Kansas City Estate-Planning Attorneys

Estate planning is the process of planning for the ultimate disposition of your assets, taking into account your wishes, the wishes and needs of your beneficiaries, and the overall tax consequences and administration costs involved. Estate planning requires an understanding of the various forms of ownership, the necessary legal documents that need to be created, and the numerous related tax issues. The development of a comprehensive estate plan requires the cooperation of all of your professional advisors, including your lawyer, your accountant, your insurance agent, your investment advisor, and your banker.

Our lawyers provide estate-planning services for individuals and families in Kansas and Missouri. The first step in creating an estate plan is to have an initial meeting with one of our lawyers. This meeting usually takes about an hour. At the time we schedule this meeting, we will provide you a form you can use to list all of your assets. If you fill out this form in advance, that's great. Otherwise, we can go through the form and fill it out together during the meeting.

After reviewing your assets and your goals, our lawyers will prepare drafts of your estate-planning documents and send them to you for review. We will be available to answer your questions and make any changes you want. At the end of the process, we'll have a meeting to sign the documents.

Your estate plan may include the following legal documents:

• A will or a trust. One advantage of a trust over a will is that your heirs will not need to go through the probate process. A trust is a very powerful tool for managing your assets. If we create a trust for you, we will include a pour-over will so that any assets you have that are not in your trust are transferred into the trust upon your death.
• Power of attorney. This is the document you use to designate someone to act for you for financial purposes. This can be a current power of attorney or a springing power of attorney that does not go into effect unless you are incapacitated.
• A health care directive. This document has two parts. The first part concerns whether you want life-prolonging medical procedures if you are in a vegetative state or in a terminal condition that offers no hope of significant recovery. The second part names an agent to act for you in making decisions consistent with your directive if you are incapacitated. Our lawyers will also prepare a two-page summary of this document to give to your doctor.

A trust won't do you any good unless you transfer your assets into it. We will give you a detailed instruction letter on how title your assets for your trust. We will also work with you in transferring assets to the trust if you wish. When real estate is transferred into a trust, our lawyers will prepare the deed to ensure that it is done properly.

Your estate planning attorneys at Krigel & Krigel, P.C.

Prior to going into private practice, Anita Butler was a senior vice president in the Trust Division of First National Bank of Kansas City (now Bank of America). Anita is a frequent lecturer on the subjects of estate planning and elder law. She is a member of the Missouri Bar, a founding member and officer of the Missouri Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, a member of the Estate Planning Society of Kansas City, and a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.

Steve Braun also practices in the area of estate planning.

For more information, CONTACT the lawyers at Krigel & Krigel, P.C., in Kansas City, Missouri.

Butler, Anita B.
Braun, Steven J.