In-house Trust & Estates Paralegal

Role Description

$16b independent investment advisory firm with offices based in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston is seeking an individual in its NY office to join one of the teams as a Paralegal.  This role is a key point of contact for prospective and existing clients and delivering support to both the Planning team and the STA Ecosystem as they work to provide estate planning solutions and family office services to their clients. While this role primarily focuses on estate and tax planning, a strong candidate will have a solid understanding of the broader financial services industry. Primary responsibilities will include but not be limited to assisting fiduciary counsel on advising clients on complex estate planning, researching tax issues, and communicating with clients and their advisors. This individual should be able to offer first-class service and support to existing and prospective clients and take on and run with special projects, both internal and for clients.

Key Responsibilities

• Reviewing and outlining wills, trust agreements, gift and estate tax returns, and other trust and estate documents.
• Assisting fiduciary counsel in their advisement of individuals and families on trust structures and private client tax matters.
• Assist fiduciary counsel in the implementation of clients’ estate planning.
• Coordinate with clients and their external counsel to obtain information and ensure documents are drafted and executed.
• Collaborate on cross-functional projects with other operations teams to ensure a seamless and transparent client service experience and improve our processes
• Researching and analyzing statutes, regulations, legal articles, judicial decisions, and other legal sources; providing analysis to fiduciary counsel.

Candidate Requirements

• Culture: The successful candidate will adopt the firm’s culture of accountability, fairness, teamwork, and transparency. Candidate must have strong ethics and integrity and be able to respect sensitive, private data.
• Communication: Candidate should have excellent interpersonal skills and experience communicating clearly and professionally via email and over the phone with clients and colleagues. Must have positive attitude and inherent desire to be helpful in myriad ways.
• Technology / Office: Experience and knowledge of Microsoft Office, especially Outlook, PowerPoint, and Excel, as well as other office-related systems such as Adobe. Salesforce experience is helpful, as is experience in working with custodian platforms.
• Self-Driven / Motivated: The firm is an entrepreneurial environment that encourages and expects all employees to work hard and create a successful environment for advising clients. Candidate should be proactive about identifying potential issues or challenges and taking steps to remediate. Candidate must also have the ability to take on any project and run with it.
• Project Management: Candidate should have substantial experience in successfully managing multiple, concurrent tasks and projects, keeping track of timelines/deadlines around outstanding items, and communicating to team on a daily or weekly basis the status of all outstanding work.
• Detailed-Oriented and Highly Organized: Able to work with multiple people (some in person and some virtually), while keeping track of tasks and deadlines so all team goals are achieved. Candidate must be very quick learner, and an excellent attention to detail and organization are required.
• Experience: At least five years of industry experience as a trusts and estate paralegal or other professional experience with UHNW clients (preferred).

Qualifications

• Experience assisting individuals and families who wish to establish and administer family offices or other similar structures.
• Significant experience assisting individuals and families with sophisticated estate and tax planning techniques.
• Experience administering, decanting, and modifying complex trusts and planning with respect to business interests, art, and other special assets.
• Understanding of life insurance products, competitive niches, and advanced sales concepts.
• Knowledge and understanding of Advanced Estate Planning techniques and Tax enhancement strategies.
• Up to date on regulatory and other industry influences that impact job duties.
• Five or more years of industry experience working with UHNW clients (preferred).

Compensation Package

• Base Salary: a competitive base salary and overall compensation package.
• Incentive Compensation: Role will participate in the firm’s bonus incentive plan. The bonus plan is tied directly to the firm’s net earnings each year at a fixed percentage that will grow with the firm’s growth.
• Benefits: The firm provides an excellent benefits package. This includes medical, dental, and Vision plans. The firm also has a 401k matching program.