Medicaid Planning Attorney in Overland Park, KS

Trust the Medicaid Planning Attorneys at Paths

Planning for the cost of future care is one of the most important steps Kansas families can take to protect their loved ones.

Medicaid planning is about more than paperwork; it is about preserving assets, ensuring access to appropriate care, and giving peace of mind to every family member involved.

With nursing home care and assisted living facilities in Johnson County costing thousands of dollars each month, the financial burden can quickly overwhelm families without careful legal guidance. That is why working with experienced Medicaid planning attorneys in Overland Park is so valuable.

By partnering with elder law attorneys who understand both Kansas and Missouri rules, you can navigate complex legal matters with confidence and secure the right legal solutions for your family’s long-term care planning.

Paths Law Firm brings years of experience, elder law services, and asset protection strategies to help you make the important decisions that safeguard your future.


The Premier Medicaid Planning Attorneys in Overland Park

At Paths Law Firm, our mission is to help families in Overland Park through the complicated world of Medicaid and long-term care planning with clarity and compassion. With decades of combined experience, our attorneys have helped families across Johnson County protect their homes, savings, and financial security.

Medicaid eligibility requirements are complicated, and mistakes in the application process can be costly. Our attorneys provide personalized legal services to help you preserve assets, qualify for Medicaid benefits, and ensure your loved ones receive the care they need. Whether you need an irrevocable trust, guidance on the look back period, or application assistance, our team walks with you every step of the way.

Because we focus exclusively on elder law services and estate planning needs, we understand how Medicaid planning connects with powers of attorney, living trusts, durable powers of attorney, and special needs trust options. This comprehensive approach allows us to deliver complete legal solutions for your unique needs.

Families in Overland Park deserve more than generic paperwork. Paths Law Firm is committed to protecting what matters most, providing peace of mind, and helping you prepare for the years ahead.


Medicaid Planning in Overland Park: Local Context

Overland Park is the second largest city in Kansas, with just about 200,000 residents and a strong reputation for family living in Johnson County. Over 30,000 of those residents are over the age of 65, highlighting the growing need for elder care and long-term care planning in the community.

The median value of an owner-occupied home in Overland Park is over $460,000, and for many families, that property represents their most valuable asset. At the same time, nursing home care in Kansas often costs between $6,000 and $8,000 per month, which can quickly deplete savings and real estate holdings without proper asset protection planning.

Overland Park is also home to many respected senior living and care communities, including Novel Place Senior Living, Sunrise of Overland Park, and Silvercrest at Deer Creek.  

Kansas also enforces rules regarding Medicaid Estate Recovery, which allows the state to recover certain long-term care costs from a recipient’s estate after death. Without careful planning, this could include claims against the family home or other property that parents hoped to leave to children.

This is why Medicaid planning and special needs planning strategies are so important for families in Overland Park. With the right legal guidance, you can avoid unnecessary spend downs, protect your assets, and ensure quality care for your loved ones.

overland park
elder law attorney Kansas City


Medicaid Planning with Confidence

Know Your Options. Protect What Matters.

When it comes to long-term care planning, the first step is understanding your options. At Paths Law Firm, we help families in Overland Park navigate Medicaid eligibility, preserve important property, and avoid costly mistakes that could threaten financial security. 

Our attorneys provide Medicaid planning services that protect what matters most: your loved ones and your legacy.

Our Medicaid planning services in Overland Park include:

  • Irrevocable trusts and Medicaid Asset Protection

  • Income and resource evaluations

  • Spend down planning

  • Application process assistance

  • Guidance on eligibility requirements and penalties

  • Protecting the family home and Real Estate assets

With years of experience serving Johnson County, we know how to create tailored legal solutions that address your legal needs. Whether you require a power of attorney, integration with living wills and living trusts, or assistance with estate administration, our attorneys will guide you through the legal process with clarity and compassion.

Reasons To Choose Paths Law Firm

  1. Over 50 Years of Combined Experience
  2. Focused Exclusively on Elder Law & Estate Planning
  3. Personalized, Neighborly Service in Lee’s Summit
  4. We Help Families Plan with Clarity and Confidence
  5. 5-Star Rating on Google

What to Expect When You Work With Us

Working with a Medicaid planning attorney should bring reassurance, not stress. At Paths Law Firm, we guide you through every stage of the legal process so you always know what to expect.

Our step-by-step approach includes:

We do not take a one size fits all approach. We create a customized plan that reflects your family members’ goals, financial situation, and long-term care costs.

We explain your legal options in simple terms so you can make confident decisions. Whether it involves Medicaid eligibility, durable powers of attorney, or asset protection, you will understand both the opportunities and the risks.

We handle the details, from drafting living wills and powers of attorney to establishing irrevocable trusts and living trusts. Each document supports your estate planning needs and future security.

We assist with the Medicaid application process, including gathering financial information, preparing forms, and responding to eligibility requirements. This helps prevent costly mistakes and delays.

