Shane Service was raised in Franklin, Indiana — a small town of about 18,000 residents situated 20 minutes south of Indianapolis on I-65. Mr. Service attended Franklin College in 1991, graduating as a Ben Franklin Distinguished Scholar in 1996 with degrees in Philosophy and Religion. After graduation, Mr. Service began work at Johnson County Arc, a chapter of The Arc of Indiana. He worked there as a Job Coach and Community Liaison for persons with developmental and traumatic disabilities. Mr. Service spent most of his time helping his clients obtain and maintain gainful employment in the community, coaching them one-on-one where they worked, and acting as a conduit between the employer and the individual. Additionally, Mr. Service assisted his clients in developing daily living skills, such as money management, Special Needs Trust usage, community involvement, and social integration.
Mr. Service left Johnson County Arc in 1997 to attend law school at Baylor University School of Law, in Texas. Upon graduation from law school, he returned to Indiana to practice law, focusing on complex insurance coverage litigation, mold and airborn pathogen litigation, insurance fraud litigation, and personal injury litigation.
Although the practice of law was both challenging and rewarding, Mr. Service returned to serving the special needs community by accepting appointment as the Executive Director for The Arc of Indiana Master Trust. Under Mr. Service’s leadership, The Arc of Indiana Master Trust enjoyed unprecedented growth. Established in 1988, The Arc Trust corpus grew from $19 Million to $31.7 Million in just over two years following Mr. Service's appointment.
Such growth in the trust corpus occurred while Mr. Service also increased the number of monthly disbursements made from The Arc Trust by over 100%. During Mr. Service’s tenure at The Arc of Indiana Master Trust, the individual enrollment rate at The Arc Trust increased by 32% per year, making The Arc Trust the fastest-growing pooled Special Needs Trust in the nation. During that same time period, The Arc of Indiana’s OBRA ‘93 self-settled pooled trust more than doubled in size--from just over $3 Million to over $7 Million in total assets.
Mr. Service now delivers the same expertise, dedication, focus, and committment to individual consumer attention to the National Foundation for Special Needs Integrity that brought so much presitge and acclaim to The Arc of Indiana Master Trust during his tenure there. Additionally, Mr. Service is the owner and CEO of Special Needs Trust Consultants, LLC, a national private special needs trust consulting and administrative support firm serving major banks, trust companies, CFPs and individual families throughout the country.
In 2004, Mr. Service accepted appointment by Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randal Shepard as a Board Member for the Indiana Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program (JLAP). Indiana’s JLAP is an Indiana Supreme Court agency that assists members of the bench and bar who struggle with issues relating to physical disabilities, mental illness, substance abuse, and aging. Mr. Service has recently been approached by this administrative arm of the Indiana Supreme Court to provide consultation in the formation of a private 501(c)(3) corporation designed to custody and manage assets donated to JLAP for the purposes of assisting members of the Indiana bench and bar pursue treatment for substance abuse, mental illness, physical disabilities, and aging-related disabilities.
Mr. Service is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), the Indiana Bar Association, and the Elder Law Section of the Indiana Bar Association.
Mr. Service has made appearances on television and National Public Radio as an expert in Special Needs Trust and Social Security/Medicaid issues. He testifies as an expert witness in litigation involving guardianship issues and privately drafted “(d)(4)(A)” Special Needs Trusts. Additionally, Mr. Service has been a guest lecturer at the Ball State University Miller College of Business.
Mr. Service is a frequent speaker at Elder Law, Medicaid, personal injury/class action, Guardianship, and Estate Planning CLE seminars, as well as numerous estate planning and financial and asset management councils.
Mr. Service has also served as a member of the faculty at Stetson University School of Law Special Needs Trust Seminars held annually in Clearwater, Florida.
Mr. Service lives in Indianapolis — about 25 minutes from where he was raised. He is an avid runner and an accomplished pianist. He recorded his first CD of original piano compositions between August and November of 2005.
