Hennessey, William T.

Current Employment Position(s)

Shareholder

Lawyer Overview

Mr. Hennessey is Chairman of the Probate and Trust Litigation Committee of the Real Property, Probate, and Trust Law Section (RPPTL) of the Florida Bar and is a member of RPPTL's Executive Council. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and a frequent author and lecturer on probate and trust litigation topics.

Areas of Practice

• Estate and Trust Litigation
• Will and Trust Contests and Defense of Fiduciaries and Beneficiaries
• Will and Trust Construction
• Trust Modification, Revocation, and Termination
• Surcharge and Removal Litigation
• Guardianship Litigation
• Competency Proceedings
• Appointment of Guardian
• Complex and Disputed Estate and Trust Administration
• Probate, Trust, and Guardianship Litigation

West Practice Categories

Construction, Criminal Defense, Estate Planning, Family Law, Litigation & Appeals, Personal Injury, Personal Injury -- Defense, Probate & Estate Administration, Trusts, Wills

Bar Admissions

• Florida, 1997

Professional Associations and Memberships

• The Florida Bar, Real Property, Probate and Trust Law (RPBTL) Section (Vice Chair, Probate and Trust Litigation Committee)
• The Florida Bar, RPPTL Section (Member, Executive Council)
• The Florida Bar (Past member, Probate Rules Committee)
• Palm Beach County Bar Association (Palm Beach County Probate and Guardianship Practice Committee)
• East Coast Estate Planning Council

Honors and Awards

• Up & Comer
• The Best Lawyers in America, Trusts & Estates, 2008 - 2010
• AV Rated as independently determined by Martindale-Hubbell
• Florida Super Lawyer
• Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel

Classes and Seminars

• “Till Death Due Us Part: Challenging the Validity of Marriage in Probate Proceedings,”, Your 2007 Trust & Estate Symposium
• “Conflicts Quagmire: Recognizing and Addressing Conflicts for Your Fiduciary Clients,”, Your 2006 Trust & Estate Symposium
• “What’s Good for the Goose . . . Elective Share and Other Spousal Rights,”, Wills, Trusts and Estates Certification Review Course
• “Probate and Trust Litigation: When the “Ties That Bind” Unwind,”, Wills, Trusts and Estates Certification Review Course
• “A Primer on Probate and Trust Litigation,”, Wills, Trusts and Estates Certification Review Course
• “Uncivil War: Navigating the Battlefield of Probate and Trust Litigation,”, Florida Bar Seminar
• “Conflicts Quagmire: Recognizing and Addressing Fiduciary Conflicts,”, Annual Palm Beach County Bar Association Probate and Estates Seminar
• Fiduciary Litigation in an Era of Rapidly Changing Technology: Will You Be the Last Samurai?
• Tangled Web-Attorney-Client and Fiduciary Conflicts
• Avoiding the Grinch: Drafting, Enforcing, and Challenging Charaitable Pledges
• Your 2008 Trust and Estate Symposium-Litigation Under the New Trust Code

Education

• University of Florida College of Law, Gainesville, Florida, 1996
  J.D.
  Honors: Highest Honors
  Honors: Teaching Assistant, Legal Research & Writing
  Law Review: Florida Law Review, Senior Notes and Comments Editor
• University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 1993
  B.S.
  Honors: Highest Honors
  Major: Accounting

Published Works

• Intestate Succession, Litigation Under Florida Probate Code, 3d ed., 1997
• Will Construction, Litigation Under Florida Probate Code, 3d ed., 1997
• Elective Share, Practice Under Florida Probate Code, 2d ed., 2000
• Comment, Agency Law: Extending the Common Knowledge Doctrine, Mobil Oil Corp. v. Bransford, 47 Florida Law Review 147, 1995
• Estates, Trusts, and Guardianships: 1998 Survey of Florida Law, 23 Nova Law Review 119, Fall, 1998

Address

777 South Flagler Drive
Suite 500 East
West Palm Beach, FL 33401-6194

Phones

(561) 650-0663

Faxes

561-655-5677

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.gunster.com