Cherish De la Cruz

Cherish De la Cruz loves getting to know her clients and learning about their families, their businesses, and their lives. She designed her practice to include both estate planning, probate and small business law because she understands how much overlap there is in these areas —especially for first- and second-generation American families. Cherish was born and raised in the culturally diverse city of Toronto. Her parents had immigrated to Canada from the Philippines, and growing up, Cherish saw firsthand how difficult it was for them to establish themselves in their new country. She was frustrated by how her parents were treated and realized that they could have avoided much of the hardships they faced if they’d only had good information and proper legal structures in place. That’s what got her interested in becoming a lawyer and ultimately focusing her mission of helping other families. After earning her law degree, Cherish began her career as Public Defender in Florida. These formative years shaped her ability to proactively navigate the probate system. It also taught her that she’d much rather help clients prevent problems and avoid the expense and stress of going to court over routine estate matters. In 2006, she moved to Atlanta and took the position of Senior Counsel and Anti-Money Laundering Officer for Primerica, a publicly traded investment and insurance company. During her seven years there, she gained an expertise in supporting both small businesses and individuals and working collaboratively with financial advisors and cpas for the benefit of her clients. In 2010, Cherish’s Aunt Luzbella was diagnosed with a rare form of Appendix cancer. Since she had no children of her own, she asked Cherish to help her in handling her affairs. At that time, Cherish specialized in Securities and Compliance law. She knew her Tita Luzbella needed a will, but she didn’t understand the full value of having a comprehensive custom tailored estate plan. A friend referred her to a general practitioner who drew up a will in less than half an hour. Unfortunately, Tita Luzbella’s quick and inexpensive will ended up costing everyone quite a lot in both money and heartache. Because the document wasn’t well thought out, it didn’t include many important details. This left the door open for family conflicts; assets going to creditors when they shouldn’t have; and a lengthy, complicated, and expensive probate process. It was a horrible experience—especially coming on top of the loss of her beloved aunt—but it motivated Cherish to leave her job in corporate law. She experienced the importance of planning first hand when she was diagnosed with kidney cancer and experienced what she had preached to her clients all these years. The reality and the importance of “planning” in practice as a business owner, mother of three young children and daughter of aging parents. Through her extensive and wonderful network, she was able to see Dr. Viraj Masters at Emory Winship who helped her through her cancer journey. As a cancer survivor, and because of her own personal experiences, she can understand the emotional challenges and difficulties that each client faces when planning for death and the possibility of disability. She takes her own personal experiences and legal expertise to carefully and thoughtfully plan for the “what if’s” in life with all of her clients. Cherish came to the Manely Firm P.C. because their mission and values matched her own and she knew each of her clients would be cared for.