The recently enacted COVID-19 stimulus package, the CARES Act, not surprisingly included temporary changes to the tax code related to waiving the 10% penalty on qualifying distributions from retirement accounts for those under 59 1/2 years. Additionally, the CARES Act waives the requirement that individuals take an RMD distribution from their retirement accounts during 2020. Finally, the CARES Act provided temporary changes to loans you can...

As of March 20, 2020, the State of Kansas and the State of Missouri are still requiring that individual income tax returns (1040s) and business tax returns with a filing due date of 4/15 be filed on or before April 15, 2020. Therefore, you still need to have your tax returns prepared and ready to file on 4/15. If you choose, you may sit on the IRS 1040 and not file it or make your payment to the United States Treasury until July 15, 2020.

Kansas and Missouri Revocable Trusts What is a trust? A trust, often times known as either a “revocable trust”, a “living trust” (because your trust is created during your lifetime), or an “inter vivos trust” is an arrangement spelled out in a trust document wherein a person creates a trust, the creator often known as a “grantor” or a “settlor”, and then the creator of the trust transfers assets into the trust to be...

Proper estate planning allows you to determine who will receive your property and in what amounts. What happens if I die without a will? In Kansas and Missouri, if you die without a will, your property will be distributed according to state “intestacy” laws. The intestacy law in Kansas and Missouri gives your property to your closest relatives, beginning with your spouse and children.  If you have a spouse and children,...

Pursuant to the Adoption laws within the Kansas Probate Code, specifically K.S.A. 59-2139 et seq., adult adoptions allow families to formally cement parent-child bonds between individuals who wish to establish legally recognized familial relationships, establish legally recognized surnames of the adopting parent, establish survivorship benefits, and countless other reasons. The statutes provide for court discretion on the issue of providing...

As 2018 nears the end of the year, the IRS is publishing the new 1040 tax returns and the benefits of the Tax Cuts are now transparent and visible to the lay eye. The 1040 tax returns for 2017 and previous years was approximately 78 lines long and took up 2 full pages. The new 2018 1040 tax return is 23 lines long and fits on half of an 8×11 piece of paper if printed front and back. Gone are the 1040EZ and the 1040A. Everyone will file...