Hartford Business Journal

24 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JUNE 10, 2024 FOCUS: Wealth Management Dane Dudley, based in West Hartford, is the chair of law firm Day Pitney's private client department. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER Wealth Transfer Law firms expand to Florida as ultra-wealthy CT residents seek relief amid looming estate tax exemption sunset for example." Day Pitney estab- lished its presence in Florida in 2016, through a merger with Florida-based firm Chapin, Ballerano & Cheslack. The combined firm retained existing offices in Delray Beach (which has since closed) and Boca Raton, along with seven Florida-based attorneys who joined Day Pitney's trusts and estates and corporate practices. Two years later, Day Pitney completed its second Florida expan- sion, merging with South Flori- da-based law firm Richman Greer. The merger added two more Florida offices to Day Pitney's roster: Miami and West Palm Beach, along with 15 attorneys. "Services go where people are," said Tasha Dickinson, a partner in Day Pitney's West Palm Beach office. "Strategically, it made sense for Day Pitney to expand in Florida, particularly in the private client services arena, because a lot of people moving to Florida were high-net worth, either still working or post liquidation of a business. So, there was a need both on the pre-death side, and unfortunately, those people die and their families need services post-death as well." Clients' legal needs include taxes, trusts and estates, and family offices. The number of people moving to Florida has increased dramatically in recent years, Dickinson said, and it's more often younger people pursuing life changes, in addition to tax benefits. "Now, a typical client would be moving their business and their family into Florida," she said. Over a 10-year period ending in 2022, and excluding the pandemic year of 2020, Connecticut lost a net 71,044 residents to Florida, according to an HBJ analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. During that time period, 132,988 former Connecticut residents moved to Florida, while 62,210 former Sunshine State residents relocated here, HBJ's analysis found. By Andrew Larson alarson@hartfordbusiness.com L aw firms in Connecticut are expanding to Florida, and it's not just for warmer weather and renowned beaches, but largely because of the financial incentives that are attracting their clients to the Sunshine State. For decades, Connecticut residents have been taking up residency in Florida, where there is no income tax, their money has more purchasing power and, most importantly for ultra-wealthy families, there is no estate tax. Law firms are aware of the migra- tory trend and are following their clients as they move, sometimes to change their permanent residency, other times to buy a second, or third, vacation home. "My opinion is that it'd be wonderful to be wherever our clients like to be," said Dane Dudley, chair of law firm Day Pitney's private client depart- ment. "But the resources are such that you can't just do that." Day Pitney has strategically expanded to locations where their clients' legal needs are the greatest. The firm has more than 300 attorneys across 13 offices in six states — Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island — and Washington, D.C. Day Pitney, which has a prominent presence in Hartford, provides a variety of legal services, from estate planning to litigation. Over the last five years, its attorney count in Florida has increased from about 15 to 30. Through the expan- sion, Day Pitney seeks to provide a continuity of services to clients leaving the Nutmeg State. "If a client was in Connecticut, New York or Massachusetts, and they moved to Florida … you don't lose any of that institutional knowledge," said Dudley, a partner at the firm's West Hartford office. "At least at our firm, we operate off the same system," he said. "So, there's consistency in the documents themselves. They don't have to rework and redraft everything — it's usually amending things to take into consideration the change in the law from Connecticut to Florida, Tasha Dickinson FLA. RESIDENTS THAT MOVED TO CT CT RESIDENTS THAT MOVED TO FLA. CT'S NET LOSS OF RESIDENTS Source: U.S. Census Bureau CT RESIDENTS' SUNSHINE STATE MIGRATION 2012 -2,397 2013 -3,207 2014 -6,494 2015 -8,765 2016 -10,656 2017 -4,660 2018 -13,728 2019 -5,726 2021 -9,267 2022 -6,144 20K 15K 10K 5K 0 RESIDENTS

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