Overland Park estate planning and elder law firm of Chris Gaughan and Casey Connealy, serving the Kansas City area in Kansas and Missouri. Represents trustees and beneficiaries in trust administration after a death, handles probate, and plans living trusts, special needs trusts, Medicaid eligibility and business succession. The two co-wrote Midwest Estate Planning: A Guide for Your Family.
Probate in Shawnee County
Probate Court Record
Shawnee County District Court
Shawnee County · 3rd Judicial District
Phone
Hours
Monday-Friday 8:00 AM-5:00 PM
Office
200 Southeast 7th Street, Room 209, Topeka, KS 66603
Website
E-filing
Self-represented filing
Allowed
Self-help forms
How to file probate in Shawnee County →
Verified October 16, 2026 · Source
Do I need a lawyer for probate in Shawnee County? →Settling an estate in Shawnee County →
Trust Administration Firms Serving Shawnee County
A twelve-attorney Salina firm, with a satellite office in Lindsborg, practicing in Salina since 1946. Guides families through Kansas probate, including informal administrations and determinations of descent, and handles trust administrations, trust modification and termination, and guardianships and conservatorships. Also does wills, trusts, and Medicaid planning.
Davis & McCann is a Dodge City estate planning firm serving Western Kansas, with a by-appointment office in Cimarron. Its attorneys handle probate and trust administration, estate planning, Medicaid and long-term care planning, special needs planning, and farm and small-business succession planning. The firm opened in 2003 as Tamara L. Davis, P.A. and is a member of Wealth Counsel.
Hutchinson firm that has served Reno County for over 100 years and now serves all of Kansas through a video-conference virtual office. Its estate team handles probate and trust administration, probate and trust litigation, wills and trusts, and farm succession planning, and its elder law work covers guardianship and Medicaid. Lauren Alvidrez leads the estate planning practice.
Estate and business planning firm serving Kansas from offices in Manhattan, Elkhart, Hugoton, Hutchinson, Garden City, Overland Park, and Norton. Handles probate and trust administration for families after a death, alongside wills, trusts, farm and ranch planning, business succession, and Medicaid planning. Formed in 2014 through the merger of a Manhattan practice and an Elkhart practice.
Wichita estate practice that Kari Coultis founded in 2009, serving clients across Kansas from an office on North Rock Road. Guides families through probate, from validating the will to distributing assets, and through trust administration, guardianships and conservatorships, alongside wills, trusts, special needs and long-term care Medicaid planning.
All 11 Kansas trust administration firms serving Shawnee County →
Forms for Planning and Settling an Estate in Kansas
Free Kansas forms to plan or settle an estate: a will, trust, powers of attorney, TOD deed and the probate forms. Prepare each form for Kansas.
$12/month
Revocable Living Trust
Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.
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Free
Pour-Over Will
In Kansas, a pour-over will is signed before 2K.S.A. § 59-606Verified Oct 18, 2026View source witnesses and moves anything left outside the trust into it through probate.
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Tools for Planning and Settling an Estate in Kansas
Free calculators and checklists to plan or settle an estate in Kansas: will and trust costs, probate, executor pay and taxes. Run each tool for Kansas.
How Do I Settle a Trust?
Settling a trust in Kansas happens outside court: the trustee acts under the state's Uniform Trust CodeK.S.A. 58a-101 et seq.Verified Oct 17, 2026View source, notifies the beneficiaries within 60 daysK.S.A. 58a-813, 58a-1005Verified Sep 15, 2026View source, then pays the debts and distributes under the trust's terms.
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What's Fair Trustee Compensation?
In Kansas, trustee compensation follows "reasonable compensation" (UTC § 708 or equivalent)Kan. Stat. Ann. § 58a-708Verified Sep 18, 2026View source unless the trust instrument sets a different amount.
Calculate the Fee
How Do I Settle an Estate?
Settling an estate in Kansas: the personal representative files the estate inventory within 30 daysK.S.A. 59-1201, 59-1202, 59-1203Verified Sep 15, 2026View source of appointment; creditors have 4 monthsK.S.A. 59-2239, 59-2236, 59-709, 59-1301Verified Oct 18, 2026View source to present claims; a simple estate closes in 6 months to 9 months.
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Do I Have to File Tax Returns for Someone Who Died?
Kansas requires a final state income tax return for the decedent alongside the federal Form 1040K.S.A. 79-32,110(a)(2)(B); K.S.A. 79-32,119(c)(2); K.S.A. 79-32,121(a)Verified Sep 20, 2026View source; a federal estate tax return (Form 706) is required only for estates above $15,000,00026 USC 2001(c), 2010; P.L. 119-21 §70106Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.
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How Does Step-Up in Basis Work?
Inherited assets in Kansas take a basis reset to fair market value on the date of death26 USC § 1014Verified Sep 15, 2026View source, and the gain on a later sale faces ordinary income tax at the state's regular rates.
Calculate the Tax
