ESTATE PLANNING ATTORNEY IN LENEXA, KANSAS
Comprehensive estate planning, probate, and trust services for Lenexa families and businesses.- Home
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Since 1998, Gary Eastman has served 1,134 Johnson County families, creating 5,423 trusts and 1,257 wills with proven results including average estate tax savings exceeding $500,000 per client.
Lenexa residents receive comprehensive estate planning from an attorney with 27 years of experience protecting families and business owners at every wealth level, from $100,000 estates to clients with net worth exceeding $1 million.
Our Leawood office serves Lenexa families and business owners within 15-18 minutes from most neighborhoods. We help business owners secure succession plans protecting company value, families avoid probate through revocable living trusts, entrepreneurs coordinate business and personal estate planning, and executors navigate Johnson County probate administration when necessary.
We understand Lenexa’s unique business-focused character with thriving corporate parks, entrepreneurial ventures along 87th Street and I-435, and family neighborhoods from Old Town to newer developments.
Gary Eastman holds both a J.D. and M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Kansas, with 500+ complex transactions at Polsinelli (a top 100 AmLaw firm) ranging from $500,000 to over $100 million.
Whether you need business succession planning for your Lenexa company, buy-sell agreements protecting partnership interests, entity formation optimizing tax treatment, guardian designations for growing families, or integrated personal and business estate planning, you receive big-firm expertise with local accessibility at price points designed for entrepreneurs and middle-class families.
Comprehensive Estate Planning Services for Lenexa Residents
We provide complete estate planning solutions for Lenexa’s unique business-focused community. Business owners secure succession plans through buy-sell agreements and entity structuring protecting company value. Entrepreneurs coordinate personal and business estate planning ensuring smooth transitions.
Young families protect children through wills and guardian designations. Corporate employees minimize taxes on stock options and retirement accounts through strategic planning.
Established residents preserve wealth through trust administration and probate avoidance. From Old Town’s historic charm to corporate parks along 87th Street, we provide the professional expertise Lenexa’s entrepreneurial community deserves.
ESTATE PLANNING →
Eliminate the "what-ifs" with a custom legal framework designed to bypass the delays of probate. You get a strategic plan, from living trusts to asset protection, that ensures your legacy transitions to your heirs without administrative friction.
WILL PREPARATION →
Prevent the court from making your family's decisions. A professionally drafted will provides the definitive roadmap for your estate, naming legal guardians and securing asset distribution so your instructions are followed exactly as intended.
POWERS OF ATTORNEY →
Maintain control over your medical and financial decisions even when you can’t speak for yourself. By establishing durable directives now, you bypass the need for expensive, court-supervised guardianship and empower a person of your choosing to manage your affairs without delay.
PROBATE ADMINISTRATION →
Hand off the legal and administrative weight of the court process. Instead of navigating complex filings and creditor notices alone, you get a clear path through the local probate requirements, ensuring the estate is settled accurately while protecting you from personal liability.
ASSET PROTECTION →
Safeguard your life’s work from future creditors and legal claims. By implementing specific structures like irrevocable trusts or business entities now, you insulate your holdings from external threats and ensure that the assets you’ve built remain available for your family’s future.
TRUST MANAGEMENT →
Keep your estate plan functional as your life and the law evolve. Whether you are navigating the complexities of current trust administration or need to modify existing documents to reflect new family dynamics, you ensure your legal structures stay relevant and fully enforceable.
TAX & FINANCIAL PLANNING →
Stop losing a significant portion of your legacy to unnecessary estate and inheritance taxes. By integrating tax-efficient strategies into your legal framework, you protect your beneficiaries from heavy tax burdens and ensure more of your hard-earned assets reach the next generation intact.
BUSINESS SUCCESSION →
Ensure the company you built survives your departure without triggering a liquidity crisis or family dispute. By codifying a clear transition plan now, you protect the value of your business and provide your successors with the legal authority they need to maintain operations and secure your family's financial future.
START YOUR PLAN →
Move from uncertainty to a concrete legal strategy. Schedule a consultation to review your current holdings and identify the specific structures needed to protect your family and your business across the Kansas City metro area.
Gary Eastman, J.D., M.B.A.
