The catalyst for greater national attention to this issue was 29-year-old Brittany Maynard, a woman diagnosed with terminal brain cancer who moved from California to Oregon to end her life in 2014. Maynard chose Oregon because California had not yet passed its aid-in-dying law, and Oregon is one of just a few other states to allow terminally ill patients to legally end their lives.
Kansas legislators have been attempting to pass aid-in-dying legislation since 2013. The last time the Kansas legislature considered such a law was in the 2021-2022 legislative session, when lawmakers introduced a death with dignity bill, HB 2202, called the Kansas Death With Dignity Act, that would have allowed terminally ill patients who meet certain requirements to request life-ending medication. However, the bill died in committee without ever receiving a hearing. If it had passed, the law would have functioned much like Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act, allowing terminally ill patients who met certain requirements to request and use life-ending medication.
Citizen groups are continuing to work to legalize aid in dying in Kansas. If choice at the end of life is important to you, here are some things you can do:
“Death with dignity” and "medical aid in dying" are two of the most commonly accepted phrases describing the process by which a terminally ill person ingests prescribed medication to hasten death. You might also see the phrase “right to die” used in place of either of those terms. However, “right to die” is more accurately used in the context of directing one’s own medical care—that is, refusing life-sustaining treatment such as a respirator or feeding tubes when permanently unconscious or close to death. In Kansas or any other state, you have a right to provide such directions or give any other health care instructions by completing an advance health care directive.
For information about appointing a health care agent and making known your wishes for medical care at the end of life, see the Living Wills & Medical Powers of Attorney section of Nolo.com.
To find out more about the history and current status of death with dignity laws in the United States, visit the website of the Death With Dignity National Center.
Updated March 4, 2024
Only assets that pass through probate are affected by intestate succession laws. Many valuable assets don't go through probate, and therefore aren't affected by intestate succession laws. Here are some examples:
These assets will pass to the surviving co-owner or to the beneficiary you named, whether or not you have a will. However, if you don’t have a will and none of the named beneficiaries are alive to take the property, then the property could end up being transferred according to intestate succession.
To learn more about these types of assets, go to the How to Avoid Probate section of Nolo.com or read about Avoiding Probate in Kansas.
Under intestate succession, who gets what depends on whether or not you have living children, parents, or other close relatives when you die. Here’s a quick overview:
If you die with: |
here’s what happens: |
children but no spouse | children inherit everything |
spouse but no descendants | spouse inherits everything |
spouse and descendants | spouse inherits 1/2 of your intestate property descendants inherit 1/2 of your intestate property |
parents but no spouse or descendants | parents inherit everything |
siblings but no spouse, descendants, or parents | siblings inherit everything |
(Kan. Stat. §§ 59-504; 59-506; 59-507; 59-508 (2024).)
In Kansas, if you are married and you die without a will, what your spouse gets depends on whether or not you have living descendants—that is, children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren. If you don’t, then your spouse inherits all of your intestate property. If you do, they and your spouse will share your intestate property 50/50. (Kan. Stat. §§ 59-504; 59-506 (2024).)
Example: Barrett is married to Jed and also has a 12-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. Barrett owns a house in joint tenancy with Jed, plus $200,000 worth of additional, separate property that would have passed under a will if Barrett had made one. When Barrett dies, Jed inherits the house outright; it is not intestate property. Jed also inherits $100,000 worth of Barrett’s additional property. Barrett’s daughter inherits the remaining $100,000 share of Barrett’s property.
If you die without a will in Kansas, your children will receive an “intestate share” of your property. The size of each child’s share depends on how many children you have and whether or not you are married. (See the table above.)
For children to inherit from you under the laws of intestacy, the state of Kansas must consider them your children, legally. For many families, this is not a confusing issue. But it’s not always clear. Here are some things to keep in mind.
This can be a tricky area of the law, so if you have questions about your relationship to your parent or child, get help from an experienced attorney.
If you die without a will and don’t have any family, your property will “escheat” into the state’s coffers. (Kan. Stat. § 59-514 (2024).)
However, this very rarely happens because the laws are designed to get your property to anyone who was even remotely related to you. For example, your property won’t go to the state if you leave a spouse, children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, siblings, nieces, nephews, or cousins, up to the sixth degree of relation.
