About Our Founder

Founder & CEO, Great Western Fiduciary Services, LLC

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Dawn Handler is a Certified Financial Planner® professional with over 30 years of hands-on experience in the estate planning/fiduciary industry. Dawn brings unmatched depth, perspective, and clarity to the complexities of trust and estate administration.

 

Individual and professional fiduciaries face significant responsibilities—and every situation comes with its own unique relationship dynamics and administrative challenges. Dawn founded Great Western Fiduciary Services, LLC to meet these challenges; her mission is to provide fiduciaries with the expert guidance, support, and confidence they need to navigate their roles with clarity, confidence and care.

 

Dawn has extensive experience administering a wide range of trust and estate matters, including complex trust relationships with sophisticated or demanding administrative requirements. Her background spans family trusts, charitable trusts, special needs trusts, and estate administration, among others. She is particularly known for her thoughtful handling of intricate legal documents and her ability to implement tailored, risk-conscious solutions in sensitive or high-stakes environments.

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Throughout her career, Dawn has held several senior leadership positions in the fiduciary field. Prior to founding Great Western Fiduciary Services, she served as a Senior Fiduciary Officer at Members Trust Company, a nationally chartered trust company, where she also contributed her expertise as a member of the Special Needs Trust Advisory Board. Before that, she held tenured roles at Comerica Bank and Citizens Trust & Investment Corporation, where she served as Trust Advisor, Senior Trust Officer, and Manager of Trust Operations, respectively.

 

Dawn earned her B.A. in English/Communications, a foundation that contributes to her clear, empathetic, and effective communication style—an essential strength in navigating the interpersonal and technical challenges of fiduciary work. She is a member of the Denver Women's Estate Planning Council and FIRMA (Fiduciary & Investment Risk Management Association).

 

Dawn is widely recognized for her leadership in fiduciary risk management, compliance, and regulatory oversight, and for her ability to mentor and guide teams with integrity and compassion. Her deep knowledge of special needs trust administration makes her a go-to resource for navigating legal and family complexities with professionalism and empathy.

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Above all, Dawn is passionate about educating and empowering others. In addition to her consulting work, she has served in the role of trustee herself—always placing the needs of beneficiaries first and helping others do the same. Whether she’s providing one-on-one guidance or designing systems to improve long-term fiduciary practices, Dawn is committed to making the fiduciary role more manageable, effective, and rewarding.

 

When she’s not working, Dawn enjoys scuba diving and exploring the beauty of the natural world—bringing the same curiosity and sense of adventure to her personal life that she brings to her professional one.