Lippes Mathias today announced that the firm has been chosen as the primary attorney for the City of Gainesville’s Heirs’ Property Assistance Program, an initiative implemented by the city to help heirs’ property owners in achieving clear titles to properties, enabling homeowners to negotiate with lenders, obtain homeowner’s insurance, property tax homestead exemption, and repair or rehabilitate homes at risk of demolition. Alessandro A. Apolito and Mark D. Canfield, members of Lippes Mathias’ trusts & estates practice team in its Jacksonville office, will advise the City of Gainesville on the program.

Alessandro A. Apolito focuses his practice on probate, trust, and guardianship litigation including: breach of fiduciary duty claims, undue influence, accountings, improper distribution of assets, will and trust contests, removal of personal representatives (executors), trustees, and guardians, and incapacity proceedings. Apolito’s estate planning practice allows him to help individuals plan for their future. He focuses on each client's wishes and provides them with the tools to make sure their requests are fulfilled. He assists his clients with the preparation of wills and or trusts, durable powers of attorney, declarations of health care surrogate, and living wills. His probate and trust litigation experience includes representing both fiduciaries and beneficiaries. He has successfully resolved these cases after both trial and mediation. This litigation experience allows him to continually improve his client's estate planning to try to help them avoid estate, trust, or guardianship litigation in the future. Apolito's probate and trust administration experience includes both small and large estates throughout Florida. He has represented personal representatives and trustees in administering estates, including assisting with the transfer of assets, payment of estate debts, and distribution to beneficiaries. He also represents beneficiaries to ensure they are aware of their rights during the administration process.

Mark D. Canfield assists individuals, families, and businesses in matters ranging from drafting personal wills and multigenerational succession planning to the drafting of durable powers of attorneys and healthcare surrogates. Within his practice he also counsels clients through Florida probate matters, including summary administration, formal administration, as well as trusts administrations, assisting both beneficiaries and fiduciaries. Canfield also has experience handling guardianships for both minors and incapacitated adults. Canfield has a background in corporate law, assisting clients in structuring business entities, along with other contract matters. In 2019, Canfield interned as a law clerk in the Jacksonville office before graduating with Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. While attending law school, he interned in the university's office of the vice president & general counsel. He assisted attorneys on various issues, including contracts, corporations, Title IX, and more.

About Lippes Mathias

Lippes Mathias is a full-service law firm with nearly 200 attorneys serving clients regionally, nationally, and internationally. With offices in Buffalo, Clarence, Albany, Long Island, New York, Rochester and Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; Greater Toronto Area; Chicago, Ill.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Cleveland, Ohio; San Antonio, Texas; Oklahoma City, Okla. and Washington, D.C., the firm represents publicly and privately-owned companies, private equity and venture capital firms, independent sponsors, real estate developers, financial institutions, municipalities, governmental entities, and individuals.