What is Estate Planning?

At its most basic, estate planning is preparing for the end of life. It is a difficult, but necessary topic. Estate planning typically involves creating a comprehensive plan that accounts for the following issues. Property Creating a plan to distribute property is the...

Testamentary Trusts

The testamentary trust is an estate planning device that is particularly attractive to young couples with young children, who often have limited assets. Typically, spouses are the legal and/or named beneficiaries of each other’s assets. If one spouse dies, the other...

Revocable Living Trusts

The revocable living trust is one of the most useful devices in estate planning. If your assets are significant and cannot be adequately distributed through the use of non-probate transfers for personal and real property, you should seriously consider a revocable...

Non-Probate Transfers: Personal Property

As explained in this post on non-probate transfers of real property, Missouri has one of the most comprehensive non-probate transfer laws in the nation. As emphasized in other posts, a key to a successful estate plan is avoiding probate. Probate is undesirable for...

Beneficiary Deeds

Missouri has one of the most comprehensive non-probate transfer laws in the nation. As emphasized in other posts, a key to a successful estate plan is avoiding probate. Probate is undesirable for several reasons. First, probate is expensive. Any estate (assets such as...