1 / 1 - Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Edition: FINAL
Section: LOCAL & BUSINESS
Page: 1B
Source: By JANE MUSGRAVE Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

DOUBLECLAIMS COULD BE TROUBLE

A judge and his wife have two properties with homestead exemptions.
Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Martin Colin is being asked to explain how he and his
new wife can claim homestead exemptions on two separate homes.
The property appraiser's office has sent the couple a letter informing them they need to
declare one residence by June 1 or lose both exemptions.
Except in the most unusual circumstances, married couples legally can't claim the
$50,000 texemption on two residences, said Pat Poston, director of exemptions for the
appraiser's office.
Colin said Monday he was unaware of the restriction on the exemptions that would save
him and his wife, Elizabeth Savitt, about $1,000 each on their property tax bills. Having
learned of the problem, he said he would address it.
"We live in both places," he said of his home in Atlantis and hers in Delray Beach. "If
we're only allowed to homestead one, that's what we'll do."
Poston said the issue is slightly complicated because Colin's house in Atlantis is in
foreclosure. Although court records indicate it is, Colin said it isn't. "I modified
mymortgage but it's not in foreclosure," he said. He is also paying off a $35,516 lien from
the IRS for unpaid taxes in 2002.
The homestead exemption scrape is the latest skirmish in the long-running battle
between Colin and his wife's ex-husband, Jay Gordon.
Gordon said he discovered that both were claiming the exemption and reported it last
week.
The dispute between the two men began in 2001 when Colin represented Savitt in her
divorce from Gordon. Savitt and Colin then began dating. Once Colin was elected to the
bench, Gordon claims the judge used his influence over other jurists to keep him from the
son he had with Savitt. Gordon has filed complaints against Colin with the Florida Bar, the
Judicial Qualifications Commission and the state attorney, all to no avail.
Colin is also being transferred off the family court bench in south county -- something his
detractors claim is punishment for his handling of the Savitt-Gordon divorce and that of
Lewis Kasman, the self-proclaimed adopted son of late mob boss John Gotti.
Colin said he welcomed the move to probate court to replace Judge John Phillips, who
has been transferred to Palm Beach Gardens. Judge Charles Burton, a criminal
court judge in West Palm Beach, will replace Colin.
"It will be a new challenge," Colin said. "If I was appointed king, one or two people would

 find that it was a demotion of some sort."
~jane_musgrave@pbpost.com
Caption: Colin
ID: 1815166
Tag: 0905120122