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News2020-12-16T21:07:05+00:00

Daniel K. Capes Named 2025 Best Lawyers® “Lawyer of the Year” for Trusts and Estates in the Fort Myers Area

August 15, 2024 — Dunwody White & Landon, P.A. attorney Daniel K. Capes was recently recognized by Best Lawyers as the 2025 “Lawyer of the Year” for Trusts and Estates in Fort Myers.

Only a single lawyer in each practice area and designated metropolitan area is honored as the “Lawyer of the Year,” making this a significant and coveted accolade. These lawyers are selected based on particularly impressive voting averages received during the peer review assessments.

Receiving this designation reflects the high level of respect a lawyer has earned among other leading lawyers in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism and their integrity.

For more than four decades, Best Lawyers has assisted those in need of legal services to identify the lawyers best qualified to represent them in distant jurisdictions or unfamiliar specialties. Lawyers are not required nor allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore, recognition by Best Lawyers is considered a singular distinction.

About Daniel K. Capes

Daniel K. Capes is a shareholder of Dunwody White & Landon, P.A..

Mr. Capes received his LL.M. in Taxation and J.D., with honors, from the University of Florida and a Bachelor of Science degree from Toccoa Falls College. He is Board Certified in Wills, Trusts and Estates by The Florida Bar and is recognized for his Trusts and Estates expertise in “The Best Lawyers in America,” Naifeh and Smith (2008 – 2011) and Florida Trend’s Florida Legal Elite (2009 and 2011). He is a member of the Florida Bar (Member: Real Property, Probate and Trust Law and Taxation Sections). He is also a member of the Collier County Bar Association (Past Chair, Trust and Estates Section) and American Bar Association (Member: Real Property, Probate and Trust Law and Taxation Sections).

Mr. Capes was a member and editor-in-chief of the Florida Journal of International Law and was nominated to Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities. He co-authored Practice Alert: Private Letter Ruling, Extends Availability of Protective Section 2032 Elections, RIA Estate Planners Alert Newsletter, Vol. 24, No. 11 (Nov. 2, 1999).

Mr. Capes focuses his practice in the areas of estate planning and estate and trust administration, with an emphasis on estate, gift and Generation-Skipping Transfer (GST) tax planning. He has obtained private letter rulings addressing protective alternative valuation elections, retroactive GST tax allocations, tax situs of trusts holding S corporation stock and preservation of long term pay out options for Individual Retirement Accounts.

Mr. Capes regularly speaks to other professionals on estate and trust related topics.

About Best Lawyers

Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected lawyer ranking service in the world. For 40 years, Best Lawyers has assisted those in need of legal services to identify the lawyers best qualified to represent them in distant jurisdictions or unfamiliar specialties. Best Lawyers awards are published in leading local, regional and national publications across the globe.

Lawyers who are nominated for consideration are voted on by currently recognized Best Lawyers working in the same practice area and located in the same geographic region. Our awards and recognitions are based purely on the feedback we receive from these top lawyers. Those who receive high peer reviews undergo a thorough verification process to make sure they are currently still in private practice. Only then can these top lawyers be recognized by Best Lawyers.

August 15th, 2024|

Alfred J. Stashis, Jr. Named 2025 Best Lawyers® “Lawyer of the Year” for Tax Law in the Fort Myers Area

August 15, 2024 — Dunwody White & Landon, P.A. attorney Alfred J. Stashis, Jr. was recently recognized by Best Lawyers as the 2025 “Lawyer of the Year” for Tax Law in Fort Myers.

Only a single lawyer in each practice area and designated metropolitan area is honored as the “Lawyer of the Year,” making this a significant and coveted accolade. These lawyers are selected based on particularly impressive voting averages received during the peer review assessments.

Receiving this designation reflects the high level of respect a lawyer has earned among other leading lawyers in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism and their integrity.

For more than four decades, Best Lawyers has assisted those in need of legal services to identify the lawyers best qualified to represent them in distant jurisdictions or unfamiliar specialties. Lawyers are not required nor allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore, recognition by Best Lawyers is considered a singular distinction.

About Alfred J. Stashis, Jr.

Alfred J. Stashis, Jr. is a shareholder of Dunwody White & Landon, P.A. and is board certified by the Florida Bar in Wills, Trusts and Estates. A Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), he serves clients in the firm’s Naples, Palm Beach and Miami offices.

