Jonathan Gopman

Jonathan E. Gopman is chair of the trusts and estates practice at Akerman LLP, a fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel and a member of the American Bar Association and the ABA’s Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law. He is co-chair of the Asset Protection Planning Committee of the RPTE Section of the ABA (for the 2015-2016 bar year). He is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and an adjunct professor of taxation at Ave Maria Law School in Naples, Florida where he also serves on the school’s curriculum planning committee and served as the chair of the steering committee for the school’s inaugural Estate Planning Day Conference held April 28, 2014. He continues to serve as a member of the steering committee for this conference. Jonathan is a commentator on asset protection planning matters for Leimberg Information Services, Inc., a member of the legal advisory board of Commonwealth Trust Company in Wilmington, Delaware, and a member of STEP. He is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell. Jonathan is the co-author of the revised version of the BNA Tax Management Portfolio on Estate Tax Payments and Liabilities. He has been interviewed for, and quoted in, numerous articles in well-known publications such as the New York Times, Bloomberg Magazine, Forbes Magazine, Wealth Manager Magazine and the Elite Traveler. In 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 Jonathan was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America^® in the specialty of trusts and estates, he was selected as a Florida Super Lawyer for 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 and he was included in the Florida Trend Legal Elite for 2010 and 2011. In the December 2005 and 2007 issues of Worth Magazine Jonathan was recognized as one of the top one hundred estate planning attorneys in the country. Jonathan is considered one of the leading experts in the world on asset protection planning. Jonathan is the originator of the idea for the statutory tenancy by the entireties trust (commonly referred to as a “STET,” a termed he coined) that is set forth in § 3574(f) of Title 12 of Chapter 35 of the Delaware Statutes. This statute was enacted into law in Delaware in July of 2010 and became effective on August 1, 2010. A substantially similar version of the statute in Delaware enabling the creation of a STET was passed in Nevis by the Nevis Island Assembly on May 27, 2015. Jonathan was the primary draftsperson of that statute for the government of Nevis. Jonathan’s articles, commentaries and presentations have also served as the impetus for changes to the trust laws of several states. In calendar years 2011 through 2015, Jonathan assisted the government of Nevis in revising its trust laws set forth in the Nevis International Exempt Trust Ordinance by rewriting a significant portion of the Ordinance. This legislation was enacted on May 27, 2015 by the Nevis Island Assembly.