Shareholder – Rees M. Sumerford has practiced with Gilbert, Harrell, Sumerford & Martin, P.C. for over 45 years. Mr. Sumerford is part of the Trusts & Estates Practice Group and the Corporate Practice Group. He concentrates his practice in trusts, family wealth planning, estates, and related tax and fiduciary law. Mr. Sumerford has extensive experience in the planning and administration of estates and trusts; in corporate, tax, and estate planning for family-owned businesses; and in advising fiduciaries on legal and regulatory matters.

Mr. Sumerford has been a frequent lecturer and is the author of the speech “Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Administering a Small Estate But Were Afraid to Ask”, which is presented every year at the Basic Fiduciary Practice Seminar sponsored by the Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia. Author of published periodicals on behalf of the Fiduciary Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia; the Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia; and Taxation for Lawyers and Taxation for Accountants, both national bimonthly professional journals. He has received an “AV” rating from Martindale-Hubbell, indicating preeminent legal ability and the highest ethical standards. Mr. Sumerford has been named a “Georgia Super Lawyer” every year from 2005 through 2010. He has been a Fellow with the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) since 1988.

Mr. Sumerford is licensed to practice law in Georgia. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia and the University of Georgia School of Law. He is married to Brooke Sumerford and they have two children, Harlow and Chase.

Memberships:

Fellow of the American Counsel of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC)

Chairman of the Legal Education Committee

Current member of the Charitable Planning and Exempt Organizations Committee

Former State Chair of ACTEC

Former member of the Nominating Committee

Former member of the Board of the ACTEC Foundation

Chairman of the Georgia Federal Tax Conference

Former member of the Georgia Trust Code Revision Committee

Former member of the Georgia Probate Code Revision Committee

Former member of the Georgia Guardianship Code Revision Committee

Member of the Brunswick-Glynn County Bar Association

Member of the American Bar Association and its Real Property, Taxation and Estate Planning Sections

Member of the State Bar of Georgia, and its Taxation and Fiduciary Law Sections

Past Chairman of the Fiduciary Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia

Former member of the Review Panel of the State Disciplinary Board of the State Bar of Georgia

Past President of the Brunswick and Glynn County Bar Association

Past President of Younger Lawyers Association of the Brunswick and Glynn County Bar Association

Community Memberships:

Member of Christ Church, Frederica

Chairman of the Investment Committee

Former Senior Warden and Junior Warden of the Vestry

Former Treasurer

Chairman of the Communities of Coastal Georgia Foundation, Inc.

Member and former chairman of the Board of Trustees of Coastal Georgia Community College Foundation, Inc.

Member of the Presidential Search and Screen Committee of Brunswick College (1990-1991)

Trustee of the Wesley Memorial Trust

Member of the Rotary Club of St. Simons Island, Georgia and past President

Member of the Gridiron Secret Society

Participant in the 1985 Class of Leadership Georgia

Former member of:

Board of Trustees of the St. Simons Island Rotary Foundation.

Board of Directors of the YWCA Foundation of Brunswick, Georgia, Inc.

Glynn County Heart Association

Georgia Council on Economic Education

Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce