Mr. O’Sullivan represents clients primarily in connection with their estate and tax planning and the administration of trusts and estates. He has a broad range of experience in developing and implementing both simple and complex estate planning techniques. He also represents both individual and institutional fiduciaries in the administration of trusts and estates. As part of his practice, Mr. O’Sullivan crafts wills, testamentary trusts, revocable living trusts, irrevocable trusts, dynasty or other types of generation-skipping trusts, “special needs” trusts, financial and healthcare powers of attorney, living wills, premarital agreements, stock purchase or buy-sell agreements, strategic gifting and estate tax planning, asset protection planning, governmental resource planning (e.g., Medicaid and SSI), family business succession plans, premarital agreements, IRA, 401k or other tax deferred beneficiary designations and deferral strategies, life insurance structures, family limited partnerships and limited liability companies, grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), private annuities, self-canceling installment notes (SCINs) and other instruments and estate planning techniques. He also represents executors and administrators before the probate court and advises fiduciaries and other clients in the preparation of estate, inheritance, gift, generation-skipping, and income tax returns filed with federal and state governments. A substantial portion of Mr. O’Sullivan’s practice also involves advising clients on strategies and provisions which enhance the preservation of family harmony in the estate planning process.
Mr. O’Sullivan was selected by his peers for inclusion in the Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers® list and The Best Lawyers in America© in the areas of Elder Law and Trusts and Estates. In 2011 and 2016 he was named by Best Lawyers® the Wichita Elder Law “Lawyer of the Year” and in 2010 the Wichita Trusts & Estates “Lawyer of the Year.” Mr. O’Sullivan is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and his peer memberships include the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) and the Wichita Estate Planning Council. He also enjoys Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory’s highest “AV” rating for lawyers.
Over his career, Mr. O’Sullivan has made presentations on estate planning topics at approximately one hundred professional seminars sponsored by such professional organizations as the American Bar Association, the Kansas Bar Association, the Wichita Bar Association, the Minnesota Bar Association, the University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law, Washburn University School of Law, the American College of Trust & Estate Planning Counsel (ACTEC), the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), the National Continuing Legal Education Conference, the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA), the Kansas Society of Certified Public Accountants, the Public Accountants Association of Kansas, Missouri/ Kansas Trust Conference, the Kansas Bankers Association, the Wichita Financial Planning Association, the Kansas City Estate Planning Council, the Grene County Missouri (Springfield) Estate Planning Counsel, the Eastern Kansas (Overland Park) Estate Planning Council, the Douglas County Kansas (Lawrence) Estate Planning Council, the Wichita Estate Planning Council, and the Western Kansas (Hays) Estate Planning Council.
Education
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University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law
(LL.M., Taxation, 1983)
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Washburn University
(J.D., 1975)
With Honors
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St. Louis University
(B.S., 1969)
Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1995)
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (1975)
- U.S. Tax Court (1982)
- Kansas (1975)