Here are a few other things to know about Kansas intestacy laws.
To learn more about intestate succession, read How an Estate Is Settled If There’s No Will.
You can find Kansas’s intestate succession law here: Kansas Statutes §§ 59-501 to 59-514.
For more about estate planning, go to the Wills, Trusts & Probate section of Nolo.com.
]]>You can make several different types of POAs in Kansas. In particular, many estate plans include two POAs:
In most estate plans, these POAs are what are known as "durable" POAs, which means that they retain their effectiveness even after you're incapacitated. It's a good idea for most people to create these two documents, as they help plan for the unexpected.
To learn about other types of POAs, including non-durable (limited) and springing POAs, see What Is a Power of Attorney. Below, learn how to create a durable financial POA that is valid in Kansas.
For your POA to be valid in Kansas, it must meet certain requirements.
The person making a power of attorney must be of sound mind. The exact contours of this mental capacity requirement are open to interpretation by Kansas courts. If you're helping someone make a POA and you're not sure if they meet the mental capacity requirement, you should consult a lawyer.
Kansas law requires that you sign your POA in the presence of a notary public.
The Kansas Judicial Council has created a form you can use to create your power of attorney, but it is not as customizable as some other options. Some private companies also offer forms or templates with blanks that you can fill out to create your POA. For a more user-friendly experience, you can try a software program like WillMaker, which guides you through a series of questions to arrive at a POA that meets your specific aims and is valid in your state. You can also hire a Kansas lawyer to create a POA for you. Many lawyers will include durable POAs as part of a more comprehensive estate plan alongside a will or living trust.
Whatever method you choose, the process of making the POA will likely include either granting your agent comprehensive powers or selecting, from a list, the specific powers you want your agent to have. For example, you might choose to grant your agent the power to engage in:
In Kansas, your POA is durable if it is called a "durable power of attorney" and states that it remains effective after your incapacitation. Kansas laws suggest the following language: "“This is a durable power of attorney and the authority of my attorney in fact shall not terminate if I become disabled or in the event of later uncertainty as to whether I am dead or alive.” (Kan. Stat. § 58-652.)
As mentioned above, you can't simply sign the document and call it a day. In Kansas, you must also have your POA notarized or witnessed (preferably notarized).
Once you have completed the POA, store the original in a safe place that your loved ones can easily access, and let them know where to find it. (It won't do much good locked away in a safe that no one can get into.) If you become incapacitated, your agent might need the original POA to act on your behalf.
You should also give a copy of the power of attorney to your agent so that your agent is familiar with the contents of the document.
If you gave your agent the power to conduct transactions with real estate, you should also file a copy of your POA in the land records office (called the register of deeds in Kansas) in the county or counties where you own real estate. This will allow the register of deeds to recognize your agent's authority if your agent ever needs to sell, mortgage, or transfer real estate for you.
You can also give copies of your durable financial POA to banks or other institutions that your agent might need to deal with in the future. This step might eliminate some hassles for your agent if your agent ever needs to use the POA. Banks can sometimes be finicky about accepting POAs; see Can Banks Refuse a Power of Attorney? for more details.
Legally speaking, you can name any competent adult to serve as your agent. But you'll want to take into account certain practical considerations, such as the person's trustworthiness and geographical location. For more on choosing agents, see What Is a Power of Attorney.
Kansas allows you to appoint co-agents who are authorized to act at the same time, but it's usually advisable to stick to just one agent to minimize potential conflicts. However, naming a "successor" agent—an alternate who will become your agent if your first choice is unavailable for any reason—is always a good idea, as it creates a backup plan.
Your POA is effective immediately unless it explicitly states that it takes effect at a future date.
It's possible to create a condition that must be satisfied before the POA becomes effective—such as a doctor declaring that you are incapacitated—but there are many reasons why this type of "springing" power of attorney is not usually advised.
Any power of attorney automatically ends at your death. A durable POA also ends if:
For more on Kansas estate planning issues, see our section on Kansas Estate Planning.
]]>Kansas offers a procedure that allows inheritors to skip probate altogether. To qualify, the estate (the property you own at death) must meet these requirements:
(Kan. Stat. § 59-1507b (2023).)
