In the past year, I have assisted clients in probating estates and filing determinations of descent in the district courts for Johnson County, Wyandotte County, Leavenworth County, Hodgman County, Franklin County, Ellsworth County, Edwards County, Sumner County, Douglas County, Reno County, Shawnee County, Sedgwick County and Saline County. I am in my 25th year of assisting Kansans with their probate estate...

It was my pleasure to assist an 83 year old client with a birth certificate error that prevented her from obtaining a US Passport. Client was born in 1940 in Ness City. Birth certificates were filled out in hand. The handwritten DOB appeared to be 1946 based on the way the scrivner drew his or her 0. Her DL from an upper-Midwest state has her DOB correctly reported as 1940. Due to the length of time since birth, she could not produce the...

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...