John J Grundhauser is a shareholder of the firm and focuses on estate planning; estate and trust administration; gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer (“GST”) taxation; and income taxation of trusts and estates.  He serves clients primarily in the firm’s Miami (Coral Gables) office, but he also serves clients in the firm’s Naples and Palm Beach offices.  John represents both individual and corporate fiduciaries in the administration of probate and trust estates, and has extensive experience representing fiduciaries of probate and trust estates in excess of $50 million.  John also represents beneficiaries in probate and trust matters.  John prepares estate plans for individuals from all walks of life, from entrepreneurs with extensive business holdings to retirees.  He also prepares gift and estate tax returns and fiduciary income tax returns for estates and trusts.  In conjunction with other firm attorneys, John has been successful in obtaining private letter rulings from the Internal Revenue Service on a number of tax issues, including issues involving GST tax exemption allocations, protective alternate valuation elections, qualified terminable interest property trust elections and divisions, and qualified subchapter S trust status.

 John graduated cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 1987 where he was a member of the Order of the Coif, and he served on the University of Miami Law Review as an Associate Editor for two years.  John received his undergraduate degree from Lindenwood University in 1975, with a double major in mathematics and communication arts.  John is a co-author of “Estate Planning for the Solo Practitioner:  What Happens if I Die Tomorrow?,” Florida Bar Journal, January, 1994, and “Practice Alert: Private Letter Ruling Extends Availability of Protective Section 2032 Elections,” RIA Estate Planners Alert Newsletter, Vol. 24, No. 11 (Nov. 2, 1999), and the author of Note, "The DES Manufacturer Identification Problem: A Florida Public Policy Approach," 40 University of Miami Law Review 857, 1986.  John was recognized as an “Up and Comer” in "The List: South Florida's Top Lawyers" in the 2001 Edition of the South Florida Legal Guide, and as a “Top Lawyer” in the 2005 Edition of the same guide.  John is a member of the American Bar Association (Real Property, Probate and Trust Law and Taxation Sections), The Florida Bar (admitted 1987; Member, Real Property, Probate and Trust Law and Tax Sections), Dade County Bar Association, the Estate Planning Council of Greater Miami, and the National Committee on Planned Giving.  John currently serves on the Board of Governors of Dade Community Foundation, and he is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired and a past Elder of Miami Shores Presbyterian Church.

 John was born on August 28, 1957 in St. Charles, Missouri.

PRACTICE AREAS: Estate Planning; Probate and Trust Administration; Federal Estate, Gift and GST Taxation Law; Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates.