Lawyers for Wills, Trusts, Probate, and Estate Issues in Kansas City, MO

The attorneys at Kuhlman, Reddoch & Sullivan, P.C. possess in-depth knowledge about trusts and estate issues, including:

• Estate planning
• Creating and Managing a Trust
• Personal Representative or Executor Duties
• Guardianship
• Creating powers of attorney for you in case you are unable to manage your business affairs
• Creating powers of attorney for you in case you are unable to manage your health issues
• Pre-planning to avoid Probate
• Probate of matters which need to be probated
• Creating wills
• Estate Taxes

Our experienced attorneys can advise you on the best approach to your estate planning. We thoroughly analyze your estate and strategize the best means of transferring your assets, minimizing taxes, establishing guardianship for your children, supporting personal philanthropic causes and protecting your loved ones. We can draft a will that reflects your desires and establish living trusts if they would be beneficial to your estate.  In addition to drafting documents to transfer assets upon death, our attorney’s will help guide you through issues which may arise prior to death.

Our attorneys apply their extensive knowledge about Missouri probate court to guide you through the complex process of probating a will. We assist personal representatives in all steps of the process, including:

• Creating a plan to avoid Probate
• Creating a plan of action to probate the estate fairly and expeditiously
• Filing the will with the Missouri probate court
• Closing and opening bank accounts
• Transferring assets from the deceased to the estate
• Paying taxes and other debts
• Locating beneficiaries

Disputes sometimes occur between beneficiaries. Our attorneys have the extensive knowledge and experience to challenge invalid Wills, Trusts or Powers of Attorneys or to defend valid documents against the improper assertions of dissatisfied persons. Our attorneys can help negotiate between beneficiaries to preserve relationships or pursue your rights in court when necessary.

Executing a valid Will is rather simple; executing an effective will takes a bit more work. The probate approves a Will if it finds the document was executed intentionally and freely by a person of sound mind, is written in clear, unambiguous language and is signed and witnessed. That’s really the easy part. To be effective, your Will must be comprehensive, covering the full range of your worldly possessions and your deepest concerns, and contemplating various contingencies. We work closely with you to memorialize your intentions completely and instructing that they be carried out in the most efficient manner possible.

Once executed, your Will remains your final statement of your intentions until you amend or revoke it. Wills are formal documents and can only be changed by going through formal procedures.  Therefore, it is improper to try to add anything to your Will or to delete anything from your Will and any attempt to do that by change by handwriting or crossing out any portion may void the document.

We recommend reviewing your Will if your assets should substantially change, you move to a different state, the needs of family members dependent on you change or generally every five to ten years. If changes are needed, let us know. We also advise a review if the federal Estate and Gift tax (sometimes referred to as the “death tax”) should change.

Most personal representatives have never probated a Will; many are surprised to learn the decedent’s Will named them as the responsible party. We provide indispensable service for executors who have no prior experience in the probate court on matters that include:

• Filing the will with the Missouri probate court
• Developing the best strategy for fairly and expeditiously settling the estate
• Finding and assembling assets
• Pay creditors and claimants
• Collecting amounts owed the estate
• Closing and opening bank accounts
• Transferring assets from the deceased to the estate
• Paying current and delinquent taxes as well as estate taxes
• Valuing, managing, preserving and liquidating the estate
• Locating beneficiaries
• Hiring experts, when appropriate