Zisser Family Law LA W FIRM OF THE MONTH Stefano D. Portigliatti A TT ORNEY SPO TLIGHT Celebrating 100 Years of Women’s Right to VoteAttorney at Law Magazine is published by: Target Market Media Publications Inc. Ken Minniti PRESIDENT & CEO Howard LaGraffe VICE PRESIDENT Caitlin Keniston EDITOR Thomas Brady FIRST COAST PUBLISHER Susan Cushing Veronica Jauregui ASSISTANT EDITOR Nancy Kinnally LOCAL EDITOR Kate Quealy LOCAL ADMINISTRATOR Jaqueline Dávila GRAPHIC DESIGN Alessandro A. Apolito Paige Harriss James Mitchell CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Dan Harris PHOTOGRAPHY Copyright ©2020, Target Market Media all rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is strictly prohibited. Advertising rates on request. Bulk third class (standard) mail. Although every precaution is taken to ensure accuracy of published materials, Attorney at Law Magazine & Target Market Media cannot be held responsible for opinions expressed or facts supplied by authors. Corporate Office : 5828 North 7th Street, Suite 200 Phoenix, AZ 85014 Phone (480) 219-9716 www.tmmpublications.com • info@tmmpublications.com Northern Alabama | Atlanta | Chicago | Dallas | Ft. Lauderdale Jacksonville | Los Angeles | Miami | Minnesota North Carolina Triangle | Ohio | Philadelphia | Phoenix | San Antonio Salt Lake City | Middle Tennessee | Washington D.C.FROM THE Publisher TABLE OF Contents To the esteemed First Coast legal community, Thank you and welcome to the Five Year Anniversary issue of At- torney at Law Magazine First Coast. I would like to take this opportunity to remember Barry S. Sinoff, who passed away suddenly on March 22, 2016. Barry graduated from the University of Florida where he also received his Juris Doc- tor Degree. Following his admittance to the Florida Bar, Barry be- gan his legal career as First Assistant Public Defender, 1968-1972 and Assistant General Counsel of Consolidated City of Jacksonville, 1972-1973. The majority of Barry’s legal career was spent as a family law attorney. I considered him a friend and was grateful for his kindness, cour- tesy and generosity, not to mention his wonderful sense of humor. Sincerely, THOMAS BRADY PUBLISHER 904-398-2234 TBRADY@ATTORNEYATLAWMAGAZINE.COM 9 Family Feud isn’t a Game Show in Trust and Estate Litigation By Alessandro A. Apolito 11 Welcome to the Future of Wills By James Mitchell 13 Shilts CPA Professional Spotlight 18 Zisser Family Law Law Firm of the Month 23 Stefano D. Portigliatti Attorney Spotlight 25 Celebrating 100 Years of Women’s Right to Vote By Paige Harriss SPECIAL SECTIONS 29 Event Spotlight CONTRIBUTING Editors JAMES MITCHELL NOTARY ALESSANDRO A. APOLITO LITIGATION 18 AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com 7JaxLegalAid.org/Donate You can protect and preserve with us. Give generously today. Consumers • Elderly • Workers • Families Children • Veterans • Neighbors Healthcare Access • Safe, Affordable Housing Economic & Food Security • Second Chances Community Well-Being • Dignity WE ARE PROTECTING WE ARE PRESERVING WE ARE JACKSONVILLE AREA LEGAL AIDIn almost every trust or probate litigation case, I tell my client that death and money can do bad things to good people. Unfortu- nately, this statement turns out to be true in just about every case. This type of litigation is a form of family law involving different family mem- bers such as siblings, parents, uncles, and other relatives fighting over two things: assets and control. In most cases, a dispute arises be- tween parties over the distribution of the estate assets or the control over the estate or trust administration. A decedent’s ill thought out estate plan or lack of an estate plan can set these disputes in motion. Estate planning decisions that could give rise to dis- putes are: (1) unequal distributions between beneficiaries; (2) making a stepparent trustee over an adult step- child’s trust, or (3) not even having an estate plan. Without an estate plan, the estate is distributed according to the intestate statute, and the selection of the per- sonal representative could be left up to chance. However, people have legal tools at their disposal, such as pre- nuptial agreements, wills, and trusts to plan their estate around the com- plexities and nuances of their family. Probate and trust litigation can be expensive and emotionally draining for the parties. While the legal merits of these cases will always be impor- tant, attorneys should also pay close attention to how emotions dictate the client’s decisions. Clients might be motivated by the historical relation- ship with the other party. If the case is between siblings, chances are those siblings did not get along growing up. If the case is between a stepparent and a stepchild, then they probably did not trust each other before. Under- standing these factors can be critical to setting client expectations and ex- plaining the relevant considerations for the judge in deciding the case. It is essential to know that trust and probate litigation is not just any other type of lawsuit. The Florida Probate and Trust Codes must be carefully studied because they dictate the par- ties’ claims and defenses. Examples of some laws that impact these cases are below. Beneficiaries need to be aware that if they contest the validity of a will or a trust, they may be required to renounce any prior distribution. See Barnett Nat. Bank of Jacksonville v. Murrey, 49 So. 2d. 535, 537-38 (Fla. 1950). Renunciation does not elimi- nate the beneficiary’s entitlement; however, “[t]he purpose of such re- nunciation is three-fold: 1) to protect the executor in the event the will is held invalid; 2) to demonstrate the sincerity of the contestant and prove that the suit is not merely vexatious, and 3) to have the property readily available for disposition under a de- cree of the court.” Carman v. Gilbert, 641 So. 2d 1323, 1325 (Fla. 1994). Beneficiaries of a trust also need to be aware that a trustee may with- hold distributions during the litiga- tion. According to Florida Statute § 736.08165, if the trustee believes that the outcome of the dispute will im- pact the rights of the beneficiaries, then the trustee can withhold distri- butions. A trustee must be aware that as soon as he or she receives a complaint about a breach of fiduciary duty, then the trustee must give specific notices to the beneficiaries. See Fla. Stat. § 736.0802(10). One such notice could cause beneficiaries to prevent a trust- ee from using trust funds to pay for a legal defense. Luckily, fiduciaries can also rely on the code for defenses to a lawsuit. A trustee or personal representative is entitled to rely on professionals, such as accountants, and act upon their ad- vice without independent investiga- tion. See Fla. Stat. § 736.0816(20); see e.g., Wohl v. Lewy, 505 So. 2d 525, 526 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987). However, a fidu- ciary advancing this type of defense must be aware that doing so could waive the accountant-client or attor- ney-client privilege. Asserting this de- fense could put communications with professionals “at issue” and cause at least a partial waiver of the privilege. See Choice Restaurant Acquisition Ltd. v. Whitley, Inc., 816 So.2d 1165 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002). Like many other types of litigation, mediation can be a useful tool to re- solve a highly contested case. Given the many nuances of the Florida Pro- bate and Trust Codes, parties should seek a mediator who is a subject matter expert in this area of the law. These types of cases are often filled with much emotion, so a mediator with subject mat- ter expertise will be best suited to reign in unreasonable ex- pectations, clients, and lawyers to have a meaningful me- diation. ALESSANDRO A. APOLITO | Litigation Alessandro A. Apolito, a partner with Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman LLP and Young Lawyers Section President, focuses his practice on probate, trust, and guardianship litigation, estate planning, and estate and trust adminis- tration. Family Feud isn’t a Game Show in Trust and Estate Litigation AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com 9Next >