A $164M judgment, an oceanfront mansion, and the homestead shield everyone thinks is bulletproof
Denmark's tax authority is fighting to keep an oceanfront home within reach of a $164 million judgment.
The agency, Skatteforvaltningen, known as SKAT, filed suit in federal court in South Florida on June 15, 2026. For anyone who handles high-value residential property, this one is worth a read: it turns on a trust, a homestead claim, and a lien fight - the everyday tools of asset protection, pushed to their edge.
Start with the people. The filing says Luke McGee owes SKAT about $164 million after a New York court found him liable for breaking a settlement that resolved the agency's civil claims. McGee is not a defendant in this Florida case. The named defendants are the 470 South Ocean Boulevard Trust, its trustee Jonathan E. Gopman, and Quadrant Holdings Inc.
Now the property. According to the lawsuit, McGee created the 470 Trust on September 3, 2021, and used it the next day to buy an 8,804-square-foot townhouse at 470 S. Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach for about $29.6 million. SKAT says roughly $30 million of McGee's money moved through the trust and into the home, and that the goal was "to take improper advantage of Florida's homestead exemption."
That exemption is the heart of the matter. Florida's homestead protection can put a primary residence largely out of creditors' hands - a feature plenty of buyers and their advisers count on. SKAT's argument is that the shield has a ceiling. The agency says the exemption "does not protect funds transferred into a homestead when those funds were derived from fraud or egregious conduct." If a court agrees, the protection many treat as ironclad looks a lot more conditional.
Then came the lien. The filing says the trust and Gopman recorded and sent SKAT a Notice of Homestead, declaring the mansion exempt and pointing to a $3.75 million loan that McGee "claims to have recently 'borrowed'" from a Quadrant affiliate the agency describes as closely tied to him, with a mortgage to be granted over the home. SKAT calls that loan an attempt "to manufacture venue" and to block recovery of the full purchase price. The filing identifies Gopman as a partner at Nelson Mullins LLP who "specializes in private wealth services, including asset protection structures."
There's also a venue tug-of-war. SKAT says it first sued over the home in this Florida court, that the trust and Gopman argued the dispute belonged in New York and won that point, and that now - after the New York judgment came down - they are trying to drag it back to Florida. The agency labels the pattern "serial forum shopping."
What SKAT wants is narrow but consequential. It is seeking a declaratory judgment - a ruling that fixes the parties' rights without awarding money - declaring that the homestead exemption does not protect the mansion because it was bought with "the proceeds of fraud or egregious conduct," and that the agency's judgment lien beats Quadrant's claimed lien. SKAT also says it intends to ask this court to pause the matter so a New York court can resolve the homestead question.
The wider story the filing tells is dramatic. It alleges a Danish dividend-tax-refund scheme from 2012 to 2015, and says much of McGee's later wealth derives from AdaptHealth Corp., a medical-equipment company he took public in 2019. None of that is decided here.
For now, these are allegations that have not been tested in court. The defendants have not yet filed a response, and no judge has ruled on the claims in this suit. The agency has asked the court to declare rights over a piece of property - not to find anyone guilty of anything.
