Susan L. Anderson

Susan Anderson is a member of the firm's Estate Planning Practice Group. Her practice is focused on assisting individual clients in the areas of:

• Estate planning
• Wills
• Trusts
• Charitable planning
• Asset protection
• Probate
• Special needs trusts
• Trust Department Consultation (for financial institutions)

Susan specializes in estate planning and probate for business owners, executives, professionals, and families who inherit generational wealth. With more than fifteen years of experience in the wealth transition field, Susan strives to bring creative and flexible solutions to clients - solutions that will perform well even with ever-changing tax regulations and economic volatility. Her strategies are customized to your specific needs, whether they be transitioning a business to the next generation, reducing estate taxes, protecting assets, or preparing a simple will for a newly married couple. Susan works with your entire wealth team (i.e., investment advisor, tax advisor and insurance professional) to provide cohesive and objective legal advice which stands the test of time, and is truly the best solution for you.

In addition to working with wealth issues, Susan provides legal services to trust departments in banks and other firms to provide outsourced trust legal and regulatory issues. She has received the national designation of Certified Trust & Financial Advisor (CTFA) conferred by the Institute of Certified Bankers and the American Bankers Association.

Susan has more than fifteen years of multi-disciplined experience in estate planning, tax consulting in a CPA firm, and trust and financial planning experience in financial institutions.Prior to joining Hellmuth & Johnson, Susan was an attorney with another Twin Cities law firm. Before entering private practice, she served as President and CEO of ING National Trust, which was regulated by the Federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). She has also worked in various financial and tax planning roles in trust departments for regional and national financial firms. Finally, as a consultant at a regional CPA firm, she worked with individuals, professionals and business owners regarding estate tax and business succession issues.

Susan is a member of the Minnesota Bar Association and a past member of the Minneapolis Estate Planning Council, Minnesota Corporate Fiduciaries, Institute of Certified Bankers, American Bankers Association, Financial Women International, Minnesota Bankers Association and American Bar Association. Her articles on trust and charitable planning have been published in national financial journals, including National Underwriter, Financial Advisor Magazine, and On Wall Street.

She obtained her B.A. from the University of Minnesota and her J.D. from Hamline University School of Law. Following law school, she clerked for The Honorable Sharon Hall and The Honorable Alan Oleisky. Susan enjoys spending time with her husband and children. Active in the community, she volunteers for the Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights (PACER), assisting children with disabilities, as well as the Girl Scouts of America.