Robert W. Fechtman, CELA
Robert Fechtman is the founder of Fechtman Law Office, a full-service elder law and special needs planning firm in Indianapolis, Indiana. His practice focuses on the needs of older adults and individuals with disabilities, including special needs trusts, estate planning, health law, Medicaid planning, guardianships, and probate.
A lifelong Indiana resident, Robert graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in music and a major in economics, then earned his Juris Doctor from Rutgers School of Law. He also studied international and comparative law through the University of San Diego’s Institute on International and Comparative Law at Magdalen College, Oxford University.
Robert discovered elder and disability law during an elder law clinic in his final year of law school — an experience that shaped the direction of his career. “I had planned to go into medicine like my father,” he recalls, “but I found myself drawn to the overlap between medical and legal issues. The work felt meaningful right away.” After graduating in 1993 — the same year Congress authorized the use of special needs trusts — he began practicing in the field and has been helping families navigate complex benefit systems ever since.
A Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) through the National Elder Law Foundation, Robert currently serves as president, overseeing national certification for elder law attorneys. He is also a past president of the Special Needs Alliance, having been one of its original members when it was founded in 2002. Within the Alliance, he has long served on the Membership Committee and now chairs the Member Engagement Committee, focused on fostering connection and participation across the organization.
Robert is a two-time past president of the Indiana Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) and an active member of multiple sections of the Indiana State Bar Association, including Elder Law and Probate, Real Property, and Trusts.
In addition to his legal practice, Robert serves as a professional trustee for more than 200 special needs trusts — a role he finds both challenging and rewarding. “I love working with families,” he says. “So much of this work is about helping them plan for the future — making sure their loved ones will be cared for, even when they can’t do it themselves.”
A lifelong musician, he serves as a church organist and enjoys travel, cooking, and home renovation projects with his wife in Indianapolis.