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Kansas Estate Planning & Probate Attorneys
For Everyone You Love and Everything You’ve Built. Simple, Thorough Estate Plans.
Comprehensive estate planning covers nearly every aspect of life. At Schlagel Long, we do not offer a "one size fits all" estate plan. We work to form a lasting relationship with you and your family. We take time to get to know you and what you care about.
Our goal is to create an estate plan that is exactly right for you and to empower you with the information you need to know how to use your plan. We want to have a deep-rooted relationship with you so that you are always comfortable calling us when you need us.
Meet Your Estate Planning Attorney Benjamin Long
Benjamin Long is a highly experienced Kansas estate planner and litigator, who specializes in a wide range of probate, property, and business matters.
He is a founding attorney at Schlagel Long, where he helps individuals and businesses create and protect their legacies through estate and business planning, as well as through litigation when necessary.
He has extensive experience representing clients in various estate planning matters such as drafting wills and trusts, designating beneficiaries, minimizing taxes, planning for incapacity, business succession planning, and much more.
Benjamin received his law degree from Washburn University Law School, where he earned a Certificate in Advocacy and was inducted into the Order of the Barristers, a national advocacy honorary organization for oral and written advocacy. Prior to law school, Benjamin received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Kansas State University, where he was involved in Student Government, Track and Field, and Rugby.
Benjamin is a Super Lawyer Rising Star, an award given to only 2.5% of eligible attorneys, and has received the Martindale-Hubbell Client distinction award, awarded to only 1% of eligible attorneys, he also has an AVVO 5.0 star rating. He is also an adjunct faculty member at Washburn Law School and serves as the head coach of the Kansas State University Mock Trial Team.
In his free time, Benjamin enjoys spending time with his family in Olathe, Kansas, where he resides with his wife, Dr. Andra Long, and their two young daughters.
Estate Planning Legacy Planner
Everyday, we work with people who have lost someone they care about. There is so much these folks have to organize and manage. This planner organizes the information they will most need, in our experience, saving so much time and unnecessary cost. Besides organizing your information, it's so important to have a good estate plan that will keep your family out of court and conflict.
Please use the button below to receive a free copy of our Estate Planning Legacy Planner, an organization tool essential to any estate plan designed to help your loved ones take care of you and handle your affairs.
Fundamental Estate Planning
There are many legal strategies involved in estate planning, including the creation of:
- wills,
- revocable living trusts,
- irrevocable trusts,
- durable powers of attorney,
- living wills,
- asset inventories,
- transfer on death documents,
- and Healthcare and Advanced Directives Attorney..
Our process starts with you filling out an assessment to convey your goals and organize information about your family and assets. If you take the time to fill out our assessment, we will meet with you in a free strategy session to talk about the simplest plan to accomplish your goals and protect your family.
In our strategy session, we will tell you what our firm can do for you and teach you some things you can do for yourself. There is no obligation or pressure to move forward after our meeting. If nothing else, you will have a much greater understanding of the risks of not having an estate plan, things you can do yourself to protect your family, and an organized set of information that your family will find invaluable.
Probate
Probate is the court and process that looks after people who cannot make their own personal, health care, and financial decisions. These people fall into three general categories: Minor Children (under age 18 in most states); Incapacitated Adults; and People who have died without legal arrangements to avoid probate. Probate proceedings can be expensive and time-consuming. Additionally, the court proceeding and associated documents are all a matter of public record. Many people choose to avoid probate in order to save money, spare their heirs a legal hassle, and keep their personal affairs private.
Creating Your Family Legacy
Our unique legacy process gives your loved ones a precious gift - a lasting expression of your love. If you are temporarily or permanently incapacitated or when you pass, part of all of our plans includes a consultation with your family to guide them through what they need to do. These consultations are at no cost and included with every estate plan we create no matter the size.
Special Needs Trusts & Issues
Special Needs Estate Planning focuses on providing for the special needs of our loved ones with disabilities when we are no longer there to organize and advocate on their behalf. Parents of children with special needs must make careful estate planning choices to coordinate all of the legal, financial, and special care needs of their children – both now and in the future. Our plans go beyond just ensuring governmental and other benefits are preserved--they state your wishes explicitly to make sure your loved one continues to have the care and lifestyle you want for them.
