Estate Planning Partner, UHNW (Orange County)

Mercer Advisors; Newport Beach (CA); Hybrid; USD 213,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) Retirement Plan

Pet Insurance

Paid Parental Leave

Maternity benefits

Job summary

Mercer Advisors seeks an exceptional Estate Planning Partner - Regis to serve as a primary advisor, team leader, and subject matter expert for our Regis families. You will lead engagements with senior wealth advisors and oversee outcomes for the most complex clients, ensuring sophisticated wealth transfer and tax strategies are implemented with precision.

In this role, you will guide multi-generational planning, governance, and succession design while collaborating with the broader Mercer team

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school.
• Licensed to practice law in at least one state.
• 15+ years of legal experience in estate planning, with focus on UHNW families (>$25M).
• Deep technical mastery of federal transfer tax law, trust and estate administration, and advanced wealth transfer planning techniques.

Responsibilities

• Lead client relationships with senior wealth advisors for Regis families.
• Maintain and grow a Regis client book with $100M+ balances.
• Manage a team of UHNW estate strategists and support staff.
• Integrate estate planning with broader financial planning and tax strategies.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Communication

Team collaboration

Education

Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school

LL.M. in Taxation or Estate Planning strongly preferred

Licensed to practice law in at least one state

Job description

Why Work at Mercer Advisors?

For more than 40 years, Mercer Advisors has been helping families amplify and simplify their financial lives by integrating financial planning, investment management, business management, tax, estate, insurance, and more, all managed by a single team. We deliver the kind of comprehensive care once reserved for only the wealthiest households.

Why Work at Mercer Advisors?

For more than 40 years, Mercer Advisors has been helping families amplify and simplify their financial lives by integrating financial planning, investment management, business management, tax, estate, insurance, and more, all managed by a single team. We deliver the kind of comprehensive care once reserved for only the wealthiest households. Today, we serve over 42,800+ families across 110+ cities across the U.S. Ranked the #1 RIA Firm in the nation by Barron’s for two consecutive years, Mercer Advisors is an independent fiduciary legally bound to act in our clients’ best interests — always.* Mercer Advisors offers a workplace that stands apart in the financial industry. More than half of our employees and client-facing professionals are women, reflecting the clients we serve. With a flexible, national footprint, we build our teams around exceptional talent — wherever they are. Join us and help families amplify and simplify their financial lives with confidence.

• Mercer Advisors was ranked #1 for RIA firms with up to $70 billion in assets. The Barron’s top RIA ranking is based on a combination of metrics – including size, growth, service quality, technology, succession planning and others. No fee was paid for participation in the ranking, however, Mercer Advisors has paid a fee to Barron’s to use the ranking in marketing. Please see important information about the ranking criteria methodology here.

Job Summary

At Mercer Advisors, our purpose is to amplify and simplify our clients’ financial lives through a fully integrated family office offering. We bring together fiduciary professionals across disciplines to do the best work of their careers—as one unified team committed to doing what’s right for clients. We continue to reinvest in our people and platform so that our growth creates more opportunities for teammates and more value for clients.

Regis is Mercer Advisors’ offering designed for ultra-high net worth families with complex, multi-generational wealth. Regis clients often have the means to build their own family office, and they require a deeply integrated wealth management experience with the highest level of service, coordination, and sophistication. We are a team of world-class fiduciary professionals delivering holistic advice across investments, financial planning, estate strategy, tax strategy, and more with the aim of making every client feel like our only client.

We are seeking an exceptional Estate Planning Partner - Regis to serve as a primary strategic advisor, team leader, and subject matter expert for our Regis families. You will lead engagements alongside senior wealth advisors and other Regis team members with direct accountability for the estate planning client outcomes and experience of our most complex families. This is not a support or review role—you will bring the credibility, judgment, and gravitas that UHNW families expect from their most trusted advisors who are entrusted with their family’s financial wellbeing.

