816.751.0590
4505 Madison Avenue | Kansas City, MO 64111
info@matthoodlaw.com

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Estate Planning/Probate

Our lead estate planning attorney, Professor Emeritus Edwin T. Hood, has taught estates and trusts and several estate planning classes at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law for more than three decades. He has co-authored a major treatise titled Closely Held Businesses in Estate Planning. Many of the estate planning attorneys in the Kansas City metropolitan area were taught estates and trusts and estate planning courses by Professor Hood.

Under the overall supervision of Professor Hood, our firm, after reviewing your assets and your estate planning goals, will advise you on how to achieve your goals with a minimum of hassle and at a reasonable expense for you and your loved ones. At a very minimum, each person should have a will, a durable power of attorney and a health care directive. An important goal, if at all possible, is to avoid probate for our clients. Although there are various methods that can be used to avoid probate, one way to do so is a revocable inter vivos trust (sometimes referred to as a living trust) which can be a very useful tool in accomplishing this objective. If we establish a trust for you, we will also have you execute a pour-over will so that certain assets that are not transferred to your trust during your lifetime will be transferred to your trust at your death via the pour-over will. A living trust is also a very useful device to handle your assets during your lifetime especially if you should become mentally or physically incapable of handling your affairs. In such a case your designated successor trustee can take over for you and handle your business affairs.

Although our estate planners focus on methods to avoid the necessity of probate, nevertheless we will assist clients who need to probate an estate and we will do so as efficiently as possible. We can do the necessary legal work for the personal representative of the estate of a decedent as well as representing conservators and guardians of disabled adults or minors. Contact our Firm if you need a Kansas City Probate Lawyer to help you navigate the probate process.

As we noted above, everyone should have, at a minimum, a will, a durable power of attorney and a health care directive. Contact our Firm to speak to an experienced Kansas City estate planning lawyer to learn why.