Today we’d like to introduce you to Susan Floyd.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Susan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
When I was 19 and attending college at the University of California at Berkeley, I got an unexpected call from my father one afternoon. He told me he had cancer and it didn’t look good for him. I felt waves of denial, shock, acute pain and powerlessness. I wanted to withdraw from school, but my father was worried I would not go back. It was so important to him that I finish, so I continued with my classes and drove the 12- hour round trip drive to see him as much as I could. He passed away three months later, and the world was such an empty place without him. It was during this time of grief that I experienced for the first time the legal process that takes place after someone passes away. Even though my father was a lawyer, the planning for his estate was poor and this caused additional stress for me that I did not need during an already difficult time. This planted the seeds for my future, although I would not realize it until later.
Fast forward, after graduating from U.C. Berkeley, I needed to find my path forward into the world. I always admired my father’s ability to understand and explain the world to me, and I think that his understanding of the law was one of the things that really helped him figure things out. So, I decided to honor his legacy and pursue a career as a lawyer. Within a short time, I was accepted into UCLA’s law school.
In law school, because of my experience with the passing of my father, I gravitated toward Wills and Trusts, where I felt that through my own personal experiences I could use the law to have a significant impact in people’s lives and help them avoid putting unnecessary stress on their loved ones by having a well-planned estate. We spend so much of our lives (our time—our currency) raising our families and working to save money to support and enrich our families. I want to protect that legacy and give families the bridge they need to pass through those difficult times. Very few of my clients are confronting a serious illness. Most people create an estate plan when they are healthy and at different stages in their lives, such as the birth of a child or retirement. My deepest joy is connecting with my clients and helping them develop a sound estate plan that is right for them and their family.
Has it been a smooth road?
Life is never exactly a smooth road, but there are gifts that we find along the way. People that we meet that inspire us, guide us, and help us. My mission is to help as many people as I can. There are many times when someone will call the office and I give them help and advice for no other reason than this is what attorneys are supposed to do—to serve their communities (just like my dad did).
The challenge comes in also being a mom. And not just any mom – a working baseball mom that works full time and drives her children to a baseball field four workdays a week and travel ball on the weekends. I am blessed with the most awesome and wonderful husband and sons, who are baseball fanatics. And I mean that literally – they live, eat, and breathe baseball. One year, I was so thankful when the Atlanta Braves season ended, because I had watched baseball every single night for what seemed like months—and then I heard it—they were watching re-runs of old games. I am no match for the most wonderful and joyful game on earth, Atlanta Braves baseball!
But that is the irony of it. What seems like a challenge is also a gift. Baseball has made my son’s best friends. Baseball gets the boys outside playing, laughing and running. We have some real pitching, hitting, base stealing/pickle talent in this family. And while it takes up a lot of our time much of the year, I wouldn’t give it up for the world.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
What sets me apart from other estate planning law firms is that I’m not trying to be big. I am trying to stay small. Many attorneys meet with a client once and then pass them off to an associate or paralegal. They don’t actually do the legal work. They need volume to pay their overhead and employees.
I want a small and select group of clients who want personalized estate planning from someone who wants to take the time to get to know them.
I am of course, always working to stay on top of all the constant changes in the law as it relates to my field. But beyond that, I’m working on developing more ways to educate and engage my clients. I have found that most of my clients don’t truly grasp the fundamental legal vehicles that are used in Wills & Trusts to build a great Estate Plan. The law can be very complex, but the core concepts are actually very simple. And yet most of my clients, even though they are highly educated, struggle to fully grasp them because lawyers like to make things very confusing so they can stay in business! One of the things that I am doing right now to help my clients understand the process better is to produce animated videos that explain legal concepts in a fun way. I have only done a few so far, and the results are amazing. Clients that have heard me explain many times over what an Irrevocable Trust is finally tell me that they actually “get it” after they watched the video.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love Atlanta. There is no other place I want to live! This is Braves country!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.susanfloydlaw.com/
- Phone: 404-939-4989
- Email: sf@susanfloydlaw.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susanfloydlaw/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SusanFloydLaw1
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCryyj0Ajf8f4d8GqMOzWRNg?view_as=subscriber
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