Essential Job Functions For This Role Include

• Lead client relationships alongside senior wealth advisors and serve as the in-house estate planning strategic partner and subject matter expert to Regis families.
• Maintain and grow a book of Regis clients, families with balance sheets that often exceed +$100M.
• Manage a select team of UHNW-focused estate strategists, and other operational support specialists to drive excellent client outcomes.
• Partner with Mercer’s broader team of in-house, interdisciplinary, experts or a client’s outside advisors to integrate advanced estate planning strategies within the broader financial plan.
• Support new client development through participation in prospective client meetings, industry conferences, and contributions to thought leadership content and publications.
• Serve as a key partner to Regis leadership in efforts to improve and grow the platform – encompassing enhancements to our service and operating model, technology stack, as well as talent or organizational design.
• Design and implement comprehensive estate plans incorporating advanced wealth transfer techniques, including irrevocable trusts (GRATs, IDGTs, ILITs, SLATs, CRTs, QPRTs), revocable trusts, wills, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, and funding-related documents.
• Lead multi-generational planning conversations, including family governance structures, wealth education for heirs, trustee selection, and succession design for closely held businesses.
• Advise on complex estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax strategies; proactively identify planning windows and legislative risk.
• Design and implement complex FLLCs and other business structures, including formation, entity selection, succession planning, buy/sell agreements, and business tax planning.
• Advise on trust administration matters, trust modification and decanting strategies, and trustee/beneficiary conflict navigation.
• Prepare and review deeds, real property transfer documents, and federal and state estate and gift tax returns.

Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school; LL.M. in Taxation or Estate Planning strongly preferred.
• Licensed to practice law in at least one state.
• 15+ years of legal experience in estate planning, with the majority spent advising clients with balance sheets of $25M or greater; meaningful experience with $100M+ families required.
• Deep technical mastery of federal transfer tax law, trust and estate administration, and advanced wealth transfer planning techniques.
• Ability to interpret and convey complex estate planning topics clearly to wealth management teams and clients.
• Experience advising on business succession, liquidity events (IPOs, M&A exits, ESOP transactions), and the estate planning implications of closely held business interests.
• Prior experience in a private wealth department at an AmLaw 100/200 firm or a nationally recognized estate planning boutique.
• Comfort operating in a team-based, financial advisory environment and within a regulated RIA structure; prior experience at a family office, wealth management firm, or multi-family office is a differentiating asset.

Location:

This is a hybrid role with a strong preference for applicants in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Orange County.

Work Schedule

This professional role requires availability during standard business hours of Monday through Friday from 8AM to 5PM. At times, the role may have early or late hours to meet business tasks and deadlines for external and internal client needs.

All roles classified as a non-exempt are required to record working time into the timekeeping system daily at the start and end of each workday plus a 30‑minute unpaid lunch period.

Working Conditions

This position may be in a professional office environment or a dedicated home office workspace which is free of interruptions. Whether position is in a dedicated office space or home office workspace, basic technology needs will be provided to satisfy position requirements. Routinely sitting and standing for periods of time. No heavy lifting over 10 lbs.

Application Deadline

The initial deadline for applications is 9/14/2026. Applications submitted after this date may still be considered on a rolling basis until the position/program is filled. We encourage all interested candidates to apply as early as possible. If a final decision has not been made by the initial deadline, subsequent applications will be reviewed as they are received.

The annualized compensation range for this role is based on factors including, but not limited to, experience, skillset, and geographic location where work is performed. The cash compensation range includes both base salary and an annual bonus. The total compensation package may include additional cash bonus amounts and other incentive compensation.

Total expected cash compensation range

$212,500 - $250,000 USD

Benefits

• Company Paid Basic Life & AD&D Insurance
• Company Paid Short-Term and Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Supplemental Life & AD&D; Short-Term Disability; Accident; Critical Illness; and Hospital Indemnity Insurance
• Three Cigna medical plans offerings including two High Deductible Health Plans and a Traditional Co‑Pay medical plan.
• Kaiser Medical plans available in California
• Health Savings Account (HSA) with company contributions if enrolled in either HDHP medical plan.
• Two comprehensive Dental Plans
• Vision Insurance Plan
• Dependent Care Savings Account for child and dependent care.
• 14 Company Paid Holidays including a full week off at Thanksgiving.
• Generous paid time off program for vacation and sick days
• Employee Assistance Plan
• Family Medical Leave
• Paid Parental Leave (8 weeks)
• Maternity benefits utilizing company paid STD, any supplemental STD, plus Parental Leave (8 weeks) to provide time for recovery, baby bonding, and enjoying your family time.
• Adoption Assistance Reimbursement Program
• Company Paid Concierge Services for you and your loved ones for the spectrum of caring needs for your aging parents, young children, life's challenges and more.
• 401(k) Retirement Plan with both Traditional and Roth plans with per pay period match as well as an after‑tax option
• Pet Insurance
• Personalized financial planning and guidance from Mercer Advisors professionals, offered at preferred employee pricing

We are not accepting unsolicited resumes from agencies and/or search firms for this job posting.

Mercer Advisors is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. Mercer Advisors participates in E-Verify and complies with federal employment eligibility verification requirements.

If you need an accommodation during the application or hiring process, please email [e-mail].

For information about applicant rights, required employment notices, E-Verify participation, and state specific disclosures, please review our Applicant Notices and Employment Rights.

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