Peggy is a lifelong animal advocate, pet mom, author and attorney. Her work experience includes time as a college recruiter, financial consultant, account executive and chief financial officer before entering law school. She is a founding partner of The Law Offices of Hoyt & Bryan. Peggy is dual board certified by the Florida Bar in Wills, Trusts, and Estates and in Elder Law. She is the founder of Animal Care Trust USA, Inc., a national nonprofit whose mission is to keep loved pets in loving homes by educating pet parents about the importance of pet trusts.
She 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 life, health, and variable annuities licenses. She serves as a certified FINRA Arbitrator. Peggy was an adjunct professor of Animal Law with Barry University College of Law.
Peggy is the author of All My Children Wear Fur Coats – How to Leave a Legacy to Your Pet, an informative guide for pet owners who want to include their pets as part of their estate plans. She has co-authored numerous other titles including Special People, Special Planning – Creating a Safe Legal Haven for Families with Special Needs; Loving Without a License – An Estate Planning Survival Guide for Unmarried Couples and Same Sex Partners; A Matter of Trust – The Importance of Personal Instructions; Women in Transition – Navigating the Legal and Financial Challenges in Your Life; Like a Library Burning – Sharing and Saving a Lifetime of Stories; Thank Everybody for Everything! Grow your Life and Your Business with Gratitude; Gratitude Expressions - a Five Year Journal; Straight Talk! About Estate Planning; Straight Talk! What to Do When Someone Dies; What’s the Deal With…Estate Planning and What’s the Deal With…Estate Administration. She released two books in 2021, The Cryonics Estate Planning Handbook - Maybe You Can Take it With You with Rudi Hoffman and Leading Counsel: Spotlights on Top Elder Law and Estate Planning Attorneys, Vol. 2.
Peggy speaks frequently on estate planning and elder law topics including pet planning and planning for families with special needs. She has been featured on CNN Financial News, in the Wall Street Journal and in the Orlando Sentinel for her dedication to pet planning. She is also highly regarded for her workshops on gratitude marketing, life balance and law office management. She hosts a weekly “Pawcast” called All My Children Wear Fur Coats available on Buzzsprout..
Her educational background includes a B.B.A (Marketing/Management 1981), cum laude and M.B.A. (Finance 1982) from Stetson University. She received her law degree (J.D. 1983), cum laude from Stetson University College of Law. She is a member of numerous state and national organizations including WealthCounsel and ElderCounsel, the Central Florida Estate Planning Council, Member, the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) and the Academy of Florida Elder Law Attorneys (AFELA). She is active with The Florida Bar serving as a Past Chair for both the Solo and Small Firm Section and Animal Law Section. She is a member of the Elder Law Section and Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section.
