Introduction

Eighteen years of practice in elder law gives Charles J. Andres a particular depth in the field that younger generalist practices cannot replicate. Based in Olathe, Kansas, the Law Office of Charles J. Andres handles the full spectrum of elder law matters: Medicare and Medicaid planning, estate planning, wills, trusts, powers of attorney, living wills, Social Security benefits, tax matters, nursing home negligence, and elder abuse. The scope reflects the breadth of legal issues that accumulate around aging: financial planning, care planning, asset protection, and accountability when care providers cause harm.

Elder law is not a simple category of practice. It sits at the intersection of tax law, benefits law, probate law, family law, and tort law. An attorney who has spent 18 years working exclusively or primarily in this space has encountered the edge cases, the bureaucratic obstacles, and the family dynamics that general practitioners rarely see. Andres’s accessible approach to client service acknowledges that many elder law clients arrive feeling overwhelmed by Medicare and Medicaid systems that are genuinely difficult to understand.

The firm’s phone number is 913-782-8298. More information is at andreslawfirm.com.

Practice Areas

Medicare and Medicaid Planning

Medicare and Medicaid planning for seniors involves understanding two overlapping but distinct programs. Medicare is the federal health insurance program for individuals 65 and older (and certain younger individuals with disabilities). It covers hospital stays, physician services, and prescription drugs but generally does not cover long-term custodial care in a nursing facility beyond a limited period.

Medicaid, by contrast, is a joint federal-state program with income and asset eligibility requirements. For seniors who require nursing home care over an extended period, Medicaid often becomes the primary funding source once other resources are spent down. Planning ahead of a care need: sometimes years in advance: can preserve assets that would otherwise be consumed by care costs.

The Kansas Medicaid program has its own rules regarding asset limits, income thresholds, lookback periods for transfers, and the types of trusts and planning vehicles that qualify under state law. Andres navigates these rules for clients planning for their own care and for adult children planning on behalf of aging parents.

Wills and Trusts

A will is the foundational estate planning document: it designates beneficiaries, names an executor, and if minor children are involved, can name a guardian. Without a will, Kansas’s intestacy statutes determine who inherits, which may not reflect what the decedent would have wanted.

Trusts serve different purposes depending on their structure. A revocable living trust allows assets to pass outside of probate, providing privacy and efficiency. An irrevocable trust, by contrast, removes assets from the grantor’s estate and can serve Medicaid planning purposes when structured correctly. Special needs trusts preserve eligibility for public benefits programs for beneficiaries with disabilities.

Estate Planning

The firm’s estate planning work addresses asset transfer strategies, estate tax minimization, guardianship for minor children, charitable giving structures, and protection for pets after an owner’s death. The range reflects the diversity of clients’ concerns. For older clients with significant assets, the estate tax implications of transfer strategies matter. For clients with minor grandchildren or dependent family members, guardianship designations are equally urgent.

Charitable giving through estate planning can include bequests to nonprofit organizations, charitable remainder trusts, and charitable lead trusts, each with different tax and distribution characteristics.

Pet protection provisions in estate planning are a relatively recent development but address a real concern: what happens to an animal companion after the owner’s death? Kansas allows pet trusts, which designate a caretaker and fund for the animal’s ongoing care.

Powers of Attorney and Medical Directives

Powers of attorney for financial matters designate someone to manage financial decisions when a principal becomes unable to do so. Medical directives: including living wills and health care proxies: document a person’s wishes for medical treatment in specific circumstances and designate someone to make health care decisions when the principal cannot.

These documents must be executed while the principal has legal capacity. A person who waits until cognitive decline is already advanced may lack the capacity to execute valid documents, leaving family members to seek court-ordered guardianship or conservatorship. Early planning avoids that scenario.

Andres assists clients in preparing these documents in a manner that holds up to legal scrutiny: properly witnessed, notarized where required, and drafted to cover the situations the client anticipates.

Social Security Benefits

Social Security benefits planning involves understanding the rules around retirement benefit timing, spousal and survivor benefits, disability benefits, and the interplay between Social Security and other income sources. Decisions about when to claim Social Security retirement benefits: which can begin as early as 62 or be delayed up to 70: affect lifetime benefit totals significantly depending on the individual’s health, life expectancy, and income needs.

The firm assists clients in understanding their options and the rules that govern them.

Nursing Home Negligence and Elder Abuse

Nursing facilities owe a duty of care to their residents. When that duty is breached: through inadequate staffing, failure to prevent or treat pressure ulcers, medication errors, falls, or outright abuse: the residents and their families have legal recourse. Andres handles these cases as part of his elder law practice, which means he approaches them with an understanding of the regulatory environment that governs nursing facilities and the standards of care they are required to meet.