As your care needs change, we remain your trusted estate planning lawyer and elder law partner, ready to adjust strategies, provide elder law services, and ensure your loved ones continue to receive appropriate care.

Get Started with the Overland Park Medicaid Attorney You Can Trust

Your family’s future deserves protection and clarity. Whether you are preparing for nursing home care, assisted living, or simply want to preserve assets for your loved ones, Paths Law Firm is here to guide you.

With decades of experience serving Johnson County, our attorneys provide the Medicaid planning services and elder law guidance Kansas families need to move forward with confidence.

Now is the time to take the first step. Contact us today to schedule a free estate consultation and learn how we can help families qualify for benefits, protect their homes, and secure peace of mind for the years ahead.

Address7400 W 132nd St Suite 150, Overland Park, KS 66213

Phone(913) 717-0021

Medicaid FAQs

A Medicaid Planning Attorney in Overland Park helps families prepare for the high costs of long-term care. This includes evaluating income and assets, developing asset protection strategies, and assisting with the application process for Medicaid benefits. Our elder law services also integrate tools such as power of attorney, living trusts, and special needs trust planning.

While living wills and powers of attorney are essential legal documents, they do not cover how to pay for nursing home care or assisted living. Medicaid planning ensures that family members have access to appropriate care while preserving assets and protecting real estate.

In some cases, yes. Medicaid planning often overlaps with estate planning needs and can involve strategies such as irrevocable trusts, durable powers of attorney, or living trusts. These tools can help reduce exposure to estate taxes while qualifying for Medicaid benefits.

Eligibility requirements vary depending on income, resources, and medical care needs. Kansas laws require a thorough review of financial records, which makes legal guidance essential. Our attorneys help families navigate these rules so they can qualify without losing everything they have worked for.

It is best to begin Medicaid planning before a crisis occurs. However, even if a loved one is already in nursing home care, it may not be too late. The sooner you schedule a free estate consultation, the more options we can provide to protect assets, meet care needs, and secure peace of mind.

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ATTORNEY

Russell A. Fracassa (Rusty)

Attorney Russell A. Fracassa

When asked what he wants to do, his reply was “I just want to sit at the kitchen table and work directly with people.” Rusty enjoys working with clients providing experienced advocacy and supporting them through their unfamiliar and overwhelming situations. Due to all the challenges faced by seniors, it is essential to work with an experienced elder law attorney who has expertise in the law, issues, and concerns affecting seniors and their families.

Rusty brings more than 30 years legal experience and expertise working for seniors and their families as an elder law attorney in Kansas City and surrounding. Prior to law school, Rusty was an accountant and his first couple years practicing law was as a tax attorney. This provides invaluable experience in his current practice of law. Rusty’s focus is helping protect seniors’ assets from taxes and long-term care costs, benefit qualification, and navigating more complex family scenarios in their estate planning.

Rusty has personally experienced the loss every parent fears, caring for a spouse suffering with cancer and the treatment, and working with aging parents through all stages of their lives.  He intimately understands the challenges faced by individuals and their caretakers when capacity or health declines, how to prepare for it, and the legal matters while in the midst of it.  He may not be able to eliminate his client’s grief, but he strives to provide clients with peace of mind.

In 2010, Rusty’s faith and love led him and part of his family to China as Christian missionaries. He and his wife, went permanently, but ended up dedicating 3 years to that ministry. They returned to Missouri to help with grandchildren after a family tragedy and later began anew with Paths Elder Law. The goal is providing compassionate care through legal advocacy.

Rusty has multiple degrees and advanced study spanning his Bachelor’s of Arts in Business Administration – Accounting at Rockhurst College (now Rockhurst University), Masters of Arts in Accounting and in Intercultural Studies, as well as his Juris Doctorate from the University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Law.

When Rusty is not practicing law, he enjoys spending time with his family, grandchildren, and excessive eating at local restaurants.

Practice Areas

  • Wills and Trusts
  • Estate Planning
  • Asset Protection
  • Medicaid Benefits
  • VA Benefits
  • Probate
  • Guardianship and Conservatorships
  • Education

 

BSBA and Master’s in Accounting, Master’s in Inter-Cultural Studies, and Doctorate in Juris Prudence

  • Rockhurst University
  • Liberty University
  • University of Missouri – Kansas City


Admissions to Practice

  • Missouri


Professional Memberships and Affiliations

  • State Bar of Missouri
  • National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (long-time Member)
  • Elder Counsel (Charter and Ongoing Member)
  • Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys (Past Member)
  • Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
  • Missouri State Bar Committees – Elder Law, Estate Planning, Probate

Attorney

Kathleen E. Overton

Kathleen E. Overton, Attorney

Kathleen Overton is an attorney and owner at Paths Law Firm. She has more than 17 years of experience advocating for those with special needs and navigating the state and federal agencies formed to help the disabled and elderly. At Paths Law Firm, Kathleen’s practice focuses on helping the elderly qualify for nursing home Medicaid, creating estate plans to protect beneficiaries, as well as a lot of time planning and forming businesses. Kathleen also enjoys helping clients form non-profit organizations and obtain 501(c)(3) tax exempt status.

