A premier financial services firm located in Wilmington, Delaware seeks a Trust Officer to join its collaborative and team-oriented environment. Compensation is competitive with an attractive benefit package.

Primary Duties

The successful candidate will assist Ultra High Net Worth clients in a distinctively transactional work environment and have traditional estate planning and taxation strengths and experience with transactional work and income tax matters. That said, we are open to training an exceptional individual who might bring significant promise or transferrable skills rather than direct experience with Delaware trusts and tax knowledge. Additional duties are as follows:

• Work with Client Advisor (relationship management) teams to support and ensure proper administration of an assigned book of sophisticated trusts.
• Prepare documents relating to the transfer of trusts to the firm (e.g., Acceptances of Appointment, Direction Letters).
• Coach members of the Client Advisory teams in the proper account structure, funding, fees and coding related to new account openings.
• Review governing instruments (e.g., trust agreements and wills) and prepare trust analyses as part of the Initial Trust Review process; follow up on critical identified action items that remain outstanding to ensure proper trust administration.
• Review transaction documents and participate with Estate Planners, Client Advisory teams and clients’ outside counsel to adjust content/structure as needed to properly implement various funding, lending and other complex transactions; draft related Direction Letters.
• Serve as an in-house resource for trust administration questions - solving overdrafts, providing guidance on actions that may/may not be permissible under the trust’s terms, identifying solutions and workarounds for various problems as they arise, identifying and applying appropriate state and/or federal law to given situations – generally coaching and supporting Client Advisory teams to ensure correct trust administration.
• Review and edit Discretionary Distribution and Special Investment Requests for presentation to Committee as part of the ongoing trust administration.
• Work with Client Advisory teams to support all steps in the termination process including the preparation of informal settlement documents (Receipts and Releases).
• Implement special projects in support of department and fiduciary risk management initiatives.
• Develop and present department and firmwide training modules and materials.

Requirements 

• J.D. required (and at least one license to practice law preferred)
• 3-5 years of experience in personal trust administration preferred
• Knowledge of income tax, estate tax, gift tax and GST tax
• Knowledge of trust law (knowledge of DE trust law preferred)
• Excellent analytical skills and attention to detail
• Good interpersonal skills and the ability to deal effectively with a wide variety of people
• Must be a team player
• Strong computer skills; proficiency with Microsoft Word and Excel; familiarity with PowerPoint; comfortable learning new software packages (banking-related)
• Highly motivated, solution oriented and a self-starter; independent thinking encouraged
• Strong organizational skills (able to handle multiple priorities)
• Excellent communication skills (oral and written)

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