Estate Planning Law FAQs

Estate planning is a process by which you determine where your assets are going to go after your death and who can take care of you during your lifetime if you become unable to take care of yourself. Everyone needs estate planning to make sure that your wishes regarding end of life decisions are followed and that your assets go where you want them to after your death.

All estate plans should include a Last Will and Testament, a Durable Power of Attorney, and a Durable Medical Power of Attorney and a Living Will. In addition, if you own real estate in Kansas a Transfer on Death Deed is included for a will based estate plan. If a Trust is part of an estate plan then a Trust Agreement, a Trust Certificate and Trust Assignments should all be included and then depending upon assets other documents such as Deeds might be needed.

Your estate plan should be reviewed whenever there has been a major life event such as a birth, marriage or death to see if any changes are necessary. If the major life event impacts your current estate plan in such a way that it no longer accomplishes your estate planning goals then it needs to be updated. In addition, it is a good idea to review your estate plan every five years to again make sure that the plan aligns with your goals and your current assets.

If you die without an estate plan in place then the laws of the State of Kansas will decide who receives your assets based upon the laws of intestate succession. This means that if you were married with children at the time of your death that your spouse gets one-half and your children will share the other one-half. Therefore, if you thought your spouse would get 100% of your assets without a will this is not accurate.

Estate planning can definitely help your family avoid probate. There are numerous ways to transfer assets to your family without going through the probate process including beneficiary designations and transfer on death deeds.

A power of attorney allows the person you have chosen as your agent to transact business on your behalf if you are unable to do so. This would include being able to access your bank accounts, sell your assets, talk to the utilities, talk to social security. If you do not have a power of attorney and become incapacitated such as with dementia, then your family would need to obtain a conservatorship and a guardianship from the court to be able to take care of your affairs. This is an expensive and time consuming process that can easily be avoided through powers of attorney.

Everyone needs estate planning. If you have assets , specifically real estate, then you need estate planning to be able to transfer your house to your family without probate. If you don't have assets you still need powers of attorney to be able to avoid your family going to court to get a conservatorship and guardianship to be able to take care of your affairs. The cost of estate planning is significantly less than the costs of probate or a guardianship and conservatorship.

Yes, if you have minor children it is important to ensure that your assets are protected if you were to pass away while they were young and to allow you to select who will raise your children if you were unable to do so.

There is no right or wrong answer, beyond it needs to be someone that you trust to handle your affairs. A good estate planning attorney can help you work through the various factors to consider to help you make the right decision. The attorneys at Minter & Pollak, LC help individuals everyday figure out who to select for the various roles required in an estate plan.

At Minter & Pollak, LC we attempt to make the process as painless as possible. We just need you to have a good idea of your assets and your family. We will then discuss each and what your goals are with regards to each to make sure your estate plan meets those goals. You can also check out a blog post regarding how to prepare for a consultation here.

At Minter & Pollak, LC we attempt to get each person who reaches out to our office in for our no-cost consultation within 7 days of you contacting our office. Once you have chosen to proceed with Minter & Pollak, LC for your estate planning needs documents are typically ready within 14 days of your consultation. However, we can complete documents in a shorter or longer time period based upon your schedule and needs.

Minter & Pollak works with all types of clients but we mainly help the 99% not the 1%. Our focus is helping the typical Kansas family make sure that their affairs are in order and that their property will easily pass to their heirs.

At Minter & Pollak, LC we also provide services for probate and estate administration. We provide no-cost consultations for probate matters.

The process for creating or updating an estate plan at Minter & Pollak, LC is the same. We have you come in for a no-cost consultation to discuss your assets and family structure to determine what type of estate plan best fits your needs.

Minter & Pollak, LC provides estate planning services on a flat fee basis. We advise you of the fee during your no-cost consultation, that fee is all inclusive, there are no surprises at signing.

Minter & Pollak, LC provides flat fee estate planning and the cost is determined based upon if the plan is for an individual or a couple and if it is a Trust based estate plan or a Will based estate plan. Any additional documents that need to be filed incur additional filing fee costs.

Minter & Pollak, LC offers free no-cost consultations for all estate planning matters. You just need to reach out to our office at 316-265-0797 to get it scheduled or use this link to schedule a consultation online.

Minter & Pollak, LC prides itself on its quick responses to our clients. We attempt to return all communications the same day but at minimum we attempt to return them within one business day.

You are never too young to start thinking about an estate plan. This is particularly true if you own a house or have children.

An estate plan is one part of retirement and financial planning. However, even those without retirement accounts need estate planning.

Yes, you can include your funeral and burial wishes in your estate plan.

Family dynamics are an important part of any estate plan, and there are ways to reduce conflict.

Kansas does not have any estate taxes leaving estate taxes just at the federal level. In 2026 the exemption for Federal Estate taxes is $15 million for an individual and $30 million for a couple, meaning that very few estates will result in estate taxes being owed.

The goal of any good estate plan is to have the documents necessary to help avoid a guardianship or conservatorship proceeding. These documents are called Powers of Attorney allowing you to choose the people who will handle your financial and medical decisions for you without court supervision.

All of these events can impact your estate plan. It is always a good idea to evaluate your estate plan upon any of these events occurring to make sure that your estate plan is still meeting your needs. At Minter & Pollak, LC we provide no-cost consultations to review your existing estate plan to see if the life event necessitates a change.