Leah A. Foertsch | Pannone Lopes Devereaux & O’Gara LLC

Leah A. Foertsch is Office Managing Partner (Boca Raton, FL) with Pannone Lopes Devereaux & O’Gara LLC and a member of the Estate and Trust Planning, Administration and Litigation Team. Her practice focuses on advising individuals and families in all areas of trust and estate planning and probate administration. In addition, she has extensive experience in representing individuals and businesses in asset protection, wealth management and tax strategies, and has managed multimillion-dollar real estate transactions, including structuring deals and providing title insurance for both commercial and residential properties. She has written extensively on topics in her practice area and is the co-author of The Trust Beneficiary’s Right of Access to Information, published in the Florida Bar Journal.

Attorney Foertsch also works with businesses on their succession planning strategies and has advised clients regarding the best structure to meet their needs and goals. Previously, she managed the estate planning and real estate practice for the Palm Beach Gardens office of a multi-state law firm, where she also handled the representation of fiduciaries in all aspects of probate administration.

As a community volunteer and civic servant, Attorney Foertsch has contributed her time, talent and resources to a number of nonprofit and municipal organizations. Since 2014, she served on the Lake Worth Beach Community Redevelopment Agency and was elected Vice Chair in 2023. She was also a member of the Boynton Beach Planning and Zoning Board from 2007 through 2011. Her nonprofit work has included volunteering on the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League C2Z, the Town of Palm Beach United Way Allocations Committee and as a mentor for the Children’s Home Society Project 18. For over a decade, she served as a lecturer at St. Thomas University in Miami, teaching bar preparation seminars and workshops on Florida business entities. She was an adjunct professor at St. Thomas University from 2010 to 2011.

Attorney Foertsch earned her J.D. from St. Thomas University School of Law, her Master of Laws in Taxation from the University of Miami School of Law, and her undergraduate degree in sociology from Washington and Jefferson College in Pennsylvania. She is licensed to practice in Florida and is a member of the Florida Bar, Tax and Real Property, Probate and Trust sections.

Gene M. Carlino | Pannone Lopes Devereaux & O’Gara LLC

Gene M. Carlino is a Partner with Pannone Lopes Devereaux & O’Gara LLC. He is a highly respected attorney with more than 25 years of experience in all areas of estate and tax planning and administration, Medicaid planning, probate administration and trust litigation. His practice includes advising and advocating for clients in all matters involving federal and state taxation, including representing individuals before the Internal Revenue Service in contested assessments during the examination phase, before the Appeals Division, and at trial in the United States Tax Court, the United States Court of Federal Claims, and the Federal District Court. Prior to joining the firm, he was the founder and successful business owner of Carlino Law Associates, PC since 1999.

Attorney Carlino is a prominent member of the legal community. In 2022, he was chosen as a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), the most prestigious organization in the United States for estate planning and trust counsel, based on his “outstanding reputation, exceptional skill, and substantial contributions to the field.” In addition, he was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® in Trusts and Estates, and he received the peer-evaluated Professional Excellence in Law Award in 2022 from Rhode Island Monthly, a distinction recognizing only 5% of attorneys in the area. Attorney Carlino has also been honored by his peers and judges with the AV Preeminent rating from Martindale Hubbell, which is the highest rating based on both legal ability and ethics, is a published author and was the recipient of the 2020 Rhode Island Bar Journal Lauren E. Jones, Esq. Writing Award. He has vast experience in all phases of the tax collection process, including negotiating installment agreements, Offers in Compromise, penalty abatement requests if reasonable cause exists and advising clients on how to properly structure their affairs within the bounds of the law, so as to better position clients for a favorable settlement and to avoid unnecessary exposure to collection procedures. In addition, he advises clients in all matters of federal income tax planning, including structuring and implementing like-kind exchanges from routine to a highly sophisticated nature, and advising corporate taxpayers and shareholders in connection with tax-free reorganizations.

In his estate and trust planning and administration practice, he counsels clients in a wide range of areas that include funded revocable trusts, funded irrevocable trusts, funded life insurance trusts, planning for families with a noncitizen spouse and for families with special needs children or beneficiaries, grantor retained annuity trusts, sales to irrevocable trusts using a conventional promissory note and/or using a self-canceling installment note, and domestic asset protection trusts. In addition, Attorney Carlino has significant experience in the practice of Elder Law, including advising individuals in all phases of the Medicaid planning and the eligibility process, assisting in designing and implementing Medicaid plans and handling appeals through the state administrative hearing process.

Attorney Carlino earned his J.D. from Boston University School of Law, his LLM in Taxation from New York University School of Law and a B.S. in Accountancy from Providence College, magna cum laude. He is licensed to practice in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Florida and also admitted to the United States Tax Court, United States Court of Federal Claims, the Federal District Court of Rhode Island and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He is also licensed by the National Football League Player’s Associations as a contract advisor.

I. The December 31, 2025, sunset – What we are doing now to prepare | 1:00pm – 1:30pm

II. Appropriate vehicles for different wealth levels and how to infuse some flexibility | 1:30pm – 2:00pm

Break | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

III. Post-mortem planning techniques | 2:10pm – 2:40pm

IV. Philanthropic clients and recent developments regarding charitable giving | 2:40pm – 3:10pm