He focuses his practice in the areas of estate planning, estate and trust administration; federal income, estate, gift and generation skipping transfer (GST) taxation; planning for Florida domicile; planning for charitable contributions and foundations; and planning for distributions from IRAs and other qualified retirement plans.

As a Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil Mediator and a Florida Supreme Court Qualified Arbitrator, Mr. Stashis also assists families, fiduciaries, beneficiaries and their counsel in resolving trusts-and-estates-related disputes.

Mr. Stashis earned his J.D. from the Notre Dame Law School and his LL.M. in Estate Planning from the University of Miami. He was awarded an M.B.A., magna cum laude, and a B.S., cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame, and an M.A.T. from the University of Portland.

Mr. Stashis is a member of the Florida Bar’s Taxation and Real Property, Probate and Trust Law (RPPTL) Sections (2005–present).  He serves on the RPPTL Section’s Executive Council and numerous RPPTL committees, including the Probate Law & Procedure Committee; the Trust Law Committee; the IRA, Insurance & Employee Benefits Committee (Chair 2018–2022; Vice Chair 2017–2018); the Estate and Trust Tax Planning Committee (Vice Chair 2022-); the Budget Committee (Vice Chair 2023-); the Asset Protection Committee; the Charitable Planning and Exempt Organizations Committee; and the Wills, Trusts & Estates Certification Review Course Committee. Previously he served as a member of the Florida Bar’s Probate Rules Committee. He is also a member of the American Bar Association, and its Real Property, Trust and Estate Law (RPTE) and Taxation Sections.  Locally, he is an active member of the Estate Planning Council of Naples, and the Trusts and Estates Section of the Collier County Bar Association (CCBA).  He is a Past Chair of the CCBA Trusts and Estates Section (2009-2010).

Mr. Stashis holds an AV-Preeminent Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell and has been recognized by his peers in Best Lawyers, Florida Super Lawyers, Florida Trend,andNaples Illustrated. He is a graduate of the Florida Fellows Institute of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC).

Mr. Stashis speaks frequently to other professionals on estate planning topics.  His recent speaking engagements include: “Key Considerations in Planning for Retirement Benefits” (March 2024), “Making Sense of Retirement Plan Beneficiary Designations, Part 1 of 4:  Spousal Beneficiaries” (March 2024), “Wills, Trusts & Estates Certification Review: Planning With Retirement Accounts” (February 2024), “Getting More Secure with SECURE (SECURE 2.0, SECURE, Proposed Regulations)” (February, March, April, May 2023), “Wills, Trusts & Estates Certification Review: Planning With IRAs” (March 2023), “Wills, Trusts & Estates Certification Review: Planning with IRAs” (April 2022), “Things I Wish I Knew About the SECURE Act” (August 2021, September 2021), “ATO Conference:  Getting Secure with SECURE” (August 2021), “IRA Lightning Round” (September 2021), “ACTEC Podcast – Exempt Status of Distributions from Retirement Accounts” (July 2021), “The Effect of an Improperly Executed Revocable Trust” (July 2021), “Wills, Trusts & Estates Certification Review: Planning with IRAs” (March 2021), “IRA Planning in 2020:  CARES Act, SECURE Act, & Qualified Charitable Distributions” (July, August, September 2020), “Grantor Trust Income Tax Reimbursements:  Cases, Statutes, Provisions & IRS Authority” (September 2020), “Wills, Trusts & Estates Certification Review:  Planning with IRAs” (July 2020), “How SECURE Is Your IRA Plan?” (April 2020), “Almost All the Rules Just Changed.  Now’s the Time to Review Your Retirement Plans!” (January 2020), “Navigating the IRA Charitable Rollover” (September, October 2019, September 2020), “2019 Recent Developments in Planning for IRAs, Insurance and Employee Benefits” (June, July, August 2019), “2018 Recent Developments in Planning for IRAs, Insurance and Employee Benefits” (October 2018), “Resolving Defective or Deficient Beneficiary Designations” (April 2018, December 2018), “Tax Planning For Clients With Multi State Contacts” (May 2016), “Protecting ‘To Be Inherited’ IRAs” (panelist, October 2014), “After Clark v. Rameker: the Use of Trusts in IRA Planning” (panelist, July 2014), “Tax Aspects of Charitable Giving” (April 2014), “Selected Issues in IRA Planning” (September 2013), “A Review of Florida Law Concerning Tenants by the Entirety Ownership” (March 2012), “IRS Form 8939:  Allocation of Increase in Basis for Property Acquired from a Decedent” (October 2011), “Recent Developments in Homestead Law” (May 2011), “Creditor Issues in Probate” (June 2010), “Final Treasury Regulations under Section 2053” (January 2010), “Use of Grantor Trusts in Estate Planning” (September 2009), “Valuation Issues in a Declining Market” (April 2009), and “Intra Family Gifts, Loans and Guaranties” (January 2009).

