Trust and estate law booms as wealth transfers increase

Trust and estate law is poised to become one of the nation's fastest-growing legal practices as the massive transfer of wealth from aging baby boomers unfolds over the next decade. Yet the profession faces a looming shortage: Few young attorneys are entering the field just as many veteran practitioners are preparing to retire, creating urgent challenges -- and big opportunities -- for the next generation of lawyers.

"Every probate practitioner that I know is incredibly busy," Jeffrey Marvan, chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Trusts & Estates Committee, said. "They're all busy."

"There's a lot of work for everyone," Rachel H. Rosenfeld, president of the East Bay Trusts and Estates Lawyers (EBTEL) association, agreed. "I hear from clients that they had a really hard time finding a lawyer."

Michael Rosen-Prinz, chair of the California Lawyers Association's Trusts and Estates Section Executive Committee (TEXCOM)

Trust and estate practice focuses on helping individuals and families plan for the management and transfer of their assets during their lives and after death. Attorneys draft wills, create trusts, administer estates, and guide clients through issues like probate, conservatorships, guardianships and elder financial abuse. The practice combines elements of estate planning, tax law, family law, and litigation, and often involves both advising clients and representing them in court when disputes arise. At its core, T&E law is about safeguarding clients' wishes, protecting vulnerable people and ensuring the orderly transfer of wealth across generations.

Michael Rosen-Prinz, chair of the California Lawyers Association's Trusts and Estates Section Executive Committee (TEXCOM), said once one is an established T&E lawyer, there are many opportunities in related sectors, including banking and accounting and working in a family office.

The urgency of the moment stems from what has been termed the "great wealth transfer" -- the unprecedented movement of assets from the baby boomer generation to their heirs. With estimates ranging from $30 trillion to more than $70 trillion in wealth changing hands, it represents the largest intergenerational transfer of assets in U.S. history.

Jeffrey Marvan, chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Trusts & Estates Committee

This massive shift is already reshaping financial planning, estate law and tax policy, as families, advisers and institutions grapple with complex issues around inheritance, philanthropy, business succession and elder care. For the legal profession -- particularly trust and estate lawyers -- it presents both a historic opportunity and a pressing challenge, as demand for skilled practitioners grows rapidly, practitioners say.

"There are a lot of really old school practitioners. There's not a lot of new lawyers," Rosenfeld, a partner at Heisler Rosenfeld Zaragoza LLP in Walnut Creek, said.

"Once newer practitioners know about it, they find it a rewarding area of the law that they'll stay in forever," she added.

The T&E bar is collegial, and the practice offers more work-life balance than many other areas of law, Rosenfeld said. "Salaries have gone up a lot," too, she said.

One of the problems is that there isn't a lot of exposure to trust and estate work in law school, beyond wills and trusts class. Some law schools have started elder abuse clinics.

Rosenfeld said the bar associations have done some outreach to law students, "but there could be more."

"When I graduated law school, I knew one person who wanted to go into elder law," she said.

Large law firms have largely abandoned the practice for more high billing work. A lot of T&E work is flat fee. "I think probably our area of law is known to pay less in the past, but I do think that's changing," she said.

Marvan, who practices at MarvanLaw APC, said one misconception about the practice is that it is all about death. "It is about aging as well," he said. "There are a lot of matters that require conservatorships or advance health directives."

He echoed what all trust and estate lawyers interviewed for this article said: The practice is exceptionally congenial.

"That's one of the unique things about probate practice," he said. "Because we are such a small bar and we are always dealing with each other, we all work to solve problems if we can."

Marvan said one hurdle to practicing trust and estate law is that "the learning curve is significant."

"Although we are bound by the Code of Civil Procedure, we also have to learn the Probate Code."

Marvan said some mid-career attorneys have shown interest in the practice.

"There's definitely an older section of the probate bar. There's also younger -- 40- and 50-year-olds -- that are coming up," he said.

Marvan, who is 50, joined the practice after five years as a deputy public defender in Yolo County.

"I realized that I still wanted to help people but didn't want to do" criminal defense work, he said.

What he learned is that the practice is varied and dynamic.

"Probate is definitely a lot about death," he said, adding there are other areas that are more about helping people live. For instance, "Conservatorship is robust and probably one of the more dynamic practices in terms of how the law continues to evolve," he said.

Rosen-Prinz said, "Everyone in this industry is aware" that the volume of T&E work is growing because of the baby boomers dying off, and that there is a need for new talent in the field.

Many of the giants who built the modern estate planning practice in the 1980s and 1990s are now retiring themselves, "if they haven't already," he said.

"There hasn't been a crop of younger people ... to fill that gap," Rosen-Prinz said. "You have a real succession problem, at least on the higher end of the practice."

One of the biggest obstacles to the practice is that it mostly consists of senior lawyers dealing directly with clients. "It's hard to get a job because it relies on experienced parties to provide direct service. It's not leverage work," Rosen-Prinz said.

The California Lawyers Association through TEXCOM is doing work to raise awareness of the practice. It produces webinars and a podcast, and publishes a quarterly journal.

"The single biggest thing we started doing is we visit every accredited law school at least once a year letting students know what it is, trying to bring awareness," Rosen-Prinz said. "I hope it is not too little, too late."