Principal Estate Planning Attorney - Advanced Wealth Planning

Acorn Financial Services; Reston (VA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Acorn Financial Services seeks a Principal Estate Planning Attorney to architect definitive legal frameworks that protect clients' wealth from legislative risk and tax friction. You will design complex, multi-generational trust structures for UHNW families, collaborating with wealth managers and tax strategists.

You will translate dense law into clear guidance for high-stakes decisions, ensuring enduring legacy and alignment with the firm's tax and investment models.

Qualifications

• Sweat the minute legal details of complex trusts to avoid drafting oversights.
• Translate dense legal code into actionable clarity for clients during wealth transfers.
• Build legal architectures that anticipate future legislative changes.

Responsibilities

• Design, draft, and execute advanced wealth transfer mechanisms for UHNW families.
• Review external estate plans and align drafted documents with internal tax and investment strategies.
• Provide principal-level guidance on trust administration and fiduciary risk management.
• Update firm protocols to reflect shifts in federal and state estate tax law.

Skills

Attention to detail

Proactive communication

Strategic wealth planning

Job description

At Acorn Financial Services, we believe that an outdated will or an isolated legal strategy is a severe vulnerability. Your mission as a Principal Estate Planning Attorney is to architect the definitive legal frameworks that protect our clients' wealth from legislative risk and tax friction. Working alongside top-tier wealth managers and tax strategists, you will design complex, multi-generational trust structures that ensure our clients’ legacies endure exactly as intended.

Who You Are

• You hold a high standard: You sweat the minute legal details of complex trusts and business succession documents because you know a single drafting oversight compromises a family's legacy.
• You are a master of proactive communication: You translate highly dense legal code into actionable clarity, guiding clients through complex wealth transfer decisions with absolute authority.
• You build with the long game in mind: You construct legal architectures that anticipate future legislative changes, maintaining a focus on structural integrity that lasts for generations.
• You win together: You don't operate in a legal vacuum; you thrive on the cross-pollination of ideas, eagerly aligning your estate designs with the firm's advanced tax and investment models.

What You Will Do

• Design, draft, and execute advanced wealth transfer mechanisms, including GRATs, SLATs, IDGTs, and philanthropic legacy structures for UHNW families.
• Review external estate plans for structural vulnerabilities and seamlessly align newly drafted legal documents with Acorn's internal tax and investment strategies.
• Provide principal-level guidance on trust administration and fiduciary risk management for complex, multi-generational estates.
• Act as the firm's foremost authority on federal and state estate tax law shifts, proactively updating firm-wide protocols to shield client assets.

How We Measure Success

• Drive enough advanced planning fees and synergistic AUM acquisition to support the principal compensation tier.
• Achieve a 100% success rate in legal document execution with zero exposure to unmitigated legal vulnerabilities or unintended tax consequences.
• Measurably increase the close rate of the Principal Wealth Advisors by delivering compelling, highly technical legal presentations during high-stakes prospect meetings.

What We Offer

We offer an environment that values deep legal architecture over high-volume document drafting. You will be supported by a comprehensive hybrid infrastructure and an elite internal team, allowing you to focus entirely on advanced legacy planning for highly sophisticated, multi-generational families.