This procedure can't be used to transfer real estate, though—only personal property (all other types of property besides real estate).
If your estate meets the requirements listed above, all your inheritor has to do is sign a simple document under oath, called an affidavit. The Small Estates Affidavit must include certain information, such as:
After signing the document (and swearing to its truthfulness) and having it notarized, the inheritor simply presents the affidavit to the person or institution holding the property—for example, a bank where the deceased person had an account. The inheritor will also need to provide a certified copy of the death certificate. After that, the person or institution releases the asset. This process skips probate court entirely.
Even if they don't qualify for one of the probate-skipping procedures discussed above, small estates in Kansas might still be able to use a probate shortcut called "simplified administration" or "simplified probate." With this procedure, you'll still have to go through the probate process, but you will be able to take more steps without court supervision. In other words, probate will be faster, and the costs of probate will be lower.
The probate court has discretion to decide whether to grant simplified administration in any given case. When making the decision, the court will consider factors such as:
(Kan. Stat. § 59-3202 (2023).)
For more information on probate in Kansas, also see the following Nolo article:
Nolo also offers several resources and tools to help with Kansas probate. If you're an executor or personal representative of an estate and tasked with wrapping up a loved one's property, you can consult a probate attorney or the comprehensive book The Executor’s Guide, by Mary Randolph (Nolo), for further help.
On the other hand, if you're interested in actively planning now to minimize probate costs for your loved ones after your death, consider these next steps:
Here’s a quick checklist for making a will in Kansas:
A will, also called a "last will and testament," can help you protect your family and your property. You can use a will to:
In Kansas, if you die without a will, your property will be distributed according to state "intestacy" laws. Kansas's intestacy law gives your property to your closest relatives, beginning with your spouse and children. If you have neither a spouse nor children, your grandchildren or your parents will get your property. This list continues with increasingly distant relatives, including siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews, up to the sixth degree of relation. If the court exhausts this list to find that you have no living relatives by blood or marriage, the state will take your property.
No. You can make your own will in Kansas, using Nolo's Quicken WillMaker & Trust. However, you may want to consult a lawyer in some situations. For example, if you think that your will might be contested or you have especially complicated goals, you should talk with an attorney. See Do I Need an Attorney to Make My Estate Plan?
To make a will in Kansas, you must be:
In Kansas, your will affects the property you own at the time of your death, as well as any property your estate receives after your death. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 59-613.
You must make your will on hard copy. That is, it must be on actual paper. It cannot be on an audio, video, or any other digital file. (Although, see “Can I Make a Digital or Electronic Will?,” below.) Kansas does not permit holographic (handwritten) wills. However, it does permit nuncupative (oral) wills if you make it during a time of your last sickness, someone witnessed this, and your statements were reduced to writing and witnessed by two people. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 59-608.
To finalize your will in Kansas:
You must sign at the end of the will. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 59-606. Your witnesses must see you sign or acknowledge your will. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 59-606. It is best to have only "disinterested" witnesses sign your will - these are people who don't stand to inherit anything from you. If an "interested" witness signs your will, he or she can lose the gift you left in the will for that person. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 59-604.
No, in Kansas, you do not need to notarize your will to make it legal.
However, Kansas allows you to make your will "self-proving" and you'll need to go to a notary if you want to do that. A self-proving will speeds up probate because the court can accept the will without contacting the witnesses who signed it.
To make your will self-proving, you and your witnesses will go to the notary and sign an affidavit that proves who you are and that each of you knew you were signing the will.
Yes. In Kansas, you can use your will to name an executor who will ensure that the provisions in your will are carried out after your death. Nolo's Quicken WillMaker & Trust produces a letter to your executor that generally explains what the job requires. If you don't name an executor, the probate court will appoint someone to take on the job of winding up your estate.
In Kansas, you may revoke or change your will at any time. You can revoke your will by:
If you make a will and then marry and have (or adopt) a child, your will is automatically revoked. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 59-610. If you and your spouse divorce (or if a court determines that your marriage is not legal), Kansas law revokes any language in your will that leaves property to your spouse or names your spouse to be your executor. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 59-610. If you have any concerns about the effects of divorce on your will, see an estate planning attorney for help.
