Susan Lynn Funk

I have been a practicing attorney since 1988.  I received my undergraduate degree in political science/criminal justice from the University of Akron.  I received my law degree from the University of Akron, School of Law.  Prior to seeking my law degree  I was employed as a paralegal with the Medina County Prosecutor's office.  While attending law school I worked as a law clerk for  a number of attorneys on a consulting basis handling their probate estates and developing estate plans for their clientele.  I also clerked for one semester for Judge LeRoy J. Conti with the Sixth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals.  After graduating from law school I went into private practice.

My primary areas of exposure as a practicing attorney have been in the areas of guardianship law for the elderly and disabled; estate planning encompassing wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, health care powers of attorney, general durable powers of attorney and living wills; and estate and trust administration including land sale actions.  As a result of my work with the elderly and disabled, I also am skilled in the area of medicaid law.

In reviewing my legal career, I would have to say that these areas of practice chose me, as opposed to my choosing them.  While attending law school, I found that I had a knack for understanding the concepts of property law and estate and gift taxes, and how these areas of the law intertwined in developing estate plans to preserve a client's estate.  My estate and gift tax professor recognized my abilities and employed me to draft his clientele's estate planning documents.  I was also able to find employment, while attending law school, with local attorneys who required help with their client's probate estate administration matters.

I was introduced to the area of guardianship law, in two ways.  First, my cousin-in-law's brother was institutionalized as a result of a traumatic brain injury and he required a guardian of the person and estate.  My counsin-in-law asked that I assume guardianship and I agreed.  Second, in 1995, a local mental health agency, Alternative Paths, needed a guardian for the person and estate of a client who suffered from a mental health disability and who was at that time, residing in a nursing facility.  He was only 44 years old at that time, and while he no doubt needed help, he did not need to be in a nursing facility.  With the help of local community services, I was able to move him from the nursing facility to independent living.  I remained in place as his guardian until his death in 2015.

Since my initial foray into the arena of guardianship law, I have served as guardian and/or attorney on at least 100 cases.  I have been asked by Adult Protective Services and the Court to assume guardianship over many of their most difficult cases.  I have been able to help my client's, who are going through a difficult stage of life, when the child has to assume care for the parent.  I am both proud and grateful for the experience I have had in serving the elderly and disabled.

My work relative to guardianships and estates has led to exposure in other areas of the law.  I have been exposed to tax issues and prepare the income tax returns for almost all my guardianship cases, land sales both private and public, issues involving social security law; medicaid issues, veteran's benefits, wrongful death actions and personal injury actions.