Family Law

• Guardianship
  But your life doesn’t end there and neither should your Estate and Elder Care Plan. Chances are your family dynamics will change, finances will change and unanticipated circumstances will occur. Many years later, you may buy or sell your home and forget to notify your lawyer to change the name over in your trust. Your children grow older and have children of their own, changing your guardianship and financial distribution decisions from previous years.

Criminal Law

• Theft

Business and Corporate Law

• Business Disputes
  Jon began his law career in Nashville attending Vanderbilt University Law School for his Juris Doctorate. A licensed attorney in Tennessee for three years specializing in business law and litigation, Jon soon moved back to his hometown of Kansas City.

Property Law

• Real Estate Transactions

Health Law

• Medicaid Planning
  Those who are not in immediate need of long-term care may have the luxury of distributing or protecting their assets in advance. This way, when they do need long-term care, they will quickly qualify for Medicaid benefits. But this may also delay being approved, because of the states 5-year look-back period. Providing general rules for so-called "Medicaid planning" is difficult because every client's case is different. Some have more savings or income than others. Some are married, others are single. Some have family support, others do not. Some own their own homes and some rent. Therefore, any number of basic strategies and tools are typically used in Medicaid planning and should be applied only after thorough consultations and conversations between a client and their attorney.

Trusts and Estates

• Estate Planning
  Jim Berger practices law with Berger Estate & Elder Law, P.A., in Leawood, Kansas. He is a licensed attorney in Kansas and Missouri and has more than 25 years of experience. Jim concentrates his practice in the areas of estate planning, elder law and probate. As a Certified Financial Planner
• Wills
  In general, when a person dies the function of the probate court is the following: to ensure if there was a Will, it is the decedent's true and last Will; to ensure that the decedent's assets are safeguarded and protected from waste, theft, or neglect; to ensure that bills and debts are paid; and, lastly, to make sure that what remains is paid to the intended beneficiaries in accordance with the decedent’s will.
• Trusts
  First things first, I can’t really answer this question without some information from you, but what I can do is describe, for the purposes of this article, the option I heard being touted on the radio, a living trust (or whatever fancy name someone want to give it). A living trust is a written document that you create with an attorney during your lifetime that may help avoid probate. You may choose to fund it, or leave it unfunded until your death. By "fund it," I mean that you make it the legal owner of your assets, some or all of them, it’s up to you. For example, you might choose to retitle your bank accounts, investments, or even your house into the name of your trust. If you do, you will no longer be the owner of those assets, the Trustee of your trust will be. However, since you will most likely be named the Trustee during your lifetime, you essentially still retain control of your assets. Your trust will contain provisions for management of the transferred assets during your lifetime and will also include what happens to those assets upon your death. In the latter regard, it can function as substitute for a will. Most often you, the creator of the trust, is the trustee, although sometimes the creator will name a spouse, child or bank as a Co-Trustee.
• Power of Attorney
  Although every state’s laws and forms vary, most power of attorney forms specify that the agency relationship created by a power of attorney ends upon a person’s death.
• Probate
  It's interesting how you said that the whole point of probate law is to ensure that the will is carried out as the deceased individual has wanted it to be. My dad is going to be passing away probably within the next year or so and we are worried about him. Hopefully, he will allow someone to help him decide on how to distribute what he wants to distribute so there are no problems with it down the line.

Finance Law

• Tax Law
  If you are a taxpayer who made $73,000 or less in 2022, you may qualify for IRS Free File Guided Tax Preparation. This service assists you in preparing as well as filing your federal income tax return through an IRS partner site for free.