Robert grew up in northern Virginia, then moved with his family to North Carolina, where he attended college and law school at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from North Carolina as an undergraduate and was in the top ten percent of his law school class. After graduating from law school in 1980, Robert took a job with the firm, where he has practiced almost exclusively in the areas of wills, trusts, estate planning and taxation ever since. Robert became a partner in the firm in 1986. Since 1987, he has been board certified as a specialist in Wills, Trusts and Estates by The Florida Bar. Robert has written many articles in the estate planning field for professional publications and additional articles for popular publications, including authoring one article that was awarded the “Best Cutting Edge Article” by Probate and Property Magazine

Robert lives in South Ponte Vedra Beach and has a married daughter, Deanna, who lives in the United Kingdom.

Work Experience

• Counsel and advise clients in their estate planning by helping to select strategies to minimize estate and gift taxes while implementing personal goals such as the protection and transfer of family wealth.
• Represent clients after the death of a family member to quickly and efficiently pay debts and taxes and transfer the decedent’s assets to the heirs, wherever possible employing post mortem strategies to minimize estate and income taxes.
• Advise and assist in charitable giving, often using charitable giving strategies to accomplish the two goals of benefitting the client’s charities and the client’s family in a way that greatly reduces, or even eliminates, estate taxes.

Areas of Practice

• Estate Planning
• Probate
• Trust Administration
• Taxation
• Guardianship
• Charitable Planning/Planned Giving

Education & Credentials

• University of North Carolina School of Law (J.D. 1980)
• University of North Carolina (B.A. 1978)
• Florida Bar Board Certified Wills, Trusts, and Estates
• AV Rated – Martindale Hubbell

Bar Admissions

• Florida
• U.S. Tax Court

Membership

• American Bar Association
• The Florida Bar- Member, Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section
• Jacksonville Bar Association- Member, Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section
• Estate Planning Council of Northeast Florida