Mr. Stashis has authored or co-authored numerous articles and book chapters for professional audiences, including most recently  “SECURE 2.0:  What You Need to Know” (Florida Bar ActionLine forthcoming 2023), “The Lerbakken Fix:  IRAs Transferred Incident to Divorce are Exempt from Creditor Claims” (Florida Bar Action Line 2023), “Roth IRA Conversions After the SECURE Act” (Florida Bar ActionLine 2020), “Overcoming Retirement Plan In-SECURE-ity” (Florida Bar Journal 2020), “Retirement Plan Relief Under the CARES Act” (Florida Bar ActionLine 2020), “How SECURE Is Your IRA Planning?” (Florida Bar ActionLine 2020), “Advising Clients on Qualified Charitable Distributions from Individual Retirement Accounts” (Florida Bar ActionLine 2019), “The Importance of Beneficiary Designations” (Collier County Bar Association Adverse Witness 2019), “Beneficiary Designations in Divorce:  Lessons from Sveen v. Melin” (Florida Bar Commentator Fall 2018), “Tax Considerations for Marital Agreements” (Florida Bar Commentator Fall 2018), and “Drafting for Flexibility While Protecting Assets and Minimizing Taxes,” a chapter in the volume Best Practices for Structuring Trusts and Estates (Aspatore/Thomson Reuters, 2015 ed.).

He has also authored or co-authored numerous short articles for the estate planning supplement to the Naples Daily Newson topics ranging from Planning With Charitable Remainder Trusts (2022), the SECURE Act (2020), There’s More to Your Estate Plan Than Taxes (2017), Trust Planning to Protect Inherited IRAs (2015), Planning with Portability vs. Credit Shelter Trusts (2014), The Importance of Beneficiary Designations (2013), Trust Privacy and Designated Representatives (2012), Charitable Remainder Unitrusts (2010), Sales to Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts (2009), Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (2008), and Section 529 Plans (2007).

Mr. Stashis is a Past Director, Past President and Past Treasurer of the Notre Dame Club of Naples.

About Best Lawyers

Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected lawyer ranking service in the world. For 40 years, Best Lawyers has assisted those in need of legal services to identify the lawyers best qualified to represent them in distant jurisdictions or unfamiliar specialties. Best Lawyers awards are published in leading local, regional and national publications across the globe.

Lawyers who are nominated for consideration are voted on by currently recognized Best Lawyers working in the same practice area and located in the same geographic region. Our awards and recognitions are based purely on the feedback we receive from these top lawyers. Those who receive high peer reviews undergo a thorough verification process to make sure they are currently still in private practice. Only then can these top lawyers be recognized by Best Lawyers.

August 15th, 2024|

Attorneys Named 2025 Best Lawyers

9 Dunwody White & Landon, P.A. Lawyers Recognized as Best Lawyers® Award Recipients

August 15, 2024 — Dunwody White & Landon, P.A. is pleased to announce that 9 lawyers have been included in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®. Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence.

“For more than 40 years, the rigorous methodology of Best Lawyers has ensured the integrity and esteem of our legal recognitions,” said Best Lawyers CEO Phillip Greer. “It is with great pleasure that we continue to provide potential clients with the pinnacle measurement of credibility through our Best Lawyers awards as they search for counsel.”

Best Lawyers has earned the respect of the profession, the media and the public as the most reliable, unbiased source of legal referrals. Its first international list was published in 2006 and since then has grown to provide lists in more than 75 countries.

Lawyers on The Best Lawyers in America list are divided by geographic region and practice areas. They are reviewed by their peers based on professional expertise and undergo an authentication process to make sure they are in current practice and in good standing.

Dunwody White & Landon, P.A. would like to congratulate the following lawyers named to 2025 The Best Lawyers in America list:

About Best Lawyers

Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected lawyer ranking service in the world. For 40 years, Best Lawyers has assisted those in need of legal services to identify the lawyers best qualified to represent them in distant jurisdictions or unfamiliar specialties. Best Lawyers awards are published in leading local, regional and national publications across the globe.

