Glen T. Eichelberger
Partner, Trust & Estates Practice Group Leader

I strive to translate the highly technical aspects of estate, trust and charitable planning into terms to which my clients can relate. I achieve the most successful results when I can walk clients through the complexities of what we’re aiming to accomplish and explain why a particular course of action is the best option. I also enjoy the diverse range of work in my practice. It makes me a better lawyer knowing how it all ties together.

Glen Eichelberger serves as Gray Reed's Trust & Estates Practice Group Leader. Glen focuses on all aspects of trust, estate and philanthropic planning and administration for individuals and families. He advises clients on the most effective ways to minimize estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes, as well as the implementation and administration of complex estate planning structures, including charitable planning and counseling family foundations and other non-profit organizations on a variety of ongoing entity governance matters. Glen is Board Certified in Estate Planning & Probate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and is a licensed CPA (retired).

Backed by the firm’s full-service capabilities, Glen can serve the diverse needs of significantly wealthy families through multiple generations. He advises clients and their family offices on a wide variety of issues from estate planning for family members to acquisition and disposition of assets. Glen also advises families on charitable giving, including formation of private foundations and gift agreements with public charities. Clients with family businesses rely on Glen and members of his team to help them preserve ownership and assets from generation to generation through effective family business succession planning. He is also experienced in planning the transfer of special assets such as art, primary and secondary residences, farms and ranches, and life insurance.

Glen has successfully worked on a number of proceedings to modify or reform irrevocable trusts. He also has experience representing institution trustees in estate and trust administration matters and when their clients require modification of irrevocable trusts.

Glen’s practice also includes guiding families and estate fiduciaries through the procedures governing the administration of a decedent’s estate. He helps clients make necessary filings and meet critical deadlines through every phase of the probate and estate administration process, from gathering and appraising assets and filing the estate tax return to paying debts, distributing assets to beneficiaries and funding associated testamentary trusts.

For a portion of his career, Glen served as Director for Merrill Lynch’s Family Office Services, a division of Merrill Lynch’s Private Banking and Investment Group, with national responsibility for its family office practice. He worked with a number of significantly wealthy families from coast to coast, helping them formulate, implement and administer their estate, financial and philanthropic plans. Glen also had the unique opportunity to co-present with leading experts in the field of wealth transfer psychology and its impact on family dynamics. As a result, he brings valuable insight to his private practice on a broad range of issues, including family business entity consulting, the dynamics of wealth in families and navigating complex intra-family issues.

Thought Leadership / News
Honors
  • Recognized as a leading private wealth law lawyer in Texas by Chambers & Partners HNW (2017 - 2023)
  • Ranked as one of the leading private wealth law lawyers in Texas, Chambers & Partners USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (2017 - 2022)
  • Selected by his peers for inclusion in Woodward/White, Inc.’s The Best Lawyers in America in the field of Trusts and Estates (2013 - 2016, 2018 - 2024)
  • Named a "Super Lawyer" by Texas Super Lawyers (a Thomson Reuters company) as published in Texas Monthly (2015 - 2023)
  • Named a Houstonia Magazine Top Lawyer in Houston (2017 - 2023)
  • Martindale-Hubbell® AV® Preeminent™ Rating
Organizational Involvement
  • Houston Bar Association – Probate, Trusts & Estates Section (past chairman)
  • Houston Estate Forum – Next Generation, Founding Member
  • Houston Business & Estate Planning Council
  • State Bar of Texas – 2018 Estate Planning & Probate Drafting Course, Committee Member
  • State Bar of Texas – 2014 Advanced Estate Planning & Probate Course, Committee Member
  • Texas Board of Legal Specialization Estate Planning & Probate Law Commission, Committee Member
  • American College of Trust & Estate Counsel, Fellow
  • Texas Bar College, Lifetime Fellow
  • Texas Bar Foundation, Life Fellow
Education
  • J.D., cum laude, University of Houston Law Center (1993)
  • M.B.A., Baylor University Hankamer School of Business (1987)
  • B.B.A., cum laude, Accounting, Baylor University (1986)
Bar Admission
  • Texas