Serving Lenexa, Kansas
Your Lenexa Estate Planning Attorney
Serving Lenexa from Our Nearby Leawood Office
Our Leawood office is easily accessible from throughout Lenexa, typically 15-18 minutes from most neighborhoods and business districts. With 27 years of experience serving Johnson County, we understand Lenexa’s unique business-focused character and have served 1,134 Johnson County families including many business owners requiring sophisticated succession planning.
Understanding Lenexa’s Business and Entrepreneurial Spirit
Lenexa has evolved into a major business hub with thriving commercial corridors, corporate headquarters, small manufacturers, and entrepreneurial ventures. This creates estate planning needs beyond typical residential communities. We’ve administered 143 probate estates, many involving business interests, giving us deep understanding of business succession planning, entity structure optimization, and coordinated personal/business estate planning essential for Lenexa business owners.
27 Years Serving Lenexa and Johnson County
Since 1998, Gary Eastman has served 5,407 estate planning clients, including 1,134 families right here in Johnson County. Our Lenexa clients include business owners requiring succession planning, entrepreneurs managing multiple ventures, corporate professionals with complex compensation, and families throughout Lenexa’s residential neighborhoods. Every estate plan is customized to your specific situation, whether your estate involves business interests worth millions or personal assets requiring protection.
We return calls within 60 minutes during business hours (typically much faster), and most clients complete their estate plan within 4 weeks on average from initial consultation to signed documents. For business owners, we coordinate with your CPA and business advisors ensuring seamless integration with your existing professional team.
Dual Credentials: Legal and Financial Expertise
Gary Eastman holds both a law degree and an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Kansas, with additional experience handling 500+ complex transactions at Polsinelli, a top 100 AmLaw firm. This combination is particularly valuable for Lenexa’s business community - you work with someone who understands both the legal structures of estate planning AND the financial and business implications of every decision. You receive sophisticated planning appropriate to your business and personal needs.
Coordination with Lenexa Business Professionals
We work collaboratively with the CPAs, financial advisors, insurance professionals, and business consultants serving Lenexa’s entrepreneurial community. Estate planning for business owners requires coordination with business advisors, accountants handling entity taxes, and financial planners managing both personal and business assets. We ensure seamless integration across your professional team.
Comprehensive Estate Planning Services
We provide the full range of estate planning and related legal services for Lenexa residents:
Estate Planning for Lenexa Families
Protect your Lenexa family with comprehensive estate plans including revocable living trusts, wills, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives. Whether you’re a business owner balancing personal and company assets or a growing family in Lenexa’s residential neighborhoods, we create plans that protect your loved ones, avoid probate, and ensure your wishes are followed.
Common Lenexa scenarios we address: Business owners needing coordinated personal and business estate planning, professionals with growing retirement accounts and company equity, young families in newer developments needing guardian designations, dual-income couples building wealth through careers and investments, and entrepreneurs protecting both business interests and family wealth.
Learn more about Estate Planning →
Probate Administration in Johnson County
Guide Lenexa executors through Johnson County probate proceedings efficiently and professionally. When a Lenexa resident dies with assets in their name, we handle the complete probate process from initial filing at the Olathe courthouse through final distribution.
We help with: Johnson County District Court probate filings, Lenexa business interests in probate estates, real estate probate for both residential and commercial properties, small estate affidavits for estates under $40,000, executor guidance for Lenexa families, and estate administration coordination with business advisors and accountants.
Learn more about Probate Administration →
Tax Planning for Lenexa Residents
Minimize estate and income taxes for Lenexa families and business owners. With many Lenexa residents building substantial wealth through business ownership and professional careers, strategic tax planning preserves significantly more wealth for your family and ensures efficient business transition.
Tax planning for: Business owners with company valuations requiring succession planning, professionals with stock options and deferred compensation, real estate investors with commercial and residential properties, families coordinating business and personal estate taxes, and strategic entity structuring to minimize overall tax liability.
Learn more about Tax and Financial Planning →
Asset Protection for Lenexa Professionals and Business Owners
Shield your wealth from lawsuits and creditors. Lenexa’s concentration of business owners, professionals, and entrepreneurs creates significant liability exposure requiring multi-layered asset protection strategies separating personal wealth from business risks.
Protection for: Business owners with personal liability from company operations, professionals with malpractice or liability exposure, entrepreneurs launching new ventures with inherent risks, real estate investors with multiple properties, and families wanting to protect personal assets from business creditors.
Learn more about Asset Protection →
Trust Management and Administration
Support for Lenexa trustees fulfilling fiduciary duties. Whether you’re managing a family trust, serving as trustee for a business succession trust, or administering trusts with business interests, we provide expert guidance through complex trust administration.
Trustee support for: Lenexa residents named as successor trustees, trustees managing trusts with business interests or commercial real estate, family members administering business succession trusts, trust tax preparation and compliance, beneficiary distribution planning, and coordination with business advisors and CPAs.
Estate Planning Issues Unique to Lenexa
Business Hub with Entrepreneurial Spirit
Lenexa has transformed into a major business center hosting corporate headquarters, manufacturing facilities, technology companies, and thriving entrepreneurial ventures. This creates estate planning complexity far beyond residential communities - business succession, entity structure, key person planning, and coordination between business and personal assets become critical.
Key considerations: Business succession planning ensuring continuity, buy-sell agreements protecting business value, entity structure optimization (LLC vs. S-Corp vs. C-Corp), key person life insurance, coordinating business entity ownership with personal estate plans, protecting business assets from personal creditors and vice versa.
Commercial Real Estate and Property Ownership
Many Lenexa business owners and investors own commercial properties, office buildings, industrial facilities, and investment real estate in addition to personal residences. Commercial property requires specialized estate planning beyond residential real estate.
Planning strategies: LLC ownership of commercial properties, transfer strategies minimizing capital gains taxes, estate tax planning for appreciated commercial real estate, ensuring business continuity if property owners die, protecting commercial assets from personal liability.
Business Succession Planning Essentials
Lenexa’s entrepreneurial community faces critical questions: What happens to your business when you retire, become disabled, or die? Will it continue? Transfer to family? Sell to partners or employees? Without proper planning, businesses can be destroyed in transition, eliminating wealth you intended for your family.
Planning tools: Buy-sell agreements funded with life insurance, business valuation for estate tax purposes, transition planning and training successors, family limited partnerships for gradual ownership transfer, protecting business value during estate administration, coordinating with business partners on succession.
Coordinating Personal and Business Assets
Lenexa business owners often have most of their wealth tied up in their companies, with business value far exceeding personal assets. Estate planning must address both personal family protection and business succession simultaneously.
Key considerations: Ensuring business succession doesn’t create estate tax problems, protecting family if business must be sold to pay estate taxes, coordinating business entity documents with personal estate plans, ensuring business continuation provides income for surviving spouse, structuring ownership transfer tax-efficiently.
Professional Liability and Asset Protection
Business ownership inherently creates liability exposure. Lenexa entrepreneurs need multi-layered asset protection separating business risks from personal wealth and protecting personal assets if business faces lawsuits or creditor claims.
Protection strategies: Proper business entity structure (LLCs, corporations), personal asset protection trusts, separating business and personal property ownership, insurance strategies (general liability, umbrella policies), domestic asset protection planning, protecting retirement accounts from business creditors.
Rapid Growth and Development
Lenexa continues growing rapidly with new residential developments, expanding commercial corridors, and increasing property values. This growth creates opportunities and planning challenges for both established residents and newcomers.
Planning needs: Estate planning for newly purchased homes and appreciating property, coordinating moves to Lenexa with estate plan updates, planning for growing business values as Lenexa expands, protecting accumulated equity in appreciating real estate, ensuring guardian designations for young families in new developments.
Mix of Residential and Business Communities
Unlike purely residential cities, Lenexa’s mix of business districts and family neighborhoods creates diverse estate planning needs within a single community. We serve both business owners needing succession planning and families needing foundational protection.
Diverse planning approaches: Business succession for entrepreneurs, executive compensation planning for corporate employees, guardian designations for young families, retirement planning for established residents, coordinated planning for those wearing multiple hats (business owner AND parent).
Entrepreneurial Risk and Reward
Lenexa entrepreneurs take calculated risks building businesses. Estate planning should protect the rewards you’ve earned while managing the risks inherent in business ownership. This includes protecting family wealth if ventures fail and preserving business value when ventures succeed.
