Kansas City Divorce & Family Law Blog by Stange Law Firm, PC

Starting a discussion about estate planning with your parents can be a difficult subject to approach. It requires you to start talking about your parent’s death, and that can be painful to think about. Still, it is necessary to have a frank discussion about how your parents have prepared their estate plan, if they have one prepared at all. If they are in poor health or at an advanced age, you may want to reach out to an Illinois estate planning lawyer for help. Why You Should Talk to Your Parents About Their Estate Depending on your relationship with your

The probate process is important to distribute a deceased person’s assets to their closest family members or the beneficiaries they name in their will. Unfortunately, probate is also a long, costly, public, and stressful process. Proper estate planning can avoid probate, keep your estate secure, and support your loved ones. An experienced estate planning attorney can help you create an estate plan that meets your needs and helps you avoid probate court. An estate plan can benefit you even if you are not incredibly wealthy; however, there are numerous drawbacks to the probate process. It can be helpful to understand

A revocable or irrevocable trust is a versatile and beneficial estate planning tool. It is used often in comprehensive estate plans to avoid probate. Many individuals plan for all of their assets to be included in these trusts. Unfortunately, unexpected circumstances can mean certain assets are not in a trust that were intended to be. An experienced estate planning attorney can review options to address this type of situation through the use of tools like pour-over wills. What Is a Pour-Over Will? A pour-over will is a will that automatically transfers all untitled assets to a trust. This provides further

Estate plans are created with significant care and thought. If the will or trust documents in your estate plan are contested, this can erase the significant effort and time you put into making your wishes known if the contest is successful. Even if it is not successful, it can complicate the process that you were trying to make easier for your family. If you are concerned about someone contesting your will or trust, an estate planning attorney can help you review your options. One of these options is the creation of a no-contest clause. If beneficiaries try to lengthen the

Estate planning is a crucial step in ensuring that your hard-earned assets and legacy are protected after your passing. The legal documents that are involved in this process are essential if you want your property passed to certain heirs after you are gone. However, the creation of an estate plan is not a one-and-done task. It requires regular reviews and potential updates when certain life changes occur. When these situations arise, an estate planning lawyer can help. Major life events, such as changes in your marital status, financial situation, or health, can all call for updates to be made to

Estate planning helps you plan for your own protection as well as the care and financial support of your loved ones. Many documents can be used to protect your assets and estate, and estate planning can benefit anyone with even a small number of assets. However, an estate plan can become complex when you have assets that are complicated, high-value, or owned in other states. An estate planning attorney can help you navigate the process of modifying an existing plan or creating a new one that manages these assets. When you own assets like real estate in other states, you