April 2026
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Before stepping into my current role, I had only a limited understanding of what trust administration involved or how my legal education and practice could benefit it.
Like many lawyers, I assumed that special needs trusts existed solely to preserve eligibility for public benefits. I also believed that most other trusts primarily served wealthy clients for tax planning or probate avoidance. Both assumptions were wrong.
What I did not understand is how deeply human trust administration can be, how much judgment it requires, and how closely it aligns with the reasons many of us went to law school in the first place.
If you had told my younger self that I would eventually work in trust administration, particularly with special needs trusts and court-created trusts, I would have assumed I stepped away from advocacy. In reality, I stepped into a different kind of advocacy.
Here is what I wish I had known sooner.
How Lawyering Benefits Your Work in Trust Administration
Practicing law can create an idea that lawyering equates with visible outputs: motions filed, hearings attended, arguments made, cases won. Trust administration does not always look like that from the outside, so it is easy to underestimate how valuable our legal skills are to our clients.
In reality, trust administration requires constant legal analysis and interpretation:
• Reading and applying dispositive provisions
• Balancing beneficiary needs against fiduciary duties
• Understanding and adhering to public benefits rules and regulations
• Navigating conflicts between family members, professionals, and institutions
• Making and documenting defensible decisions that may later be scrutinized by courts or committees
There may not be a judge in the room every day, but the law is always present, and your reasoning and approach always matters.
You Are Not Leaving Advocacy Behind But Redefining It
One of my biggest misconceptions was that advocacy only happened when I represented a client directly. Trust administration taught me differently.
Advocacy shows up in:
• Identifying and pushing for goods and services that materially improve a beneficiary’s quality of life
• Questioning default “no” answers from vendors, agencies, or systems
• Speaking up in internal committees to justify and obtain approval for discretionary actions necessary to fulfill the beneficiary’s needs
• Explaining complex decisions to families who are overwhelmed, grieving, or exhausted
Many beneficiaries, particularly those with special needs, cannot easily advocate for themselves. In those moments, thoughtful fiduciary judgment is advocacy.
It is quieter, but no less meaningful.
Law School Skills Transfer More Than You Expect
I assumed trust work would require an entirely new skill set. Instead, I found myself relying on the same tools I developed earlier, just in a different format.
Law school and traditional practice teach you how to:
• Issue spot
• Weigh competing interests
• Communicate difficult news clearly and compassionately
• Stay calm when emotions run high
These skills are central to trust administration. The difference is that the “client” relationship is often more complex: beneficiaries, family members, various attorneys, courts, and institutions may all be involved at once. Navigating that complexity is a challenge, but one that lawyers are uniquely trained to handle.
Trusts Are Everywhere
Before I worked in this space, I did not realize how often trusts intersect with everyday legal practice.
Trusts appear in:
• Personal injury settlements
• Family law cases
• Guardianship proceedings
• Probate disputes
• Public benefits planning
• Estate planning
• Business succession planning
• Court-created arrangements for minors or individuals with disabilities
Many young lawyers encounter trusts indirectly without ever learning how they function in real life. Understanding how trusts work, even at a high level, makes you a better advocate for your clients, regardless of your practice area.
The Emotional Weight Is Real and Manageable
Trust administration can be emotionally demanding. You are often working with people navigating disability, trauma, loss, or long-term uncertainty. That emotional weight does not disappear simply because the work happens outside of a courtroom.
What I wish I knew before is that this emotional labor is not a sign you are doing something wrong but instead is a sign that the work you are doing matters.
Unlike some areas of traditional practice, trust administration often allows space to process that weight thoughtfully, without the constant pressure of adversarial deadlines, and (at least in my case) with a team of peers who understand the complexity of the situation and the various issues involved. For many lawyers, that balance makes the work sustainable in a way they did not think was possible.
What I Would Tell My Younger Self
If I could go back, I would not have told myself to leave my practice sooner, but I would tell myself to get curious sooner.
I would say while exploring any new role,
• Ask more questions about what a role actually entails.
• Pay attention to the parts of your work that energize you, as well as the parts that do not.
• Do not assume fulfillment only comes in one professional shape.
Remember that lawyering is a tool, not a performance.
An Invitation to Young Lawyers
If you are a member of the Austin Young Lawyers Association who feels curious, restless, or quietly unsure about what “long-term success” as a lawyer looks like, know this: your JD is more versatile than you were probably taught.
Sometimes the most meaningful advocacy looks different from what we expected. It looks like measured judgment, restraint, and care applied consistently, over time.
And sometimes, that is exactly where we are meant to land.