Facts are that Spouse 1 and Spouse 2 purchased real estate together as joint tenants with right of survivorship. Normally, when 2 people own real estate (or any other asset) as joint tenants, when 1 owner dies, the surviving owner becomes the sole owner of the property or asset by virtue of surviving the deceased owner. However, in this fact pattern, Spouse1 killed Spouse 2 and later was convicted of the murder. Unlike Missouri, which has a...

The Kansas Legislature is currently working to override the veto of Kansas Governor Kelly on House Bill 2284 in order to enact a flat tax on Kansas source income. Governor Kelly also had a piece of legislation she seeks to pass the Kansas Legislature, House Bill 2586. Both Bills seek to eliminate the sales tax on groceries, exempt all Social Security benefits from state income tax (retro to the start of 2024) and provide some relief on...

The Corporate Transparency Act when into effect on January 1, 2024 and will require all business entities, generally, that are created by filing articles with the secretary of state (Kansas Secretary of State and Missouri Secretary of State, for example), therefore LLCs, LLPs, LPs, S Corporations and C Corporations, to file a Beneficial Ownership Information Report (BOIR). Entities created prior to 2024 will have the entirety of calendar year...

Effective July 1, 2023, the ceiling amount for a Kansas small estate affidavit per K.S.A. 59-1507b increased to $75,000.00, up from the previous $40,000.00. Meaning, that in an estate where a decedent died with assets (such as bank accounts, vehicles, and personal property) that do not exceed $75,000 in value, an heir may execute a small estate affidavit establishing these facts and may then inherit the assets of a decedent as instructed...

HSA Max Contributions for 2024  For 2024, individuals under a high deductible health plan (HDHP) will have an HSA contribution limit of $4,150. The HSA contribution limit for family coverage will be $8,300. If you are age 55 or older, the catch-up contribution, currently $1,000, still applies for 2024. I hear from many people the concern of “use it or lose it”. That does not apply to HSAs. That applies to employer...

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...