Wills and Estates Lawyer

HarperLloyd Recruitment; Sydney; On-site; AUD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

HarperLloyd Recruitment is seeking an experienced Estate Planning Lawyer to join a sophisticated private client practice in Sydney. You will advise high-net-worth individuals and families on complex estate, trusts, probate, and intergenerational wealth planning.

You will work closely with senior leadership, take ownership of significant matters, and collaborate across Estate Planning, Commercial, and Property teams to deliver strategic private wealth solutions.

Qualifications

• 2+ years' PAE with estate planning, probate, trusts and succession.
• Technically strong in estate planning and succession.
• Strong communicator capable of building long-term client relationships.
• Collaborative and able to work across different practice areas.

Responsibilities

• Advise high-net-worth individuals on complex estate and succession matters.
• Manage wills, trusts, probate, and cross-border planning.
• Collaborate with Commercial and Property teams to integrate private wealth solutions.
• Develop leadership and potential team management responsibilities over time.

Skills

Estate planning

Succession

Probate

Trusts

Client communication

Team collaboration

Job description

An outstanding opportunity has arisen for an experienced Estate Planning Lawyer to join a sophisticated private client practice advising high-net-worth individuals, families and family offices.

This is not a high-volume wills and estates role. The practice advises clients whose affairs often involve substantial family wealth, private businesses, significant property portfolios, trusts, corporate structures and assets spanning multiple generations and jurisdictions.

You will have the opportunity to work directly with sophisticated clients, take ownership of significant matters and develop genuine expertise across complex estate planning, trusts and intergenerational succession.

The Opportunity

Working closely with the firm's senior leadership, you will advise clients on complex estate, succession and private wealth matters.

Your practice will include:

• complex estate and succession planning;
• Wills and testamentary trusts;
• probate and estate administration;
• family and discretionary trusts;
• trust structuring and restructuring;
• asset protection;
• intergenerational wealth and succession strategies;
• complex family and beneficiary arrangements;
• powers of attorney and enduring guardianships;
• high-value and complex deceased estates; and
• cross-border estate and succession matters.

You will also work closely with the firm's Commercial and Property practices, reflecting the reality that the affairs of substantial families rarely sit neatly within a single area of law.

Matters frequently intersect with trusts, business interests, property ownership, corporate structures and broader family wealth considerations.

About You

We are interested in speaking with Associate and Senior Associate-level lawyers, ideally with at least 2 years' PAE and experience across estate planning, probate, trusts and succession.

You will be:

• technically strong with experience in estate planning and succession;
• comfortable advising high-net-worth individuals and families;
• capable of understanding the broader commercial, structural and family considerations surrounding private client matters;
• confident taking ownership of significant matters;
• a strong communicator capable of building trusted, long-term client relationships; and
• collaborative and comfortable working across different practice areas and with external professional advisers.

Depending on your experience, there is also scope to take on increasing leadership and team management responsibility within the practice.

This role would particularly suit a lawyer who has developed strong foundations in estate planning and is now looking for matters of greater complexity, value and substance.

Why Consider This Opportunity?

This is an opportunity to develop a genuinely sophisticated private wealth and succession practice within a close-knit firm environment.

You can expect:

• direct exposure to high-net-worth individuals, substantial families and family offices;
• complex estate and succession matters rather than high-volume work;
• exposure to trusts, business structures, property and intergenerational wealth;
• close interaction with leading accountants, financial advisers, family offices and other professional advisers;
• direct access to senior practitioners and firm leadership;
• genuine ownership of matters and client relationships;
• the opportunity to work collaboratively across Estate Planning, Commercial and Property;
• potential leadership and team management responsibility as you progress;
• a collegiate and supportive environment; and
• genuine long-term career progression within a growing practice.

The role is based in the Sydney CBD, providing an excellent platform for a lawyer who wants to build recognised expertise advising clients with significant wealth and complex family affairs.