Protection Commitee; Estate and Trust Tax Planning Committee
• Member - American Bar Association - Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Section; Taxation Section
• Member and Past Chairman (2009-2010) of the Collier County Bar Association Trusts & Estates Section
• Member - Florida Bar Tax Section

Pro bono/Community Service:

• Past Board Member and Past President, Notre Dame Club of Naples

Scholarly Lectures/Writings:

• Roth IRA Conversions After the SECURE Act, Author
• Overcoming Retirement Plan In-SECURE-ity, Author
• Wills Trusts & Estates Certification Review:  Planning with IRAs, Speaker
• Grantor Trust Income Tax Reimbursements:  Cases, Statutes, Provisions & IRS Authority, Speaker
• Retirement Plan Relief Under the CARES Act, Author
• How SECURE Is Your IRA Planning?, Author
• Advising Clients on Qualified Charitable Distributions from Individual Retirement Accounts, Author
• The Importance of Beneficiary Designations, Author
• Tax Considerations for Marital Agreements, Author
• Beneficiary Designations in Divorce, Author
• Planning with IRAs in 2020:  CARES Act, SECURE Act, & Qualified Charitable Distributions, Speaker
• Navigating the IRA Charitable Rollover, Speaker
• How SECURE Is Your IRA Plan?, Speaker
• Almost All the Rules Just Changed.  Now' the Time to Review Your Retirement Plans!, Speaker
• 2019 Recent Developments in Planning for IRAs, Insurance & Employee Benefits, Speaker
• 2018 Recent Developments in Planning For IRAs, Insurance and Employee Benefits, Speaker
• Resolving Defective or Deficient IRA Beneficiary Designations, Speaker
• Drafting for Flexibility While Protecting Assets and Minimizing Taxes, a chapter in Best Practices for Structuring Trusts and estates (Aspatore / Thomson Reuters, 2015), Author
• Tax Planning for Clients with Multi State Contacts, Speaker
• Protecting "To Be Inherited" IRAs, Speaker
• After "Clark v. Rameker":  the Use of Trusts in IRA Planning, Speaker
• Tax Aspects of Charitable Giving, Speaker
• Selected Issues in IRA Planning, Speaker
• A Review of Florida Law of Tenants By the Entirety Ownership, Speaker
• IRS Form 8939:  Allocation of Increase in Bases for Property Acquired from a Decedent, Speaker
• Recent Developments in Homestead Law, Speaker
• Creditor Issues in Probate, Speaker
• Final Treasury Regulations Under Section 2053, Speaker
• Use of Grantor Trusts in Estate Planning, Speaker
• Valuation Issues in a Declining Market, Speaker
• Intra Family Gifts, Loans and Guaranties, Speaker
• Planning with Portability vs. Credit Shelter Trusts, Author
• The Importance of Beneficiary Designations, Author
• Trust Privacy and Designated Representatives, Author
• Sales to Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts, Author

Educational Background:

• Juris Doctor - Notre Dame Law School, 2005
• LL.M. in Estate Planning - Univerity of Miami, 2006
• Master of Business Administration - University of Notre Dame, 2005
• Master of Arts in Teaching - University of Portland, 1998
• Bachelor of Science - University of Notre Dame, 1996