How to leave a legacy for your pet. Animal companions... your pets... "your children." Whatever you call them, they are dearly loved family members. Our pets come to us from rescue shelters, from pet stores, from breeders, and from friends and family. Our pets come in all shapes and sizes - from horses to hamsters, from ferrets to felines - they inhabit our hearts with their own unique personalities. They share day-to-day struggles, adventures, special moments and play times with us. We share our homes, our beds and our hearts with our pets. We worry about our pets, too, just like our children, when they are not with us. They leave us with a legacy of happy memories after they're gone. Our pets love us unconditionally, help reduce stress and even enhance longevity. For all these reasons and so many more, you should explore all the alternatives for planning for your pet's future without you and for your future without your pet. This book is for anyone who has ever loved a pet and wondered what he or she would do if their pet were no longer with them or what their pet would do if they were no longer there.
Peggy is a founding partner of The Law Offices of Hoyt & Bryan, a family wealth and legacy planning law firm specializing in wills, trusts and estates and elder law. She is a three-time Stetson University graduate receiving her B.B.A., cum laude, in 1981, her M.B.A. in 1982 and her J.D., cum laude, in 1993. Her passion is her pets - all of them - including 3 horses, 5 dogs and 4 cats! She enjoys competitive trail and limited distance endurance riding.
Peggy practices in the areas of family wealth and legacy counselling, including trust and estate planning and administration, elder law, small business creation, succession and exit planning, real estate transactions and animal law. In addition to her law degree, she holds a Florida real estate license. Peggy formerly held a NASD Series 7 license and health, life and variable annuities licenses. She serves as a certified FINRA Arbitrator and is also a Florida Circuit Court Mediator concentrating in family business and estate matters. Peggy holds Board Certifications from the Florida Bar in Wills, Trusts, and Estates and Elder Law.
Peggy and two friends, Kim Radcliffe and Casey Taylor have recently founded the Center for Animal Advocacy, a Central Florida law firm dedicated to legal issues related to animals and the people who love them.
Peggy is the author of "All My Children Wear Fur Coats - How to Leave a Legacy to Your Pet", an informative and inspirational guide for pet owners who want to include their pets as part of their estate plans. She co-authored the following books with Candace M. Pollock: "Special People, Special Planning - Creating a Safe Legal Haven for Families with Special Needs" designed to educate families about the planning options and protections for their special needs family members; "Loving Without a License - An Estate Planning Survival Guide for Unmarried Couples and Same Sex Partners", created to address the unique planning needs of unmarried individuals in today's society; "A Matter of Trust - The Importance of Personal Instructions" stressing the importance of supplementing legal estate planning with personal instructions; "Women in Transition - Navigating the Legal and Financial Challenges in Your Life" created for all women as they learn, live and grow throughout their lives.
She co-authored with Scott Farnsworth "Like a Library Burning - Sharing and Saving a Lifetime of Stories", addressing the whys and hows of protecting and passing on a lifetime of stories. Peggy co-authored with Deborah Roser, "Thank Everybody for Everything! Grow your Life and Your Business with Gratitude", and the companion five-year gratitude journal, "Gratitude Expressions". She lives by the daily mantra of "thoughts become things, choose the good ones."
Peggy is an active public speaker at the local, regional and national levels on estate planning and elder law topics including pet planning, special needs planning and planning for unmarried couples and same sex partners. She presents and writes regularly for the National Network of Estate Planning Attorneys and WealthCounsel. Peggy has been featured on CNN Financial News, the Wall Street Journal and the Orlando Sentinel for her work in pet planning.
