I regularly receive calls from clients who are the children or grandchildren of long ago deceased parents or grandparents who owned and remain the title owners of real estate, usually farm land or undeveloped lots at or near a lake. My clients seek to establish clean title to the real estate, usually in order to sell the real estate. In the State of Missouri, many times we are dealing with undeveloped lots at or near a lake and the value...

Multiple times in 2022, the Probate Court appointed me to represent an adult in a guardianship case filed by parents after the commencement of a care and treatment case. In each instance, the guardianship petitions were dismissed for lack of a proper medical evaluation. Pursuant to K.S.A. 59-3064, a medical evaluation and examination must include language that in the medical professional’s opinion, the proposed ward is an adult with a...

I represent a client in a probate estate in Shawnee County, Kansas wherein the decedent died with a last will and testament and there is litigation regarding the clarity or ambiguity of the language in the will. The decedent had 3 children and 2 step-children. The will named the step-daughter as the personal representative (aka executor) of the estate. Additionally, the will provided for a few specific gifts of tangible personal property. ...

I recently assisted a client who is a real estate agent and an extended family member of a deceased individual who owned undeveloped lots in Hickory County, Missouri. The decedent was a resident of Miami County, Kansas at the time of his death. My client hired an attorney to file a petition for determination of decent in the Miami County Probate Court. The petition complied with the Kansas Probate Code, listing the decedent’s...

Annual Gift Tax Exclusion Amount increases to $16,000 per donor per donee Estate Tax (Death Tax) Exemption Amount increases to $12,060,00.00 Child Tax Credit reverts back to 2020 and prior rules. The last advanced child tax credit checks the IRS sent to taxpayers in the last half 0f 2021 were issued on January 15, 2022. There will be no more advanced child tax credit checks. The credit drops back to $2,000 per child under 17 years of...