If you need to make changes to your will, it’s best to revoke it and make a new one. However, if you have only very simple changes to make, you could add an amendment to your existing will – this is called a codicil. In either case, you will need to finalize your changes with the same formalities you used to make your original will (see above).
In a handful of states, you can make a legal will digitally—that is, you can make the will, sign it, and have it witnessed without ever printing it out. Although such electronic wills are currently available in only a minority of states, many other states are considering making electronic wills legal. Kansas currently doesn't allow e-wills, but that may change in the future.
You can find Kansas’s laws about making wills here: Kansas Statutes Chapter 59 Probate Code Article 6 - Wills.
]]>In Kansas, a death certificate must be filed with the state registrar within three days and before final disposition of the body. (Kan. Stat. § 65-2412.) Typically, the funeral home, mortuary, cremation organization, or other person in charge of the deceased person’s remains will prepare and file the death certificate. The easiest way to get copies of a death certificate is to ask this person or organization to order them for you at the time of the death.
If you're the executor of the estate (in charge of wrapping up the deceased person’s affairs), you should ask for at least 10 certified copies. You'll need to submit a certified copy of the death certificate each time you claim property or benefits that belonged to the deceased person, including life insurance proceeds, Social Security benefits, payable on death accounts, veterans benefits, and many others.
If you need to order copies of a death certificate after some time has passed, visit the website of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. From there, you'll find options for ordering death certificates online, by mail, over the phone, and in person.
In Kansas, you must provide a copy of your government issued photo ID or other acceptable identification at the time you order a certified copy of the death certificate. Each copy of a Kansas death certificate costs $20. Additional processing fees might apply, depending on the method of ordering.
In Kansas, you can obtain a certified copy of a death certificate if you have a "direct interest." Those with a direct interest in the death certificate include:
For more information, see the Kansas death certificate application form and Kansas Statutes § 65-2422d.
The funeral director completes the death certificate by obtaining personal information about the deceased person from the next of kin and getting the medical certification of the cause of death from the physician who last attended the deceased person before the death. If the death occurred without medical attendance or was not due to natural causes, the coroner investigates the cause of death and signs and completes the medical certification within 24 hours of receiving the death certificate. (Kansas Statutes § 65-2412.)
Embalming is a process in which blood is drained from the body and replaced with fluids that delay disintegration. It is rarely necessary; refrigeration is simpler and serves the same purpose. If burial or cremation won't occur within 24 hours (or longer, if no health hazard or nuisance will occur from the delay), Kansas regulations require a body to be either embalmed or refrigerated. (K.A.R. § 63-3-11.)
However, embalming (without the choice of refrigeration) is required in Kansas when:
A casket is often the single greatest expense incurred after a death. The average cost of a casket is more than $2,000, and the price can run into the $10,000-$20,000 range for more elaborate designs and expensive materials. Whether due to the cost or for other reasons, some people prefer to forgo a casket altogether.
Burial. No law requires a casket for burial, but the cemetery may require a certain type of container.
Cremation. No law requires a casket for cremation. On the contrary, federal law requires a funeral home or crematory to inform you that you may use an alternative container, and to make such containers available to you. An alternative container may be made of unfinished wood, pressed wood, fiberboard, or cardboard.
No. Although funeral homes may sometimes be very pushy about getting you to buy caskets from them, federal law requires funeral homes to accept caskets that consumers have purchased from another source, such as an online retailer. (Learn more about your consumer rights under the FTC Funeral Rule.) You may also build your own casket, if you prefer.
Alkaline hydrolysis (more informally called "water cremation," "flameless cremation," "aquamation," and many other terms) is a chemical process that reduces a body to components of liquid and bone. It's considered a greener alternative to cremation because it uses less energy than cremation and does not release matter into the atmosphere.
Kansas acknowledged alkaline hydrolysis in 2011, when the state broadened its definition of cremation to include methods other than “direct exposure to intense heat and flame.” That definition now reads:
“Cremation” means the mechanical and/or other dissolution process that reduces human remains to bone fragments. Cremation includes the processing and usually includes the pulverization of the bone fragments.
