When a loved one such as a parent passes away, it is a difficult time. Once the funeral is over and the death certificates have been collected, the children are often overwhelmed with the details and wondering—now what? Where/what are their assets? How are they...
What is a "Living Will"? A "Living Will" is sometimes referred to as a "Medical Directive." This document was prompted by some well publicized cases involving parents or spouses keeping comatose persons alive only in a technical sense and long after all brain activity had ceased....
Why Use a Trust or Other Device when Jointly Owning Property Works Just as Well? Owning property jointly, or making gifts immediately prior to death, only work for people who do not have federal estate tax problems. Owning property jointly with another individual inhibits and prevents...
The word "probate" is derived from a Latin word meaning "to prove." The idea behind the Probate Courts is that all expenditures and actions taken with respect to a decedent's property should be carefully supervised and approved by the court....
Estate planning is a complicated area of law and there are a number of mechanisms by which an individual can transfer property at death. To help our clients better understand Estate Planning, we have created a series of questions and answers detailing the four main...
America is the best place to live in the world—at least from the perspective of the lawyers in our firm. And Columbia, Missouri, is among the best places to live in America—again from our perspective. Almost all of the reasons for these two opinions...