Key strategies: Asset protection before problems arise, business entity structure limiting liability, protecting personal residence from business creditors, ensuring life insurance replaces income if business owner dies, succession planning capturing business value for family, protecting investment in businesses through proper estate planning.
Tailored Service for Your Lenexa Family
Convenient Office Location
Our Leawood office at 4901 W 136th Street is easily accessible from anywhere in Lenexa. With 27 years serving Johnson County and 1,134 local families, we understand Lenexa’s business community and residential neighborhoods from Old Town to corporate parks along 87th Street.
| From | Driving Time | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Central Lenexa (87th & Lackman) | 15 minutes | 7 miles |
| East Lenexa (87th & Renner) | 12 minutes | 5 miles |
| West Lenexa (College & Woodland) | 18 minutes | 9 miles |
| North Lenexa (I-435 corridor) | 16 minutes | 8 miles |
| South Lenexa (95th & Renner) | 14 minutes | 6 miles |
See Our Proximity to Lenexa
We’re located in Leawood, convenient from every Lenexa neighborhood and business district. The map below shows our office location and its proximity to Lenexa.
Flexible Meeting Options for Business Owners
We understand Lenexa business owners and professionals have demanding schedules. We offer evening and weekend appointments by request, virtual consultations when appropriate for initial discussions or follow-ups, efficient processes that respect your time, and coordination with your business advisors and accountants. We return calls within 60 minutes during business hours and complete most estate plans within 4 weeks on average.
Convenient Office Amenities
Parking: 45 free parking spaces including 6 dedicated ADA-accessible spaces
Accessibility: Ground-level access, fully ADA compliant
Professional Environment: Private conference rooms ensuring confidentiality for sensitive business and family discussions
Local References and Relationships
We work with and can refer you to trusted professionals serving Lenexa’s business community including business CPAs specializing in entity taxation, financial advisors experienced with business owners, commercial insurance specialists, business valuation professionals, and real estate professionals handling both residential and commercial properties when needed for comprehensive planning.
Understanding Lenexa Values
Lenexa residents value entrepreneurship, innovation, family, and community involvement. Our estate planning approach reflects these values through plans that protect business assets and family wealth, ensure business succession and continuity, provide for families if business owners die unexpectedly, and support the entrepreneurial spirit that makes Lenexa thrive.
Johnson County Probate Court & Legal Resources
Where Lenexa Estates Are Probated
All probate proceedings for Lenexa residents occur at the Johnson County District Court in Olathe, regardless of where in Lenexa you live. Our familiarity with Johnson County probate procedures ensures efficient administration for Lenexa estates, particularly those involving business interests or commercial property.
Johnson County Courthouse
100 N. Kansas Avenue
Olathe, Kansas 66061
Probate Division Phone: 913-715-3750
Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Typical Johnson County Probate Timeline
Understanding the probate process helps Lenexa executors and families plan appropriately. While every estate is unique, here’s the typical timeline for Johnson County probate:
| Phase | Timeframe | Key Activities |
|---|---|---|
| Filing & Appointment | Month 1-2 | Petition filing, will validation, executor appointment |
| Notice & Inventory | Month 2-4 | Creditor publication, asset inventory, valuations |
| Creditor Claims Period | Month 4-8 | Mandatory 4-month waiting period (cannot be expedited) |
| Estate Administration | Month 8-10 | Debt payment, tax returns, asset management |
| Distribution & Accounting | Month 10-12 | Final accounting, distributions to beneficiaries |
| Closure | Month 12+ | Estate closure, executor discharge |
Important note for Lenexa business owners: Estates with business interests, commercial real estate, or multiple entities may require 12-18+ months. Business valuation, partner agreements, and entity transitions complicate probate significantly. Proper estate planning through trusts and business succession planning avoids probate entirely.
Avoiding Probate for Lenexa Estates
For Lenexa business owners and families, avoiding probate is particularly important to prevent business disruption and maintain privacy. Probate is public record - competitors, employees, and others can see business values, ownership structures, and estate details. Trust-based planning keeps this information private.
Probate avoidance strategies: Revocable living trusts for both personal and business assets (most comprehensive), business entity structuring avoiding probate, transfer-on-death deeds for real estate, beneficiary designations on financial accounts, and proper coordination between business succession plans and personal estate plans.
Why Lenexa Business Owners and Executors Choose Us
Serving as executor of an estate with business interests carries significant responsibility and potential personal liability. We provide complete guidance through Johnson County’s probate process while addressing business complexity, protecting you from executor liability, and ensuring efficient administration. Our experience with 27 years of practice and 143 probate estates administered, many involving business interests, demonstrates deep understanding of business valuation, partner coordination, and efficient estate administration while maintaining business operations during transition.
How We’ve Helped Lenexa Families
Small Business Owner Planning Succession
A Lenexa business owner had built a successful manufacturing company valued at $1.8 million with 12 employees, but had no succession plan, no buy-sell agreement, and business ownership structured in his personal name creating significant liability exposure and estate complications.
Our solution: We restructured the business into an LLC providing liability protection, created a comprehensive buy-sell agreement with his business partner funded by life insurance, established a revocable trust owning the LLC interest to avoid probate, implemented annual gifting strategies beginning to transfer ownership to his daughter who works in the business, and coordinated with his CPA on tax-efficient succession strategies.
Result: Clear 5-year succession plan transferring the business to his daughter, protection from personal liability, avoided probate on his most valuable asset, projected estate tax savings over $350,000, and ensured business continuity protecting employees and customers.
Entrepreneur with Multiple Business Ventures
A Lenexa entrepreneur owned three separate businesses (two LLCs and one S-Corp) plus commercial real estate, with combined value exceeding $2.3 million. His estate planning consisted of an outdated will that didn’t address any of his business interests.
Our solution: We created a comprehensive revocable living trust structure, transferred all business entity interests into the trust avoiding probate on multiple companies, established LLC ownership of commercial properties, coordinated beneficiary designations across multiple retirement accounts from previous ventures, created business-specific powers of attorney ensuring continuity if he became incapacitated, and integrated all planning with his business CPA.
Result: Complete probate avoidance for all business interests and real estate, coordinated succession planning across multiple ventures, protected business continuity through incapacity planning, simplified administration for his family, and ensured tax-efficient transfer of his entrepreneurial empire.
Professional Couple Building Wealth Through Careers
A Lenexa couple (both corporate professionals) had a $380,000 home, combined retirement accounts of $520,000, stock options worth approximately $180,000, and two young children. They had no estate plan despite significant accumulated wealth.
Our solution: We created a comprehensive estate plan including revocable living trust, nominated guardians for their children with detailed care instructions, coordinated beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and stock options, structured life insurance ensuring adequate funds for children’s education and care, created powers of attorney for financial and healthcare decisions, and planned for stock option vesting and taxation.
Result: Complete probate avoidance for their $1+ million estate, guardian protection for children, tax-efficient beneficiary designations on complex executive compensation, and peace of mind their family would be financially secure and their children cared for by people they trust.
Commercial Real Estate Investor
A Lenexa investor owned four commercial properties (two in Lenexa, one in Overland Park, one in Olathe) plus his personal residence, with combined real estate value exceeding $1.6 million. All properties were in his personal name creating probate nightmares and liability exposure.
Our solution: We established separate LLCs for commercial properties providing liability protection, created a revocable trust owning LLC interests and personal residence avoiding probate on all real estate, structured ownership minimizing capital gains taxes on eventual sale, coordinated with his CPA on depreciation and tax strategies, and planned for efficient transfer to his children who would continue the investment business.
Result: Complete probate avoidance on five properties across three cities, liability protection separating business risks from personal assets, tax-efficient ownership structure, clear succession plan for real estate investment business, and protected wealth for his children.
Business Owner with Blended Family
A Lenexa business owner (second marriage) had a business worth $950,000, his share of the marital home worth $200,000, retirement accounts totaling $380,000, and children from both marriages. He needed to protect his spouse while ensuring his business ultimately went to his son from his first marriage who worked in the company.
Our solution: We created coordinated trusts ensuring his spouse could remain in the home and had adequate income from trust assets while preserving the business for his son, structured a buy-sell agreement allowing his son to purchase the business from the estate at predetermined value, established life insurance equalizing inheritances between children, and documented clear intentions preventing family disputes over the business.
Result: Spouse provided for with income and home, business preserved for son who built it with him, other children treated fairly through life insurance and other assets, clear documentation preventing family conflict, and business succession ensuring continuity for employees and customers.
(Note: For privacy reasons actual names have been withheld. Some cases may be amalgamations of more than one case for demonstration purposes.)
Understanding Lenexa’s Estate Planning Landscape
Lenexa by the Numbers
| Metric | Lenexa | Johnson County | Estate Planning Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | ~57,000 | ~600,000 | Growing city, diverse needs |
| Median Household Income | ~$93,000 | ~$87,000 | Above-average earners, business owners |
| Median Home Value | ~$315,000 | ~$310,000 | Solid home equity investment |
| Bachelor’s Degree+ | ~56% | ~58% | Educated professionals and entrepreneurs |
| Homeownership Rate | ~71% | ~68% | High property ownership rates |
| Self-Employed/Business Owners | ~12% | ~8% | High entrepreneurship requiring succession planning |
| Professional/Management | ~52% | ~45% | Complex compensation needs coordination |
What This Means for Lenexa Estate Planning
Entrepreneurial Hub with High Business Ownership
Lenexa’s self-employment rate of 12% (50% higher than the county average) reflects its identity as a business and entrepreneurial center. This concentration of business owners creates critical estate planning needs beyond typical residential communities - business succession, entity planning, and coordinated personal/business estate strategies become essential.
Above-Average Incomes Supporting Business Investment
Lenexa’s median household income of $93,000 (above the county average) reflects both successful business ownership and professional careers in corporate positions. Many residents accumulate substantial wealth through business equity, retirement accounts, and real estate, requiring comprehensive planning to protect and transfer efficiently.
Business Value Often Exceeds Other Assets
For Lenexa’s business owners, company value frequently represents the largest component of their estate, often exceeding home equity and retirement accounts combined. Business succession planning isn’t optional - it’s essential to preserve wealth for families and ensure business continuity.
Mix of Entrepreneurs and Corporate Professionals
Lenexa’s 52% professional/management workforce includes both business owners managing their own companies and corporate employees with complex compensation packages. This creates diverse estate planning needs from business succession to stock option coordination to executive benefit planning.
Commercial Real Estate Investment Common
Many Lenexa business owners and investors own commercial properties, office buildings, and investment real estate in addition to personal residences. Commercial property ownership requires specialized planning for entity structure, liability protection, and tax-efficient transfer.
Rapid Growth Creating Opportunities and Complexity
Lenexa continues growing rapidly with expanding business corridors, new residential developments, and increasing property values. This growth creates estate planning opportunities (appreciating assets) and challenges (coordinating multiple properties, business expansions, changing ownership structures).
Business Succession Planning Is Critical
Without proper planning, businesses can be destroyed during ownership transitions through forced liquidation, partner disputes, estate tax problems, or lack of qualified successors. Lenexa’s entrepreneurial community requires proactive succession planning protecting both business value and family wealth.
Coordinating Business and Personal Estate Plans
Lenexa business owners can’t separate business planning from personal estate planning - they’re interconnected. Business entity documents, buy-sell agreements, partnership agreements, and succession plans must coordinate with personal wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations to ensure comprehensive protection.
Serving All of Johnson County from Our Leawood Office
While many of our clients are Lenexa business owners and families, we serve all Johnson County communities with the same professional estate planning expertise. With 27 years of experience serving 1,134 Johnson County families, we understand each community’s unique characteristics and provide comprehensive planning tailored to your needs:
About Nearby Johnson County Communities
Overland Park - Kansas’s second-largest city, east of Lenexa. Overland Park’s diverse neighborhoods from Corporate Woods to South Overland Park create varied estate planning needs from young families to established professionals.
Olathe - Johnson County seat and home to the probate court where all county probate proceedings occur. We help Olathe families with estate planning to avoid probate and represent executors when probate is necessary.
Leawood - Our office location, serving Leawood residents with sophisticated estate planning and trust services. Leawood’s affluent community often requires advanced tax planning and multi-generational wealth transfer strategies.
Shawnee - Family-focused community northeast of Lenexa with established neighborhoods. Estate planning priorities include protecting children through guardian designations and ensuring family homes transfer smoothly to heirs.
Prairie Village - Charming older community where many residents have seen significant home appreciation over decades. We help with estate planning for appreciated property and retirement planning for older adults.
Mission - Small, walkable community with diverse housing from apartments to single-family homes. We provide comprehensive estate planning for all life stages and budgets.
Explore All Johnson County Cities - View our complete Johnson County service area and learn about estate planning services in your specific community.
Frequently Asked Questions About Lenexa Estate Planning
Q: What’s your track record with Johnson County business owners and families?
Over 27 years, we’ve served 1,134 Johnson County families, creating 5,423 trusts and 1,257 wills, and administering 143 probate estates, many involving business interests and succession planning. Our experience ranges from startups to established companies, professional practices to commercial real estate investors, and simple family estates to complex multi-generational planning. We return calls within 60 minutes during business hours and complete most estate plans within 4 weeks on average, coordinating with your business advisors throughout the process.
Q: I own a business in Lenexa. Do I need special estate planning?
Yes. Business ownership significantly complicates estate planning. You need business succession planning, buy-sell agreements, entity structure review, coordination between business and personal assets, and strategies ensuring your business either continues successfully or sells for full value. Without proper planning, your business could be forced into liquidation or destroyed during estate administration, eliminating wealth you intended for your family.
Q: What’s a buy-sell agreement and do I need one?
A buy-sell agreement is a contract between business owners establishing what happens to ownership interests when an owner dies, becomes disabled, retires, or wants to sell. It sets the purchase price or valuation method, identifies who can buy (partners, family, company), and determines payment terms. For Lenexa business owners with partners, buy-sell agreements funded with life insurance are essential to prevent disputes and ensure fair value for your family.
Q: Should my business be in an LLC, S-Corp, or something else?
Entity structure affects liability protection, taxation, estate planning, and business succession. LLCs provide flexibility and liability protection. S-Corps offer tax advantages but have ownership restrictions. C-Corps have different tax treatment. The right choice depends on your business type, income, growth plans, and exit strategy. We work with your CPA to optimize entity structure for both current operations and future estate planning.
Q: How much is estate planning for a Lenexa business owner?
Estate planning for business owners is more comprehensive than basic planning. Typical investment ranges from $4,000-$8,000 depending on business complexity, number of entities, commercial real estate involvement, and succession planning needs. This includes personal estate plans, business succession planning, buy-sell agreements, and coordination with business advisors. The investment often saves hundreds of thousands in taxes, probate costs, and preserved business value.
Q: Can I protect my personal assets from my business liabilities?
Yes, through proper entity structure (LLCs, corporations), asset protection planning, separating business and personal property ownership, insurance strategies, and trust planning. Business risks shouldn’t threaten your personal residence, retirement accounts, or family wealth. But protection must be established BEFORE problems arise - you can’t protect assets after you’re already being sued.
Q: I own commercial real estate in Lenexa. How does that affect my estate plan?
Commercial property requires LLC ownership for liability protection, estate planning avoiding probate on business real estate, coordination with business succession if properties are used in your business, and tax planning for appreciated property. Commercial real estate in probate creates complications - tenants, lease agreements, property management, and business operations all affected. Trust ownership or LLC structures owned by trusts avoid these problems.
Q: What happens to my Lenexa business if I die unexpectedly?
Without proper planning: Business operations may halt, partners may disagree on next steps, family may not know how to run the business, estate may be forced to sell quickly at reduced value, and probate may tie up business assets for months. Proper planning includes buy-sell agreements, succession plans, key person life insurance, powers of attorney ensuring business continuity during incapacity, and clear instructions for family or successors.
Q: Do you work with my business CPA and financial advisor?
Absolutely. Estate planning for Lenexa business owners requires coordination with CPAs handling business taxes, financial advisors managing personal and business assets, insurance professionals, and business consultants. We regularly collaborate with business advisors ensuring estate planning integrates with business planning, tax strategies, and financial goals. Your professional team should work together, not in silos.
Q: I want to transfer my business to my children. How do I do that tax-efficiently?
Gradual transfer through family limited partnerships, annual gifting of LLC interests, grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), installment sales to intentionally defective grantor trusts (IDGTs), and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) are potential strategies. The right approach depends on business value, children’s involvement, tax situation, and your timeline. We coordinate with your CPA to structure transfers minimizing gift and estate taxes while maintaining control during your lifetime.
Q: My business partner and I disagree on succession planning. Can you help?
Yes. We facilitate partner discussions on succession, draft buy-sell agreements addressing various scenarios (death, disability, retirement, voluntary sale), establish fair valuation methods, coordinate life insurance funding, and document agreements preventing disputes. The conversation may be uncomfortable, but it’s far better to resolve disagreements now with both partners involved than leave families fighting during grief or crisis.
Q: How often should I update my business succession plan?
Review business succession planning every 2-3 years or when major changes occur: business growth or decline, partner changes, new business ventures, significant changes in business value, children joining or leaving the business, or major tax law changes. Your estate plan should grow with your business, not become outdated as circumstances change.
Q: What if my business is my only significant asset?
Many Lenexa entrepreneurs have most wealth tied up in their businesses with limited liquid assets. This creates challenges: estate taxes may be owed without cash to pay them, family may need income but business can’t be easily sold, or surviving spouse may not want to run the business. Solutions include life insurance providing liquidity, business valuation discounts reducing estate taxes, buy-sell agreements ensuring fair price, and succession planning creating income for family while business transitions.
Easy Access from Anywhere in Lenexa
Our Leawood office is convenient from every Lenexa neighborhood and business district. Here are routes from different Lenexa areas:
From Central Lenexa (87th & Lackman area)
- Head east on 87th Street
- Continue to Antioch Road
- Turn right (south) on Antioch to 119th Street
- Turn left (east) on 119th Street
- Continue to Nall Avenue
- Turn right (south) on Nall Avenue to 136th Street
- Our office is on the right
- Drive time: 15 minutes
From West Lenexa (College & Woodland area)
- Head east on College Boulevard
- Continue to Nall Avenue
- Turn right (south) on Nall Avenue to 136th Street
- Our office is on the right
- Drive time: 18 minutes
From East Lenexa (87th & Renner area)
- Head east on 87th Street
- Continue to Nall Avenue
- Turn right (south) on Nall Avenue to 136th Street
- Our office is on the right
- Drive time: 12 minutes
From Another Location?
Get turn-by-turn directions from your exact Lenexa address:
Office Details
Address: 4901 W 136th St Suite 240, Leawood, KS 66224
Phone: (913) 908-9113
Parking: 45 free parking spaces, including 6 dedicated accessible spaces
Accessibility: Ground-level access, ADA compliant
Don’t Leave Your Lenexa Business and Family’s Future to Chance
Every day without proper estate and business succession planning puts everything you’ve built at risk. If something happened to you tomorrow, would your business continue operating? Would your family know what to do? Would your business partners know how to proceed? Would years of hard work building your company be lost?
For over 27 years, we’ve helped 1,134 Johnson County families, including many Lenexa business owners, protect what matters most. We’ve created 5,423 trusts and 1,257 wills, administered 143 probate estates (many involving business interests), and helped clients achieve average estate tax savings exceeding $500,000. Our experience ranges from startups to established companies, professional practices to commercial real estate investors.
Estate planning for business owners isn’t just about death. It’s about protecting your business, preserving what you’ve built, ensuring continuity for employees and customers, and securing your family’s financial future. It’s about giving your family and business partners clear direction during the most difficult times.
You’ve worked hard to build your business and provide for your family in Lenexa’s entrepreneurial community. Don’t let lack of planning destroy your business value, force liquidation at pennies on the dollar, leave partners fighting over succession, cost your family hundreds of thousands in unnecessary taxes and probate expenses, or leave your family uncertain about your wishes. Proper planning protects your business from disruption, ensures fair value for your family, provides clear succession paths, and preserves the wealth you’ve worked so hard to create.
With Gary Eastman’s 500+ complex transactions at Polsinelli (a top 100 AmLaw firm) involving deals from $500,000 to over $100 million, combined with his dual credentials (J.D. and M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Kansas), you receive big-firm sophistication with local accessibility. We return calls within 60 minutes during business hours, complete most estate plans within 4 weeks on average, and coordinate seamlessly with your business advisors, CPAs, and financial planners.
The best time to plan was yesterday. The second best time is today. Contact us now to schedule your consultation and protect everything you’ve built for your business, your family, and your future.
Serving Lenexa families and businesses • Estate Planning • Probate • Trust Administration • Tax Planning • Asset Protection
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