While water cremation or aquamation is acknowledged by Kansas law, you might be able to find only a small number of facilities offering the service. The equipment is expensive and public demand is still small, though it's growing. With time, facilities offering water cremation are likely to become more commonplace.
If you're interested in this option for yourself, you may want to explore pre-planning your final arrangements. Water cremation tends to cost a little more than traditional cremation. (For example, see this 2023 NPR interview on water cremation in which one funeral home prices its water cremation service at $1,000 more than traditional cremation.)
Learn more about alkaline hydrolysis.
Most bodies are buried in established cemeteries, but burial on private property may be possible in Kansas. Before conducting a home burial or establishing a family cemetery, check with the county or town clerk for any local zoning laws you must follow. If you bury a body on private land, you should draw a map of the property showing the burial ground and file it with the property deed so the location will be clear to others in the future.
In Kansas, there are no state laws controlling where you may keep or scatter ashes. However, you must obtain a coroner's permit to cremate before cremating a body in Kansas. (Kansas Statutes § 65-2426(a).) You may store ashes in a crypt, niche, grave, or container at home. If you wish to scatter them, you have many options. Generally, use common sense and refrain from scattering ashes in places where they would be obvious to others.
Scattering ashes in an established scattering garden. Many cemeteries provide gardens for scattering ashes. If you’re interested, ask the cemetery for more information.
Scattering ashes on private land. You are allowed to scatter ashes on your own private property. If you want to scatter ashes on someone else’s private land, it’s wise to get permission from the landowner.
Scattering ashes on public land. You may wish to check both city and county regulations and zoning rules before scattering ashes on local public land, such as in a city park. However, many people simply proceed as they wish, letting their best judgment be their guide.
Scattering ashes on federal land. Officially, you should request permission before scattering ashes on federal land. However, you will probably encounter no resistance if you conduct the scattering ceremony quietly and keep the ashes well away from trails, roads, facilities, developed areas, campsites, and waterways. Some national park websites contain guidelines for scattering ashes. For more information, begin your search at the website of the National Park Service.
Scattering ashes at sea. The federal Clean Water Act requires that cremated remains be scattered at least three nautical miles from land. If the container will not easily decompose, you must dispose of it separately. The EPA does not permit scattering at beaches or in wading pools by the sea. Finally, you must notify the EPA within 30 days of scattering ashes at sea.
The Clean Water Act also governs scattering in inland waters such as rivers or lakes. For inland water burial, you may be legally required to obtain a permit from the state agency that manages the waterway.
For more information, including contact information for the EPA representative in Kansas, see the EPA's page on Burial at Sea.
Scattering ashes by air. While there are no state laws on the matter, federal aviation laws do prohibit dropping any objects that might cause harm to people or property. The U.S. government does not consider cremains to be hazardous material; all should be well so long as you remove the ashes from their container before scattering.
To learn about the federal rule on funerals, which protects consumers in all states, visit the FTC's Funeral Rule page.
For more information about funeral laws in Kansas, see Kansas Home Funeral Laws.
To find out more about funerals and other final arrangements, see Nolo's section on Getting Your Affairs in Order.
Get It Together, by Melanie Cullen (Nolo), helps you gather and organize the essential details of your life for yourself and your family.
]]>A "living" trust (also called an "inter vivos" trust) is simply a trust you create while you're alive. The beneficiaries you name in your living trust receive the trust property when you die. You could instead use a will, but wills must go through probate—the court process that oversees the transfer of your property to your beneficiaries.
Many people create a revocable living trust as part of their estate plan. These trusts can be modified or revoked at any time. Typically, you'll name yourself as the "trustee" of your trust. This means that while you are alive, you retain control of the trust and its property. In your trust document, you will also name a "successor trustee" to take over and manage the trust (distribute your property) after you die. (If you create a shared living trust, as is often done by spouses, then your successor trustee would assume control after both spouses have died.)
In contrast, irrevocable trusts cannot be revoked or modified after they are signed. Irrevocable trusts can be useful tools for specific goals, like reducing taxes, but they require giving up ownership and control of trust property.
When you set up a living trust to transfer your property to your loved ones after your death, you can potentially save them time, hassle, and money. Property left through a will (rather than a living trust) might be tied up for months or even years in probate court, and could involve significant court costs and lawyers' fees. By contrast, property left through a trust can be distributed to your beneficiaries almost immediately, and often without the need for an attorney.
