ESTATE PLANNING, TRUST AND PROBATE LAW OFFICE IN THE ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI AREA

Estate Planning:

With Len Komen, you receive individual counsel regarding estates, trusts, and asset protection.   There is no fee for an initial conference to analyze your needs.

We cover the St. Louis and surrounding county areas and will meet at your home or private conference area at your place of business to make it convenient for you.

While estate planning and related concerns can be complicated and time-consuming, we draw from decades of experience to steer clients in the right direction. Whatever the details of your situation, you can count on this firm to tailor an estate plan in your best interests without manufacturing excessive legal fees by  stuffing documents with irrelevant and unnecessary provisions.   And, our documentation is in as much “plain English” as possible, using language that is easier to understand with a minimum of “legalese.”   

For details on what estate planning may entail, jump to this Article here: [link to Estate Planning the Overview]

Probate 

It is stressful enough when someone dies for his or her family to deal with assets left behind in that person’s name alone. Without probate administration, assets owned by an individual and outside a Trust, or without naming a beneficiary, must come under the supervision of the County Probate Court.    This is true without or without a Will.   Even a Will is not self-enforcing.  It must be approved by the Probate Court.  It does not give an “executor” or “personal representative” any authority to control any asset until the Court opens the probate estate and issues the court order that authorizes that person to actually act.  No asset like a car or home or bank account, even of small value, can be sold or transferred without that Court Order.   Len Komen has acted in numerous cases to assist parties through this process

One of our major areas of practice is to carry out a clients’ wishes to manage their assets for their heirs. Whether you have put your  assets in a trust or the assets need to be distributed through the process of probate, our firm ensures that the distribution of your estate is handled responsibly and correctly. With our services, you can rest assured that your final wishes will be honored when the time comes.

Add Link to article: “PROBATE AND THE PROCESS”

Trusts

A Trust acts through the person in charge, the Trustee, just as a corporation acts by its President.  This requires a Trustee to first obtain control over the assets held in the name of the Trust, and to pursue claims against parties that are indebted to the Trust.   In some cases, the party named as the Trustee or Successor Trustee either has no interest in taking on the responsibility or may be disqualified by a conflict of interest or mental incapacity.

In such cases, Len Komen has been appointed to act as the Successor, either by the Court or by consent of all beneficiaries, or he has been named as a successor Trustee in the Trust itself.   This includes U.S. Bankruptcy Court cases where he has been appointed as a Trustee to manage the bankruptcy estate, and a situation where the Missouri Supreme Court appointed him to take over the law office management of an attorney you unexpectedly died. 

*******

Use of this Web Site and review of this Article does not create an attorney-client relationship.   The law and its application by the courts is constantly evolving and changing.  As with all memoranda in these archives, the discussion of the law is for general informational purposes, is in general summary form, is not to be taken as a definitive guide, and should not be relied upon to determine all fact situations.    Each set of facts must be examined separately with the current case and statutory law analyzed and applied accordingly.