Senior Private Client Services Trust & Estate Administration Counsel

Barnes & Thornburg LLP; Indianapolis (IN); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work options

Job summary

Qualifications

• Indiana probate and trust practice experience strongly preferred.
• Experience as trust officer or fiduciary counsel is valued.

Responsibilities

• The role focuses on trust and estate administration and settlement, operating with a high degree of autonomy as the day-to-day fiduciary point person.
• Advise fiduciaries, beneficiaries, high-net-worth families, and closely held business owners through all stages of trust and estate settlement.
• Manage a full docket from intake to closing, including asset marshaling, valuation, retitling, debt payment, and distributions.
• Interpret wills and trusts; counsel on duties, powers, distributions, conflict avoidance, and risk management; coordinate post-mortem tax planning with external professionals.
• Resolve administration issues such as trust modification, decanting, and disputes, collaborating with litigation colleagues when contested.
• Oversee complex assets and offer opportunities to grow into counsel or partner-track paths with hybrid work options.

Job description

Overview

• The role primarily focuses on trust and estate administration and settlement, operating with a high degree of autonomy as the day-to-day point person for fiduciary administration matters.
• Advise individual and corporate fiduciaries, beneficiaries, high-net-worth families, and closely held business owners through all stages of trust and estate settlement.
• Manage a full docket of trust administration, probate, and estate settlement matters from intake to closing, including guiding fiduciaries through asset marshaling, valuation, retitling, debt payment, and distributions. This encompasses handling supervised/unsupervised estate administrations and trust-related court proceedings.
• Interpret wills, trust instruments, and governing documents; counsel fiduciaries on duties, powers, discretionary distributions, conflict avoidance, and risk management. Coordinate post-mortem tax planning and compliance (Form 706, Form 1041, portability, basis, gift/GST tax) with external professionals.
• Resolve administration issues such as trust modification, decanting, nonjudicial settlement agreements, DISCLAIMERS, and beneficiary/creditor disputes, collaborating with firm litigation colleagues when matters become contested. Oversee complex assets like closely held business interests and real estate.
• The firm is open to attorneys from diverse professional backgrounds, including those with experience as trust officers, estate/trust settlement officers, fiduciary counsel, or senior fiduciary advisors from banks, trust companies, or family offices.
• This position offers opportunities for a Counsel or partner-track arrangement and provides hybrid work options.
• Requires a proven ability to independently manage a high-volume, complex administration and settlement docket comparable to a trust and estate administration partner or senior trust/estate settlement officer. Strong command of estate, gift, generation-skipping transfer, and fiduciary income tax principles as they apply to administration is essential, with Indiana probate and trust practice experience strongly preferred.
• Estate planning experience is valued as a complementary skill set, offering opportunities to advise on planning matters, and exposure to fiduciary litigation or tax controversy matters is a plus.