Lawyers who are nominated for consideration are voted on by currently recognized Best Lawyers working in the same practice area and located in the same geographic region. Our awards and recognitions are based purely on the feedback we receive from these top lawyers. Those who receive high peer reviews undergo a thorough verification process to make sure they are currently still in private practice. Only then can these top lawyers be recognized by Best Lawyers.

August 15th, 2024|

Attorneys Named 2024 Super Lawyers

Dunwody White & Landon, P.A. is pleased to announce that the following attorneys have been named 2024 Florida Super Lawyers by Florida Super Lawyers Magazine.  This is an exclusive list, recognizing no more than five percent of attorneys in Florida.

Estate Planning and Probate:   Frank T. Adams, Daniel K. Capes, Neil R. Chrystal, John J. Grundhauser, William T. Muir, Alfred J. Stashis, Jr.

Estate and Trust Litigation:   Jack A. Falk, Jr.

Dunwody White & Landon, P.A. is also pleased to announce that Candice J. Maya (Palte) has been selected to Rising Stars for 2024.

July 9th, 2024|

Attorneys Named 2024 Best Lawyers

August 17, 2023 — Dunwody White & Landon, P.A. is pleased to announce that 9 lawyers have been included in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®. Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence.

“For more than 40 years, the rigorous methodology of Best Lawyers has ensured the integrity and esteem of our legal recognitions,” said Best Lawyers CEO Phillip Greer. “It is with great pleasure that we continue to provide potential clients with the pinnacle measurement of credibility through our Best Lawyers awards as they search for counsel.”

Best Lawyers has earned the respect of the profession, the media and the public as the most reliable, unbiased source of legal referrals. Its first international list was published in 2006 and since then has grown to provide lists in more than 75 countries.

Lawyers on The Best Lawyers in America list are divided by geographic region and practice areas. They are reviewed by their peers based on professional expertise and undergo an authentication process to make sure they are in current practice and in good standing.

Dunwody White & Landon, P.A. would like to congratulate the following lawyers named to 2024 The Best Lawyers in America list:

  • Frank T. Adams – Litigation – Trusts and Estates and Trusts and Estates
  • Daniel K. Capes – Trusts and Estates
  • Denise B. Cazobon – Trusts and Estates
  • Neil R. Chrystal – Litigation – Trusts and Estates and Trusts and Estates
  • Jack A. Falk, Jr. – Litigation – Trusts and Estates
  • John J. Grundhauser – Trusts and Estates
  • Thomas J. Matkov – Real Estate Law
  • William T. Muir – Trusts and Estates
  • Alfred J. Stashis, Jr. – Tax Law and Trusts and Estates

About Best Lawyers

Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected lawyer ranking service in the world. For 40 years, Best Lawyers has assisted those in need of legal services to identify the lawyers best qualified to represent them in distant jurisdictions or unfamiliar specialties. Best Lawyers awards are published in leading local, regional and national publications across the globe.

Lawyers who are nominated for consideration are voted on by currently recognized Best Lawyers working in the same practice area and located in the same geographic region. Our awards and recognitions are based purely on the feedback we receive from these top lawyers. Those who receive high peer reviews undergo a thorough verification process to make sure they are currently still in private practice. Only then can these top lawyers be recognized by Best Lawyers.

August 17th, 2023|

Frank T. Adams Named 2022 Best Lawyers® “Lawyer of the Year” in the Miami Area

Dunwody White & Landon, P.A. attorney Frank T. Adams was recently recognized by Best Lawyers® as the 2022 “Lawyer of the Year” for Trusts and Estates.

Only a single lawyer in each practice area and designated metropolitan area is honored as the “Lawyer of the Year,” making this accolade particularly significant. These lawyers are selected based on particularly impressive voting averages received during the peer review assessments.

Receiving this designation reflects the high level of respect a lawyer has earned among other leading lawyers in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism and their integrity.

In addition to the “Lawyer of the Year” award, Frank T. Adams was also listed in the 2022 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the following practice areas:

  • Litigation – Trusts and Estates

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence.

August 23rd, 2021|

The attorneys of Dunwody White & Landon, P.A. are dedicated to the practice of trust and estates law. Our attorneys bring many decades of collective experience to bear in providing high quality, efficient and personal legal service to our clients. We have offices in Miami (Coral Gables), Naples, Palm Beach and seek to provide our clients with innovative solutions to legal problems. Our attorneys have actively served the profession and their communities in a variety of professional, charitable and civic organizations. We now invite you to explore our Web site and take a look at the different services we offer as well as learn more about our attorneys. Thank you for your interest in our firm.

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