Missouri Estate Planning
Estate planning that holds up when it matters.
Wills, trusts, and directives drafted by an attorney who spent years administering estates from the other side of the table — including one exceeding $100 million.
Why it matters
What you’re really protecting.
Protect your children
Without a will naming guardians, a Missouri court decides who raises your children. Estate planning keeps that decision in your hands.
Avoid probate
A properly funded trust avoids probate entirely. Most firms draft the trust — few help you fund it.
Reduce family conflict
Most disputes start with ambiguous documents. A clearly drafted plan removes the ambiguity that leads to contested administrations.
Plan for incapacity
The right documents let your chosen person step in immediately — no court, no delay, no public hearing.
An unfunded trust does nothing.
This is the failure I saw most often on the bank side. A family pays for a beautifully drafted trust — then the house deed, the brokerage account, and the bank accounts are never actually retitled into it. The trust is an empty box. At death, every asset that was supposed to skip probate goes straight through it anyway.
Funding means retitling deeds, changing account ownership, and aligning every beneficiary designation and Transfer-on-Death (TOD) deed with the plan. A single account left in your individual name can drag the whole estate into probate. We don’t hand you a binder and wish you luck — we provide a written funding plan and confirm completion.
9 to 18 months. 3 to 7 percent. In public.
Missouri probate isn’t a formality — it’s a court-supervised process with a real meter running. A typical estate takes 9 to 18 months to settle and consumes 3 to 7 percent of its value in attorney fees, court costs, and statutory commissions. Out-of-state real estate triggers a second, separate (ancillary) probate in that state.
Probate is also public. Anyone can pull the file and see what you owned and who received it. A properly funded revocable living trust passes outside probate: privately, in weeks to months rather than years, and at a fraction of the cost.
Incapacity is the gap most plans ignore.
A stroke or a dementia diagnosis doesn’t wait for an estate plan to mature. Without the right documents, no one — not your spouse, not your adult child — can automatically manage your finances or direct your care. Your family has to petition a Missouri court for guardianship and conservatorship: expensive, slow, and on the public record.
A durable financial power of attorney, a healthcare power of attorney with HIPAA authorization, and a trust with a named successor trustee let your chosen person step in immediately — no hearing, no delay. Most plans miss the HIPAA piece, leaving agents legally unable to even see the medical records they need to act.
The bank-side perspective
I’ve spent years cleaning up other people’s estate documents.
As an Estate Settlement Officer at Bank of America, my job was to administer estates after the client was gone — including one valued over $100 million, and smaller ones where a single ambiguous trust amendment cost the family three years to untangle.
When you’ve spent years cleaning up unclear documents, you don’t draft unclear documents. That’s the difference between this firm and an attorney who has only ever drafted plans without administering them.
What we draft
Every plan, custom-drafted.
Estate planning is not a forms business. Each document fits your family, assets, and concerns — never assembled from a template.
Revocable Living Trust
The foundation for most Missouri families with real estate or significant assets. Avoids probate, keeps privacy, manages incapacity. We draft and we help fund.
Last Will & Testament
Names guardians and catches anything outside the trust. We draft pour-over wills that work with your trust as one coordinated plan.
Financial Power of Attorney
Lets someone you trust manage finances if you’re incapacitated — instead of your family petitioning a court for guardianship.
Healthcare POA + HIPAA
Designates who makes medical decisions and gives them legal access to your records. Most plans miss the HIPAA piece.
Advance Directive
Your end-of-life preferences guide care — not the assumptions of doctors or estranged family.
Trust Funding
The step most firms skip. We retitle accounts, deeds, and beneficiary designations — where 70% of trusts otherwise fail.
Understanding your options
Will vs. trust — which do you need?
Most Missouri families benefit from a trust if they own real estate, have minor children, or want privacy. A will alone fits smaller, simpler estates. We tell you honestly which fits — not which generates a bigger fee.
Probate
A will passes through probate — public, 9–18 months. A funded trust passes outside it — private, often weeks to months.
Incapacity
A will is effective only at death. A trust lets a successor trustee manage your affairs the moment you can’t.
Control over inheritance
A will typically distributes in full at 18. A trust lets you stagger inheritance on your terms — and avoid ancillary probate on out-of-state property.
How it works
Four steps. Mostly remote. Done in weeks.
Free consultation
By phone or video. You describe your family and assets; I tell you honestly what fits and roughly what it costs.
Intake & design
You complete a detailed intake. Within a few business days you get a written recommendation and flat-fee quote.
Drafting & review
Documents are drafted and sent for review. We meet to walk through each one, answer questions, and revise.
Signing & funding
Missouri allows fully digital signing for many documents. Then we help you actually fund the trust.
Why Haake Law Group
Built around your life, not our office hours.
Virtual-first
Done faster and with less friction by phone, video, and secure exchange — no downtown drive.
Digital execution
Missouri permits fully digital signing of most estate documents. Review and execute from home.
Flat-fee pricing
Disclosed in writing before any substantive work. No surprise billing.
Secure cloud delivery
Stored securely and accessible when needed — plus signed originals, so nothing is ever truly lost.
Meet Derek Haake
Real legal work. Modern delivery.
A licensed Missouri attorney since 2011. Before law school, more than a decade in telecommunications and technology — including leading the acquisition of Corning Cable Systems’ fiber monitoring division and helping create Valor Telecom, now part of Windstream.
After law school, years as an Estate Settlement Officer at Bank of America, administering taxable estates including one exceeding $100 million. Actually settling estates — not just drafting them — is what I bring to every plan.
Common questions
What clients ask before they hire us.
Do I need a trust, or is a will enough?
Depends on what you own, where it is, and what you want to accomplish. For most Missouri families with real estate, retirement accounts, and minor children, a revocable living trust avoids probate and manages incapacity in a way a will cannot. For smaller estates without real estate, a will may be enough. We give you our honest read in the consultation.
How long does it take?
From consultation to signed documents, typically 2 to 4 weeks for a standard plan — faster if you respond quickly to drafting questions.
Do you offer flat-fee pricing?
For most matters, yes — disclosed in writing before substantive work. For complex matters (taxable estates, special needs trusts, business succession), hourly billing may apply, and you’ll know up front.
Can we do this entirely remotely?
Most of it. Missouri allows fully digital execution of most estate documents. For matters that benefit from in-person notarization, we coordinate that at your convenience.
Will you actually help me fund the trust?
Yes. This is where most plans quietly fail. We provide a written funding plan, guide you on retitling assets, and follow up to confirm completion. An unfunded trust does nothing — we don’t leave the job halfway.
Ready to start?
Schedule a free initial consultation.
No commitment. No pressure. A 20-minute conversation about your family, your concerns, and whether estate planning makes sense for you right now.