Elder abuse claims can involve financial exploitation, physical abuse, emotional abuse, or neglect by family members, caregivers, or institutions. The legal remedies vary depending on the nature of the abuse and whether the perpetrator is an individual or an institution.

Attorney Profiles

Charles J. Andres

Charles J. Andres has practiced in elder law for 18 years. His practice in Olathe, Kansas covers the full range of elder law matters: planning for Medicare and Medicaid, estate planning, wills and trusts, powers of attorney, medical directives, Social Security benefits, tax issues, nursing home negligence, and elder abuse.

Andres is described as having an accessible approach, which reflects a deliberate choice about how to serve clients who are often navigating bureaucratic processes they have not encountered before. Medicare and Medicaid involve complex rules that change regularly. Estate planning raises questions about mortality and family dynamics that clients may find uncomfortable. An accessible attorney is one who meets clients where they are rather than overwhelming them with legal terminology.

The firm also assists with end-of-life decisions: a sensitive area that requires both legal accuracy and a human approach to a subject that many clients find difficult to address.

Location & Service Area

The Law Office of Charles J. Andres is based in Olathe, Kansas. Olathe is the county seat of Johnson County, one of the most populous counties in Kansas, located in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The firm serves seniors and their families in the Olathe area and the surrounding region.

Phone: 913-782-8298
Website: andreslawfirm.com

Client Focus

The firm’s clients are seniors, individuals with disabilities, and their families. Many arrive having encountered Medicare or Medicaid for the first time and finding the programs’ rules opaque. Others are planning ahead: thinking about long-term care costs, what happens to their estate, and how to ensure that a spouse or dependent family member is protected if they become incapacitated.

Andres’s 18 years of elder law practice means he has seen these situations repeatedly and can offer perspective on what options exist, which strategies have worked in practice, and what the realistic outcomes of various approaches look like. That accumulated experience is what distinguishes a long-tenured specialist from an attorney who takes elder law cases intermittently among other matters.

End-of-life planning: living wills, health care proxies, advance directives: is part of the firm’s work. These conversations can be uncomfortable, but having legally valid documents in place before a health crisis arrives is far less difficult than the alternatives: court proceedings for guardianship, family conflicts over what the patient would have wanted, or medical decisions made by default rather than by the patient’s own prior instruction.

FAQ

What is the lookback period for Medicaid in Kansas, and how does it affect planning?

The federal Medicaid lookback period for nursing home care is five years. Kansas follows this standard. During the five years before a Medicaid application for nursing facility care, the state reviews the applicant’s financial records for transfers of assets made for less than fair market value. Transfers that fall within the lookback period can result in a period of ineligibility for Medicaid coverage. Planning ideally begins well before the lookback period begins to run, but options may still exist even for clients who are already in or approaching a care need.

Can Charles Andres help if a nursing home has neglected a family member?

Yes. The firm handles nursing home negligence and elder abuse cases. Nursing facilities are required to meet specific standards of care under federal and Kansas law. When facilities fail to meet those standards and residents suffer harm: through pressure ulcers, medication errors, falls, or inadequate staffing: the facility can be held legally accountable.

What happens if someone dies without a will in Kansas?

Under Kansas’s intestate succession statutes, assets pass according to a fixed legal formula that prioritizes spouses, children, and then more distant relatives. This distribution may not reflect what the decedent would have wanted. Additionally, without a will, there is no executor named by the decedent, no designated guardian for minor children, and no charitable bequests. A will allows a person to control all of those outcomes.

Why should powers of attorney and medical directives be prepared early?

These documents can only be executed by a person who has legal capacity. Cognitive decline, dementia, or sudden incapacitation can eliminate that capacity. A person who waits too long may be unable to execute a valid power of attorney or medical directive, leaving family members without legal authority to act on their behalf and potentially requiring court proceedings for guardianship or conservatorship. Preparing these documents while healthy is significantly simpler than the alternatives.

Does the firm handle Social Security disability claims as well as retirement benefits?

The firm assists with Social Security benefits generally, which includes retirement benefits, spousal and survivor benefits, and disability benefits under the Social Security program. For specifics on what the firm can handle for a particular Social Security matter, contact the office at 913-782-8298.

Closing

Eighteen years of practice in elder law, combined with coverage of the full range of issues that affect seniors and their families, makes the Law Office of Charles J. Andres a consistent resource for Olathe-area residents facing Medicare and Medicaid planning, estate planning, nursing home negligence, or elder abuse situations. The firm’s accessible approach is suited to clients who are dealing with genuinely complex bureaucratic and legal terrain for the first time. Reach the office at 913-782-8298 or through the website at andreslawfirm.com.