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Blended Families
Many blended families face unique social, psychological and economic challenges. As a result, over 60% of second marriages end in divorce. Fortunately, there are numerous organizations and support groups dedicated to helping blended families with these challenges. There are special considerations when creating a plan for an estate plan for a blended family. We will not overly complicate your plan addressing these considerations, rather we will go over them with you and talk about whether you can address them yourself with some tools we will give you or if we should address them in the documents we are creating for you.
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Minor Children
Children are a family's greatest treasure. Think of all the precautions taken to safeguard young children – from the first purchase of an infant car seat to the compulsory swimming lessons and even driver's safety instruction. Yet, most parents leave their children completely unprotected from one of life's most crushing blows – being orphaned upon the loss of their parents. Our plans ensure your kids have caretakers both immediately and for long term should the unthinkable happen to you.
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Estate Planning FAQ's
What Is a Will?
The document a person signs to provide for the orderly disposition of assets after death. Wills do not avoid probate. Wills have no legal authority until the willmaker dies and the original will is delivered to the Probate Court. Still, everyone with minor children needs a will. It is the only way to appoint the new “parent” of an orphaned child. Special testamentary trust provisions in a will can provide for the management and distribution of assets for your heirs. Additionally, assets can be arranged and coordinated with provisions of the testamentary trusts to avoid death taxes.
What Is a Living Will?
Sometimes called an Advance Medical Directive, a living will allow you to state your wishes in advance regarding what types of medical life support measures you prefer to have, or have withheld/withdrawn if you are in a terminal condition (without reasonable hope of recovery) and cannot express your wishes yourself. Oftentimes a living will is executed along with a Durable Power of Attorney for Health care, which gives someone legal authority to make your health care decisions when you are unable to do so yourself.
What Is Joint Tenancy With Rights of Survivorship?
(in some states “Tenancy by the Entirety” when between spouses)
This is the most common form of asset ownership between spouses. Joint tenancy (or TBE) has the advantage of avoiding probate at the death of the first spouse. However, the surviving spouse should not add the names of other relatives to their assets. Doing so may subject their assets to loss through the debts, bankruptcies, divorces, and/or lawsuits of any additional joint tenants. Joint tenancy planning also may result in unnecessary death taxes on the estate of a married couple.
What Does Intestacy Mean?
If you die without even a Will (intestate), the legislature of your state has already determined who will inherit your assets and when they will inherit them. You may not agree with their plan, but roughly 70 percent of Americans currently use it.
What Are Beneficiary Designations?
You may avoid probate on the transfer of some assets at your death through the use of beneficiary designations. Laws regarding what assets may be transferred without probate (non-probate transfer laws) vary from state to state. Some common examples include life insurance death benefits and bank accounts.
What Is a Durable Power of Attorney and When Do I Need One?
These allow you to appoint someone you know and trust to make your personal health care and financial decisions even when you cannot. If you are incapacitated without these legal documents, then you and your family will be involved in a probate proceeding known as guardianship and conservatorship. This is the court proceeding where a judge determines who should make these decisions for you under the ongoing supervision of the court.
What Is a Revocable Living Trust?
This is an agreement with three parties: the Trust-makers, the Trustees (or Trust Managers), and the Trust Beneficiaries. For example, a husband and wife may name all three parties to create their trust, manage all the assets transferred to the trust, and have full use and enjoyment of all the trust assets as beneficiaries. Further “backup” managers can step in under the terms of the trust to manage the assets should the couple become incapacitated or die. Special provisions in the trust also control the management and distribution of assets to heirs in the event of the trust maker’s death. With proper planning, the couple also can avoid or eliminate death taxes on their estate. The Revocable Living Trust may allow them to accomplish all this outside of any court proceeding.
Who Should Have a Revocable Living Trust?
Whether you are young or old, rich or poor, married or single, if you own titled assets such as a house and want your loved ones to avoid court interference at your death or incapacity, consider a revocable living trust. A trust allows you to bring all of your assets together under one plan.
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