Sensitive, smart estate and trust planning
For more than 35 years, Kimberly Leach Johnson has served as a trusted advisor to individuals and their families, guiding them through estate planning and, ultimately, the administration of their plan. Beyond preparing wills, tax returns and trust documents, Kimberly focuses on:
- Planning for legacy by learning what is most important to individuals to leave behind to their heirs and tailoring a plan to fulfill their wishes.
- Fostering family harmony by finding creative ways to create win-win solutions where conflicts over assets or estate plans exist.
- Reducing taxes by acting prudently to minimize the tax burden on individuals and estates, so more resources are left to carry out an individual’s and family’s legacy vision.
- Charitable giving by planning in life how to maximize the impact of charitable giving after death.
- Advising institutions, such as trust companies, on tax and other issues.
With a command of the tax code and comprehensive knowledge of both the laws and the personal considerations that affect the transfer of wealth, Kimberly addresses the full range of estate planning issues facing high-net-worth persons and families, including those owning private companies. She is known for being reliable and responsive.
Kimberly served as chair of Quarles from 2013-2020 and was named chair emeritus in 2020.
Experience in Action
- Helping clients define their final wishes and see them through with confidence, confidentiality and competence.
- Implementing various techniques to reduce estate and gift taxes.
- Working sensitively to address the sometimes-competing needs and desires of family members, developing creative trust and estate solutions after the parents have died.
- Leveraging an extensive network of professionals, including investment advisors, appraisers, and trust and estate administration agents, to provide comprehensive trust and estate services.
- Representing trust companies in disputes between beneficiaries and providing second opinions on tax-related issues.
- Working with clients on a yearly basis to create various estate planning vehicles to systematically pass wealth outside the estate tax system.
Successes
- Represented a client after an inexperienced IRS auditor wanted to assess over $1 million in taxes, plus penalties and interest. Filing in tax court and working with the IRS appellate division, the matter was resolved by paying only a fraction of the tax and without paying any penalties.
- As counsel to a trust company, resolved a dispute between brother and sister beneficiaries over inheritance of a home with a creative solution by which a family fight was avoided and the professional trustee was protected.
Professional Recognitions
- A "Top 50 Women Florida Super Lawyers" years 2011, 2012, and 2013 as ranked by Super Lawyers®. The Top 50 received the highest point totals in the Florida nomination, research and blue ribbon review process
- Best Lawyers in America®, Trusts and Estates, 2008-2023
- Naples Illustrated's "Top Lawyers," (2019-2021: Trusts and Estates)
- Named a 2017 Women of Initiative by the Women's Foundation of Collier County
- FCSW Florida Achievement Award from the Florida Commission on the Status of Women, 2015
- Named to the 2014 MAKERS: Women Who Make Southwest Florida list by WGCU Public Media
- Named to Southwest Florida's Top Lawyers for 2012, as published in Gulfshore Life
- "Top 50 Women Florida Super Lawyers," 2011-2013
- Awarded "Lawyer of the Year" by the Collier County Women's Bar Association, 2011
- Named to South Florida's Leading Lawyers for 2010, 2011, 2016, 2017, 2021 as published in the Miami Herald
- Selected for inclusion in Florida Trend magazine's "Florida Legal Elite" lists for 2010–2015 – peer nominated and vetted list representing approximately 2% of the active Florida Bar members practicing in Florida
- Florida Super Lawyers®, Estate Planning & Probate, 2007–present
- Named 2007–2011 FIVE STAR: Best in Client Satisfaction Wealth ManagerSM
- Martindale-Hubbell AV® Peer Review Rated
- American Bar Foundation (Fellow) – membership by invitation limited to one-third of 1% of lawyers licensed to practice in each jurisdiction
Professional & Civic Activities
- Anderson University (Indiana) Board of Trustees
- Best Lawyers®, advisory board
- Collier County Bar Association, member
- American Bar Association,Taxation Section, member
- The Florida Bar (Chair, Tax Section Committee; 1995 Vice Chair, Grievance Committee for 20th Judicial Circuit)
- Quarles & Brady Diversity Committee, representative
- Boggy Creek Camp for Seriously Ill Children, emeritus member, board of directors
- University of Florida, Levin College of Law, Law Center Association, emeritus trustee
- Women in Law Empowerment Forum, member, global advisory board
- Women's Power SummitTM advisory board, 2017, 2019
- Former:
- Heart Ball, chair
- Community School of Naples, Long Range Planning Committee
- Moorings Park, trustee
- Naples Youth Soccer, board of directors
- University of Florida, Class of 1981, representative
- Naples Art Association, board of directors
News & Insights
Education
- University of Miami (LL.M., 1982)
- University of Florida College of Law (J.D., 1981)
- Anderson University (B.S., 1977)
Bar Admissions
- Florida
Court Admissions
- U.S. Tax Court, 1983