Articles

TL;DR Understanding what happens in probate court in Missouri can make an overwhelming situation feel much more manageable. Probate is generally required when assets cannot transfer automatically after someone dies, and the process often takes six to twelve months because…

TL;DR Losing a spouse is overwhelming, and probate often becomes one more responsibility during an already difficult time. The good news is that not every asset goes through probate, and Missouri law provides a clear process for settling an estate…

TL;DR Not all trusts do the same thing. A revocable living trust avoids probate but generally does not protect assets from Medicaid eligibility rules and may not protect assets from Missouri’s Medicaid Estate Recovery Program, depending on how assets are…

TL;DR Elder law is not the same as estate planning, and the difference matters most before a health crisis, not after. In Missouri, Medicaid reviews financial transactions made during the five years before an application, meaning Many planning opportunities are…

TL;DR Professionals know they need an estate plan but keep putting it off. Without one, Missouri’s intestate succession laws decide who inherits, and a court, not the family, decides who raises minor children. A will alone often isn’t enough either.…

Quick Summary You probably know someone who went through it. A parent who needed a nursing home and nobody had a plan. A sibling whose assets disappeared before Medicaid kicked in. A family that spent months untangling legal and financial…

Quick Summary You didn’t expect to be making these decisions alone. One day you were half of a team. Now you’re the one fielding phone calls from banks, advisors, and well-meaning family members, all of them telling you something different.…

Quick Summary The papers started arriving before you were ready. A letter from the bank. A form from his employer. Someone at the funeral home mentioned probate. Your son looked something up online and told you one thing. Your neighbor…

Most St. Louis families spend decades paying off a mortgage, maintaining a home, and building equity they plan to leave behind for their children. What many do not realize is that without the right legal structure in place, that home…

Nobody wants to think about it. Not really. You can acknowledge it intellectually, the way you acknowledge that car accidents happen or that people get sick without warning. But sitting down and actually thinking through what happens to your children…