Some states have fully adopted a model law called the Uniform Probate Code, which streamlines the probate process, but unfortunately Kansas is not one of these states. However, Kansas does offer simplified probate processes for "small" estates:
If one of these probate shortcuts is available to your estate, you might not need to worry about making a living trust just to avoid probate. In addition, in Kansas, you can transfer real property with a transfer-on-death deed. If your home is your largest asset, using a transfer-on-death deed to keep it out of probate might help you qualify for a small estate shortcut.
Yes, you'll still need a will. This might seem confusing—isn't the point of a living trust to avoid needing a will? Yes, it is, and your will might never be used. But you should still write one, for one or both of the following reasons:
If you don't have a will, any property that isn't transferred by your living trust or other method (such as joint tenancy) will go to your closest relatives as determined by Kansas state law.
Probably not. Most people do not need to worry about federal estate taxes because the federal estate tax is levied only on estates worth close to $12 million (or almost $24 million for married couples). Kansas does not have its own estate tax.
That said, if you have an estate worth close to $12 million (or you and your spouse or partner have a combined estate of close to $24 million), you might be able to use a more complicated trust (such as an AB trust) to reduce or avoid estate taxes.
To make a living trust in Kansas, you:
You can use WillMaker & Trust to make a living trust using your computer. It has a simple interview format that allows you to complete the trust at your own pace, and it gives you lots of legal and practical help along the way. Based on your responses, the program produces a living trust document customized for you and your situation. With WillMaker & Trust, you can also make a will, powers of attorney, health care directives, transfer-on-death deeds, and many other useful documents. Use it just for yourself or for your entire family.
For more on Kansas estate planning issues, see Kansas Estate Planning.
]]>In Kansas, you can make a living trust to avoid probate for virtually any asset you own—real estate, bank accounts, vehicles, and so on. You need to create a trust document (it's similar to a will), naming someone to take over as trustee after your death (called a successor trustee). Then—and this is crucial—you must transfer ownership of your property to yourself as the trustee of the trust. Once all that's done, the property will be controlled by the terms of the trust. At your death, your successor trustee will be able to transfer it to the trust beneficiaries without probate court proceedings.
If you own property jointly with someone else, and this ownership includes the "right of survivorship," then the surviving owner automatically owns the property when the other owner dies. No probate will be necessary to transfer the property, although of course it will take some paperwork to show that title to the property is held solely by the surviving owner.
In Kansas, you can get the right of survivorship by owning assets in joint tenancy. Assets owned this way automatically pass to the surviving owners when one owner dies. No probate is necessary. Joint tenancy often works well when couples (married or not) acquire real estate, vehicles, bank accounts or other valuable property together. In Kansas, each owner, called a joint tenant, must own an equal share.
In Kansas, you can add a "payable-on-death" (POD) designation to bank accounts such as savings accounts or certificates of deposit. You still control all the money in the account—your POD beneficiary has no rights to the money, and you can spend it all if you want. At your death, the beneficiary can claim the money directly from the bank, without probate court proceedings.
Kansas lets you register stocks and bonds in transfer-on-death (TOD) form. People commonly hold brokerage accounts this way. If you register an account in TOD (also called beneficiary) form, the beneficiary you name will inherit the account automatically at your death. No probate court proceedings will be necessary; the beneficiary will deal directly with the brokerage company to transfer the account.
Kansas allows you to leave real estate with transfer-on-death deeds. These deeds are also called beneficiary deeds. You sign and record the deed now, but it doesn't take effect until your death. You can revoke the deed or sell the property at any time; the beneficiary you name on the deed has no rights until your death. Kan. Stat. §§ 59-3501 and following.
Kansas allows transfer-on-death registration of vehicles. If you register your vehicle this way, the beneficiary you name will automatically inherit the vehicle after your death. No probate court proceeding will be necessary.
Even if you don't do any planning to avoid probate, your estate may qualify for Kansas's simplified "small estate" probate procedures. For more details, see Probate Shortcuts. For more on avoiding probate, see 8 Ways to Avoid Probate, by Mary Randolph (Nolo).
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