at Northern Trust Company in Chicago, Illinois, United States
Job Description
About Northern Trust:
Northern Trust, a Fortune 500 company, is a globally recognized, award-winning financial institution that has been in continuous operation since 1889.
Northern Trust is proud to provide innovative financial services and guidance to the world's most successful individuals, families, and institutions by remaining true to our enduring principles of service, expertise, and integrity. With more than 130 years of financial experience and over 22,000 partners, we serve the world's most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.
Estate Settlement Administrator
Role Summary:
The individual in this role is responsible for handling all aspects of the estate settlement process for all taxable and non-taxable estates. This includes oversight of probate proceedings, the collection and valuation of assets, the filing of all required federal and state estate, gift, GST and income tax returns, and the distribution of assets in accordance with the estate plan. The individual will manage the relationship with the beneficiaries, while working closely with co-fiduciaries, as well as external advisors (attorneys, accountants and others) and internal partners (trust advisor, specialty asset managers, tax and others).
Major Duties:
- Oversight of probate court process, working closely with outside counsel.
- Communicate with beneficiaries and co-fiduciaries regarding all aspects of the estate settlement process, educate beneficiaries on tax and administration issues and set expectations regarding timing.
- Oversee collection and valuation of all assets.
- Work with internal counsel, partners and fiduciary management, to make decisions regarding all aspects of the administration process, including tax elections, valuation issues, cash needs, liability resolution, audits, litigation, funding and account closing.
- Communicate the rationale of all decisions to appropriate external and internal parties.
- Manage issues of timing and beneficiary needs during the estate settlement process.
- Ensure that all fiduciary requirements regarding investments are met during the period of administration.
- Coordinate and accept ultimate responsibility for work performed by other internal professionals, including specialty asset groups, tax and others.
- Establish and maintain strong relationships with beneficiaries, effectively communicating information, status updates and other areas of concerns in a timely and effective manner.
- Educate beneficiaries on estate settlement process and timelines.
- Cultivate strong working relationship with outside advisors, allowing for a collaborative working relationship.
- Maintain a working knowledge of various bank products and services to facilitate client delivery and to expand existing relationships.
- Comply with all fiduciary, risk management and other guidelines.
Knowledge/Skills:
- Technical knowledge of transfer tax, income tax, fiduciary, basic accounting, and operations, usually acquired through formal education in law or extensive related experience is required to service clients.
- Analytic and organization skills required to manage complex client situations.
- Skills in negotiating, delegating, leadership and sales are necessary to effectively service the client relationship.
Experience Required:
- 5-7 years experience in estate planning/administration law practice &/or fiduciary servicing.
Working with Us:
As a Northern Trust partner, greater achievements await. You will be...
Equal Opportunity Employer - minorities/females/veterans/individuals with disabilities/sexual orientation/gender identity
