Dentons, the world’s largest global law firm, is pleased to welcome Juan D. Bendeck as a Shareholder in the Trusts, Estates, and Wealth Preservation practice. With over two decades of extensive experience, Bendeck is a trusted advisor to clients in estate planning, estate and trust administration, asset protection planning, fiduciary litigation, and Florida domicile planning matters in Naples (Collier County) and Fort Myers (Lee County), Florida.
“Adding a sought-after talent like Juan to our Naples estate planning team allows us to meet client needs in Southwest Florida while giving them the benefits of access to Dentons’ resources in other markets across our global footprint,” said Jason Hunter Korn, Managing Shareholder of Dentons Cohen & Grigsby’s Naples office. “His client-centric approach to estate planning and ability to customize and respond to the spectrum of circumstances our clients experience throughout their lifetimes fits perfectly into our client-first approach.”
Bendeck is Florida Bar Certified in Wills, Trusts & Estates, which is The Florida Bar’s highest level of evaluation. The certification recognizes the special knowledge, skills and proficiency in various areas of law and professionalism and ethics in practice. There are fewer than 300 Board Certified Specialists in the state in Wills, Trusts and Estates. His estate planning practice involves innovative tools to accomplish goals such as wealth transfer planning and protection, emphasizing tax efficiency. Bendeck has substantial experience with wills, living trusts, complex transactions involving grantor trusts, planning with entities such as LLCs and partnerships, grantor retained annuity trusts, charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts, private foundations, irrevocable trusts, gifting matters and multi-generational planning. His estate and trust administration practice involves representing trustees and personal representatives in administering all aspects of the administration process. Bendeck’s experience includes preparing federal estate tax returns, gift tax returns, and counseling on generation-skipping tax issues. Bendeck also represents professional and individual fiduciaries concerning contested estate and trust administration issues. He has successfully represented clients in will and trust contests, breach of fiduciary duty claims, defending claims brought against fiduciaries, and bringing claims on behalf of beneficiaries. Bendeck assists his clients with many issues involved with relocating to and establishing a permanent residence in Florida, including potential state tax consequences, the state’s homestead laws, closing and settlement on the purchase of property, and preparing and filing a Florida Declaration of Domicile and related documents.
“Juan’s experience handling complex matters and his commitment to high-quality service and building lifelong relationships with clients represent the core traits Dentons looks for in its estate planning lawyers,” said Christie Tillapaugh, President-Elect of Dentons Cohen & Grigsby. “We are excited to bring his skill set on board as the firm continues to expand its already robust wills, trusts and estate planning practice.”
A Southwest Florida native, Bendeck actively gives back to the community through service to various regional organizations. He is a Trustee of the Collaboratory of Southwest Florida and serves on the board of directors of the Naples Zoo and Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, Inc. Bendeck also chairs the Planned Giving Committees at Florida Gulf Coast University and the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and is a member of the Guadalupe Foundation Planned Giving Committee. He is a member of the Lee County School Board’s Equity Diversity Action Committee and the Site Selection Committee. Bendeck previously served on the board of directors of the Florida Humanities Council and chaired its finance committee.
