Probate Attorney Blog

Estate planning isn’t just about money — it’s about protecting your family, avoiding unnecessary complications, and making sure your wishes are followed. Too many people put this off, but taking action now can save your loved ones stress and expense later. Here are five key steps I recommend everyone take before they die. 1. Create a Revocable Living Trust A revocable living trust is one of the most powerful estate planning tools you can have. It doesn’t matter if you’re…

Happy Sunday! I’m sitting in the Wichita airport waiting to board my flight back to Seattle (went back to Kansas to visit some friends) and thought I’d take this downtime to shoot you a newsletter! Today, we’re talking about “support and maintenance” in the context of a revocable living trust. If you’ve read a revocable trust, then you’ve probably seen something like “distributions can be made on a discretionary basis for health, support, education, and maintenance” when talking about distributions…

Passing your home directly to your children before you die might seem generous, but in reality, it can create a lot of problems. From tax issues to legal complications, giving your house away outright is often a bad idea for both you and your kids. Fortunately, there’s a smarter strategy that benefits everyone. Why Giving Your House to Your Kids Can Backfire Transferring your home directly can have several negative consequences: Tax complications: Both you and your children could face…

Estate planning is often framed as a practical, responsible step — and it absolutely is. But beyond the logical benefits, there are some surprisingly irrational reasons why completing your estate plan can feel deeply satisfying. Inspired by the book Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life, here are four unexpected motivators that make estate planning worth doing. 1. Gain Respect and “Street Cred” Believe it or not, finishing your estate plan can…

 Giving your home to your children while still living in it may sound complicated, but with the right strategy, it can provide significant tax benefits for everyone involved. I’m Christopher Small, owner of CMS Law Firm, and I want to break down a smart approach to doing this effectively. Step 1: Sell Your Home to Your Kids Instead of gifting the house outright, sell it to your children. Here’s how to structure the sale: Personal residence tax exemption: As…

The recent tax bill brings some significant updates that every estate planner—and anyone thinking about legacy—should understand. Here are the two most important changes that will affect your estate planning strategies. 1. The Estate Tax Exemption Will Not Decrease in 2026 Previously, the estate tax exemption amount—currently around $15 million per individual—was scheduled to drop back down to approximately $7 million in 2026. That change, often called the “sunset” provision, created uncertainty for many families planning their estates. Thanks to…

When people talk about wealth, it often comes with flash—cars, houses, businesses, or buzzwords. But if you really want to know how financially savvy or genuinely wealthy someone is, here’s a simple test: Ask them about their estate plan. The Red Flag: Overcomplicated Trusts If someone rattles off an estate plan that includes a non-grantor irrevocable discretionary complex spendthrift trust—plus a Wyoming LLC and a chain of sub-LLCs—you can be pretty sure they’re not actually wealthy. They’re just trying to…