CTF Hosts Continuing Legal Education Seminar

Conservation Trust for Florida, Inc.
Hosts Continuing Legal Education Seminar
Seminar sponsored by the USA Equestrian Trust.

Conservation Easements from All Angles: Issues and Strategies for Landowner Advisors

Topics covered included: Conservation Easement Basics, Tax Incentives, Resolving Family Issues, IRS Appraisal Requirements

Speakers
Zac E.W. Ryan, MAI (Lic. FL, GA, SC)
Heidi Horak, Esq. (Lic. FL, NY; FL Bd. Cert. Real Estate Law)
Keith R. Fountain, Conservation Advisors LLC

• Approved for 5.0 General CLE Credits #1303905N
• 3 Hours Meet MAI CE standards
• Courses on conservation easements qualified for technical business CPE credit for Florida CPAS.

Biographies of Presenters

Keith R. Fountain is a member of The Florida Bar with more than 20 years of combined experience with prominent conservation real estate programs and partnerships and real estate law.  He is currently the managing member of Conservation Advisors LLC, a consulting firm that provides non-legal services to landowners, real estate investors, and nonprofit organizations to implement land conservation projects, secure public and private conservation capital, and implement conservation business strategies.  Previously, Mr. Fountain spent almost 20 years with The Nature Conservancy, where he managed real estate programs protecting hundreds of thousands of acres, including more than 4,300 fee simple and conservation easement transactions valued at $671 million, in partnership with donors and government conservation programs.  After graduating from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 1987, he practiced law with an emphasis on real property and land use law.

Brad Gould, Esq. CPA (Lic. FL, U.S. Tax Court), Dean Mead, Shareholder; Office: Fort Pierce. Mr. Gould practices in the area of federal income, estate, and gift tax law and business succession planning. He represents businesses and business owners in all types of business and tax matters, including choice of entity, mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, and other general business matters. Mr. Gould represents individuals, businesses and fiduciaries before the Internal Revenue Service and also counsels clients on estate and wealth preservation planning matters. Additionally, he represents trustees, personal representatives and family members in controversies regarding wills, trusts and estates. Mr. Gould is a Certified Public Accountant.

Heidi Horak is a real estate and probate attorney who presents workshops for the Conservation Trust for Florida while maintaining an active real estate, probate, and land planning practice.  Originally from farming country in the Catskill Mountains of New York, she has been a member of the Florida Bar since 1990, and the New York Bar since 1997. She began her law career with Fowler, White in Tampa Florida and has been in solo practice since 1996 writing title insurance for Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund and managing St. Pete Title, which closed sales and loans of every variety, from mobile homes to Fortune 100 company $100+ million dollar financing transactions. In 2012 she completed her LL.M. in Environmental and Land Use Law from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. She has taught in the areas of real estate, title insurance, mortgage law, debtor/creditor law, and estate planning. Ms. Horak received a B.S. from Union College in 1984 and a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law in 1990, and has been Florida Bar Board Certified in Real Estate Law since 1997.

Zac E.W. Ryan is a member of the Appraisers Institute (MAI), licensed in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, and heads Zac Ryan Appraisal Services, Inc. in Middleburg, Florida.  The Company provides a wide range of appraisal services and has extensive experience in valuing conservation easements.  Mr. Ryan has testified as an expert witness in IRS administrative hearings challenging conservation easement values, as well as valuing conservation easements for governments, NGOs, and private clients including Fortune 500 corporations, pension funds, and private individuals in 45 Florida counties. He has been practicing since 1983, and has appraised over 3 million vacant acres in Florida.  He is a leader in the field of appraising “less-than-fee.simple” transactions, and is frequently called upon to lecture on the subject; (as early as 1996 by the Southwest Florida Water Management District when the industry was in its infancy.)

Richard I. Withers, Esq. (Lic. FL), Dean Mead, Associate, Office: Gainesville. Mr. Withers practices in the Tax and Estate & Succession Planning department. He represents businesses and entrepreneurs in all types of business and tax matters, including choice of entity, mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, and other general business matters. He also counsels clients in the areas of estate planning, business succession planning, probate and trust administration, and wealth preservation. He earned his Master of Laws in Taxation from the University of Florida in 2007.