Board Certified Trust & Estate Lawyers in Indiana

The Indiana Trust and Estate Specialty Board Rules were adopted on March 26, 2012.

The rules set out the procedures for the recognition of Board Certified Indiana Trust & Estate Lawyers (“BCITELs”) in accordance with Article 2.2 of the Indiana State Bar Association Trust & Estate Specialty Board Plan.

Read more about the Indiana Trust and Estate Specialty Board Rules.

The term “Indiana Trust & Estate Matters” include:

• Indiana decedents’ estates;
• Indiana guardianships;
• Indiana trusts; and
• reporting or payment of, or controversies regarding, Indiana death taxes or fiduciary income taxes.

The term “Trust & Estate Law” refers to the practice of law dealing with the analysis, planning, and recommendations for the conservation and disposition of clients’ assets in accordance with the clients’ expressed desires, including tax effects and other consequences; the drafting and preparation of legal instruments to effectuate the clients’ estate plans, e.g., wills, trusts, and other legal documents; and the administration of estates, guardianships, and trusts.

The term “Indiana Trust & Estate Law” refers to the practice of Trust & Estate Law for Indiana Clients, or for Non-Indiana Clients in respect of Indiana Trust & Estate Matters.

Requirements to be Board Certified in Trust and Estate Law in Indiana

The requirements for attorneys applying to be a Board Certified Indiana Trust & Estate Lawyers (“BCITELs”) in Indiana include:

• the attorney has personally engaged in the practice of law for at least seven (7) years on a full time basis;
• the attorney must provide the names of at least five (5) lawyers or judges who are knowledgeable regarding the Trust & Estate Law area and had professional dealings with the attorney during the three (3) calendar years preceding the year of this application;
• the attorney must demonstrate substantial involvement and special competence in handling trust and estate cases;
• the attorney must complete at least 45 hours of Trust & Estate Law CLE within the three calendar years ending with the calendar year in which their application is made. 

To show substantial involvement, the attorney will often demonstrate experience with each of the different types of Estate Planning Instruments include:

• Simple Wills
• Complex Wills (e.g., credit shelter or marital trusts, generation skipping or charitable planning, special needs trusts, etc.)
• Complex Revocable Trusts (e.g., credit shelter or marital trusts, generation skipping or charitable planning, special needs trusts, etc.)
• Irrevocable Trusts (e.g., for life insurance or other family gifting purposes)
• Charitable Lead or Remainder Trusts
• Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts
• Qualified Personal Residence Trusts
• Family Limited Partnerships/other comparable entities
• Buy-Sell or Cross Purchase Agreements
• Advance Directives (e.g., durable powers of attorney, health care representative designations, living wills, life prolonging procedures declarations).

The attorneys are familiar with the administration of decedents’ estates, trusts and guardianships and the trial procedures related to each including:

• Supervised Estates;
• Unsupervised Estates;
• Estates of Non-Resident Decedents;
• Trust Administrations;
• Guardianships/Conservatorships;
• Will or Trust Contests; and
• Construction Actions.

Board certified attorneys are often familiar with the tax reporting requirements applicable to decedents’ estates, trusts and guardianships, as well as the audit and trial procedures.

Many of these attorneys have regularly have advised prepared, reviewed or supervised the preparation of each of the types of tax returns:

• colleagues or advised and represented clients regarding audits or court proceedings involving Forms Preparation Audit, Indiana Inheritance Tax Returns (IH-6), Federal Estate Tax Returns, Federal Gift Tax Returns;
• Federal Fiduciary; and 
• Indiana Fiduciary Tax Returns.

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Finding a Certified Specialist for Estate and Trust Law in Indiana

At Lawyer Legion, we recognize the importance of board certification programs in Indiana. These important programs help the public find a qualified attorney in Indiana.

Although not all qualified attorneys are board certified, those who have earned this important designation have submitted to a rigorous review process to validate their claims of specializing in this complicated area of the law.

This article was last updated on Friday, November 22, 2019.