Sarah S. Butters

A Fellow and Regent of the prestigious American College of Trusts and Estates Counsel, Sarah Butters represents clients in sophisticated estate planning techniques, administration of probates and trusts, and related litigation. She is also called upon to testify on legislation impacting this area of law.

Sarah Butters is a shareholder at Ausley McMullen and has extensive experience in estate, trust and related litigation; the preparation of wills, trusts and sophisticated estate planning techniques; and the administration of probates and trusts. She frequently serves as consultant on high stakes disputes.

Sarah represents personal representatives, trustees, corporate fiduciaries, beneficiaries and numerous national charities in all aspects of trust and estate administration.  She has extensive litigation experience in elective shares, spousal rights, undue influence, incapacity and breach of fiduciary duty cases.

Sarah regularly testifies before the Florida House and Senate on legislation impacting the law of wills, trusts and guardianships.

Sarah is a Past Chair of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of The Florida Bar and a Fellow and Regent of the American College of Trusts and Estates Counsel. She has served as an Adjunct Professor at Florida State University's College of Law teaching the law of wills and trusts and is also a Past President of the Tallahassee Regional Estate Planning Council.

Credentials

Bar Admissions

• Admitted to the Florida Bar (2001)

Education

• J.D., summa cum laude, Florida State University College of Law, 2001
• B.S, Florida State University, 1993

Practices

• Probate, Estate Planning and Administration
• Taxation

Community Involvement

• American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC)
  • Board of Regents 2024 - 2027
  • Co-Chair of Legal Education Committee 2020-2023
  • Member of numerous substantive committees, including Fiduciary Administration and State Laws
  • Fellow since 2014

• Florida Bar - Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section (RPPTL)
  • Chair (2022-2023)
  • Chair-Elect (2021-2022)
  • Division Director – Probate and Trust Law (2019-2021)
  • Officer on the RPPTL's Executive Committee (2016 to date)
  • Strategic Planning Committee (2015, 2019, 2024)

• Tallahassee Regional Estate Planning Council
  • President (2010)
  • Board Member (2006-2009)
  • Member (2005 – 2022)

• Professional Fiduciary Council of Florida
  • Inaugural Chair of the Board of Directors (2020-2022)
  • Founding Member (2020)

Awards & Recognition

• Florida Legal Trend Magazine – 2013, 2015-2024 Legal Elite in Wills, Trusts and Estate
• Top 100 Lawyers in Florida (Super Lawyers) - 2021 - 2024
• Top 50 Women Lawyers in Florida (Super Lawyers) - 2019 - 2024
• Super Lawyer 2016-2024 - Estate & Trust Litigation
• Rising Star 2010, 2011 – Estate & Trust Litigation

Publications/Articles

• “Danger Will Robinson: The New Frontier of Remote Online Notarization and Electronic Wills”, Co-Authored with Jenna Rubin, The Florida Bar Journal, November/December 2019
• What’s Hot in Florida? Recent Developments in Florida Law (Co-Lecturers Shane Kelley and Elaine Bucher): University of Miami, Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, Orlando, FL, January 14 18, 2019
• "Powers of Appointment in the Current Planning Environment," Co-Authored with Prof. Thomas P. Gallanis and Turney P. Berry, in The Forty-Ninth Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, edited by Tina Portuondo. New Providence, NJ: LexisNexis, 2015

Presentations/Events

• Good Grief! An Estate Attorney's Guide to Avoiding the Grievance Process (Co-Presented with Rachel Barlow)
  • Florida Bar's Probate and Trust Litigation Seminar, Tampa, Florida, April 11, 2024
• Stranger Things in Probate (Co-Presented with Kevin McKinnis)
  • National College of Probate Judges, Tampa, Florida, November 17, 2023
• The (Legally) Interested Person
  • FLEA The Probate Team, Orlando, Florida, October 19-21, 2023
• Trusts and Marriage (Panelists JJ Dahl, Ron Kauffman, and Dresden Brunner)
  • American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Orlando, Florida, May 5-6, 2023
• What's Hot in Florida? Recent Developments in Florida Law (Co-Lecturers Shane Kelley and Elaine Bucher)
  • University of Miami, Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, Orlando, Florida, January 9-13, 2023
• Legislative Restraints on Academic Freedom (Co-Panelists Prof. Lee-Ford Tritt)
  • ACTEC Summer Conference, Banff, AB, Canada, June 25-2022
• Hot Topics for 2022 (Co-Panelists Steve Akers, Beth Kaufman, and Todd Angkatavanich)
  • ACTEC Annual Conference, San Diego, California, March 13, 2022