Tiffany Ballenger Floyd

About

Hi!  I’m Tiffany Ballenger Floyd, and I practice in the areas of estate planning, including advanced estate planning and planning for LGBTQ families, business planning, asset protection, prenuptial agreements, & real estate.
I’m sure you’re here to find out more about one of these practice areas and to see if I’m the right attorney to help guide you through the process.  Good idea.  Choosing an attorney that fits your personality, business, and family structure is a big decision.  So here’s my story:
My background:
I grew up in southern California as an only child of two amazing parents, Norman and Patti Ballenger.  Norman worked at CBS and Patti was a stay-at-home mom.  Tragically, when I was 15, my father died, suddenly, of a heart attack.  Within a month, we also lost my paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother.  It was a really horrible year.
My family had done everything you’re supposed to with regards to their estate.  They took pains to build up their savings through investing in real estate, stocks, and living within their means.  They also hired an attorney put together an estate plan.  Unfortunately, this estate plan didn't work the way it should have.  In the end, most of the estate was lost through issues that could have been easily avoided with better, more comprehensive, planning.
I went to law school with the goal of helping families to avoid the pitfalls that my own family faced when we lost my dad & grandparents.  My personal history, along with my legal training, has taught me important lessons to ensure that a family’s planning is handled in the best manner possible, with efficiency, sensitivity, and foresight.
My education & work history:
I earned my undergraduate degree from the gorgeous University of California, Santa Barbara, where I was lucky enough to live on the beach for 4 years.  I received my law degree from the University of San Francisco, where I was lucky enough to live by a decidedly colder & foggier beach for another 3 years.  While in law school, I clerked two different Family Law courts (in San Mateo & Alameda Counties) where I learned a valuable lesson- I detest litigation.  All of the delay tactics, contention, and all-around negativity were simply not for me.
Right after law school, I took and passed the California Bar, and then moved to Nevada to open a branch of a California Estate Planning law firm (and began studying for the Nevada Bar).
I’m one of the few attorneys that began their law practice in the areas of estate, business & asset protection planning, having practiced continuously in these fields since 2007.  I have also been a member of Wealth Counsel, the nation’s premier estate planning organization, since that time.
Prior to opening up Phillips Ballenger, I worked for law firms in the Bay Area of California & in Las Vegas.
What makes my firm, Phillips Ballenger, unique:
I met my law partner, Chris Phillips, in 2010 and we decided to make the jump to open our firm in 2012.  You see, we are of the belief that the current legal system is broken in a lot of ways.  I figured that by starting our own law firm I could at least fix the system for my clients… but how?
First of all, in 98% of my cases, I don’t bill by the hour.  Why?  Because it sucks- for everyone involved.  I hate tracking every 6 minutes of my time (yes, this is how it’s done) and my clients hate getting a “surprise” bill at the end of the month.  Because I’ve been doing estate & business planning for a while now, I know how much work I’ll need to do to complete a given task.  So, I pass that advantage on to my clients by offering an upfront, flat-fee billing system.
Secondly, I believe in building strong relationships with my clients.  I am not a legal document service or “trust mill”, so I’m not merely drafting your documents, never to see or hear from you again.  I am of the belief that proper estate & business planning involves getting to know an individual/family/business in a very intimate way- I need to know A LOT about you to design a comprehensive plan.  This includes details about your family’s dynamics, your financial details, your short & long-term goals, any potential health issues, etc… Since this type of intimacy takes time, my practice is based on building these relationships, rather than on client volume.  In short, what I help you do is to organize your life.  By getting to know you, I can then analyze your individual situation and design a plan based on your needs and goals.
I pride myself on staying connected with my clients, not only during the planning process, but long after, to ensure my plan is being executed.  With many other lawyers/firms, you may sign your estate plan or corporate documents and then stuff them into a drawer for the next 10 years.  I do everything in my power to avoid that, because that sort of “document driven” planning simply doesn’t work!  Why?  Because the law changes, your financial situation changes, your goals change, and your family changes.  As such, I have planned for that eventuality with our Concierge Program, to ensure my clients have me “on retainer” and can meet/discuss any updates/changes in their life (as well as within the law).
If you've made the decision to find a law firm that will commit to you and your goals, will help you make the best legal decisions while you are alive, and to make sure that someone is there for your family after you're gone, I’d love to meet you.    ---Tiffany
Education:
University of San Francisco, School of Law, Juris Doctor 2007
University of California, Santa Barbara, B.A., 2003, Dean's List
Bar Admissions:
Awards/Media: