1970 – Present (51 years), 11903 W. 119th Street, Overland Park, Kansas 66213 (913) 777-8216.  My most satisfying area of practice is estate planning. My goal is to help clients avoid probate. Probate is a necessary evil, the purpose of which is to transfer the ownership of property out of a decedent’s name over to the living beneficiaries. There are ways to avoid probate, but simply signing a Will is not one of them. The reason is that a Last Will and Testament has no power or legal affect until the Will is timely filed with the probate court and an Executor appointed. A Will merely determines to whom your property will pass, but it does not avoid probate. Guardianship and/or Conservatorship are lifetime probate matters. This probate court procedure can be avoided if appropriate Powers of Attorney are executed during lifetime by an individual having the capacity to do so. Every one over the age of 18 is advised to put Powers of Attorney in place.