Ellen M. Deeter

Ms. Deeter is Of Counsel with the Indianapolis law firm of Dale & Eke, Professional Corporation. Her practice is focused on estate planning and administration; estate, trust, and elder law mediation; expert witness services in trust and estate litigation matters; and consulting services for fiduciaries. She is an Attorney at Law, a Registered Civil Mediator, a Certified Financial PlannerTM Certificant, and a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor (CTFA). Ms. Deeter received a B.A. magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame, where she was in the first coeducational class, and her J.D. magna cum laude, from Indiana University School of Law at Indianapolis (now known as IU McKinney School of Law).

Ms. Deeter spent over 30 years working in bank trust departments, retiring from The National Bank of Indianapolis as Vice President and Senior Trust Counsel at the end of 2013. She is a member of the Indiana State and Indianapolis Bar Associations, the Estate Planning Council of Indianapolis (past President and Board Member), and the Financial Planning Association Greater Indiana; she is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the Indianapolis Bar Foundation (past board member); and has served as a board member for the Planned Giving Group of Indiana.

Ms. Deeter lectures extensively on estate planning and trust administration. She also serves as an expert witness in trust controversies. She has been an instructor/speaker for the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum, the American Bankers Association National Graduate Trust School, the Indiana State Bar Association, the Estate Planning Council of Indianapolis, and the Indiana Bankers Association, among others.

Classes/Seminars

• Faculty, American Bankers Association National Graduate Trust School

• Faculty, American Bankers Association, In-Bank Fundamentals of Trust Administration

• Discretionary Distribution Provisions from the Perspective of a (Former) Trust Officer, Vincennes University Wills, Trusts, and Ethics Institute

• Collaborative Practice - What is it and how can it be used to resolve trust and estate disputes?", Indiana State Bar Association, Probate, Trust and Real Property Section

• Charitable Planning with CRATs, CRUTs, CLATs, and CLUTs, Financial Planning Association of Greater Indiana and ICLEF

• 5 Tips on Discretionary Distributions, 120 Hot Tips in Estate, Trust & Probate Practice, ICLEF

• The Uniform Directed Trust Act (Panelist), American College of Trust and Estate Counsel

• Chair, ICLEF Advising the Trustee on Duties and Responsibilities

• Trust Accounting: Who is Entitled to Information? How Much and How Often? ICLEF

• Fiduciary Income Taxation, Indiana State Bar Association Review Course for TEBS examination

• Qualified Severance of a GST Trust, ICLEF

• Charitable Trust Compliance, ICLEF

• Trust Accounting Objections, Indiana State Bar Association

• Troubled Trusts: Challenging Situations in Trust Administration...and Ways to Resolve Them, Indiana State Bar Association

Honors and Awards

• Indianapolis Bar Foundation Distinguished Fellow, 1996

• Indianapolis Bar Foundation Distinguished Life Fellow, 2013

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Indiana State Bar Association

• Indianpolis Bar Association

• Estate Planning Council of Indianapolis, Past President and Board Member

• Financial Planning Association of Greater Indiana