 

After attending law school at the University of Oklahoma, Kathleen began representing clients before the Social Security Administration. Eventually her practice switched to federal court appeals and Kathleen spent years representing clients before the Eastern and Western District of Missouri, the District of Kansas, and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Kathleen has since focused her practice on estate planning and elder law after watching clients struggle to find ways to financially care for loved ones with special needs or aging parents.

 

Kathleen lives in the Northland with her husband and four children. She spends her free time attending soccer matches and ballet performances with her children and starting endless home improvement projects with her husband. 

Of Counsel

Janeece L. Dent-Bennett

Janeece L. Dent-Bennett

Janeece Dent-Bennett was born in Lexington, Missouri, in 1960 and graduated from Lexington High School in 1979.  She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in Accounting from University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, MO in 1982. 

In 1985, Janeece graduated with distinction from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.

Upon graduation from law school, Janeece joined the former Shughart Thomson & Kilroy, P.C. law firm (now Polsinelli) in Kansas City, Missouri, with a primary practice in corporate and business law. 

She started her own law practice in 1989 and has since practiced law in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, serving clients throughout the state of Missouri with a primary emphasis in Wills, Trusts, Estate Planning, Probate, and Business Transactions.

Janeece is married and has 3 children.  Jillian Dent is an attorney in Kansas City, Missouri.  Nathan Dent is a Certified Public Accountant in Denver, Colorado.  Andrew Bennett is an Electrical Engineer in North Kansas City, Missouri.  Her husband Mark Bennett is an IT specialist contractor for the USDA.

Recently, Janeece closed her former solo law practice of 36 years and joined Paths Law Firm in Lee’s Summit, MO as Of Counsel.

Paralegal

Jennifer Scott

jennifer scott

Jennifer serves as an Estate Planning Paralegal, providing comprehensive support to the firm’s attorneys and clients. She assists in the preparation of wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and other estate planning documents, ensuring accuracy, clarity, and alignment with each client’s objectives.

Before transitioning into estate planning, Jennifer gained extensive experience as a Family Law Paralegal, this background enables her to navigate sensitive client circumstances with professionalism, discretion, and a strong understanding of family dynamics.

Jennifer is recognized for her attention to detail, strong organizational skills, and commitment to delivering a thoughtful and reassuring client experience. She approaches each matter with integrity and a focus on ensuring clients feel informed and supported throughout the process.

Outside of the office, Jennifer enjoys practicing yoga, watching sunsets, and spending time in nature—activities that provide balance and inspiration in her personal life.

Assistant to Russell Fracassa

Peyton Osborne

Peyton Osborne

Peyton serves as the Assistant to Russell Fracassa, bringing dedication, reliability, and compassion to her role at Paths Law Firm.

With prior experience supporting small businesses in administrative and operational capacities, she has developed strong organizational skills and a sharp attention to detail that help ensure both attorneys and clients are well supported.

She is currently studying at the University of Missouri–Kansas City as an Honors Student, demonstrating a strong commitment to excellence in both her academic and professional pursuits. Peyton’s work ethic and drive are reflected in the care she brings to each task and interaction.

Outside of the office, Peyton enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and exploring new places.

Probate Paralegal

Shaye Kotze

Shaye Kotze

Shaye entered the field of civil law in 2022 and has quickly developed a strong foundation in client service and legal support.

Her academic background includes an Associate of Science degree in Healthcare Services and Informatics Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies, with an emphasis in Health and Human Services, Social Sciences, and Humanities.

This unique blend of legal experience and healthcare-focused education allows Shaye to approach her work with both analytical precision and genuine empathy — especially when supporting families navigating complex and sensitive situations.

Outside of the office, Shaye enjoys spending time with her husband and their one-year-old daughter. Whether she’s baking sourdough, working on arts and crafts, or enjoying time outdoors, she values creating meaningful moments with her family.

Receptionist

Malia Blosser

Malia Blosser

Malia serves as the first point of contact for many of our clients, helping create a welcoming and supportive experience from the very first phone call. As our receptionist, she assists with scheduling, communication, and ensuring that each interaction reflects the care and professionalism our firm values.

She understands that many families who contact our office may be navigating stressful or uncertain situations, and she strives to make every conversation feel comfortable and reassuring.

Outside of work, Malia enjoys spending time with her husband and their two children. She loves reading, watching movies, and baking with her kids — creating meaningful memories both at home and at work.

Legal Assistant

Reese M. Lehr

Reese Lehr

With a strong background in customer service and a passion for helping others, Reese brings dedication and a positive attitude to her role as a Legal Assistant at Paths Law Firm. She supports the team by managing client correspondence, organizing policies, and stepping in wherever needed to ensure clients receive the highest level of care. Known for her strong work ethic and adaptability, Reese is always ready to tackle new challenges and contribute to the firm’s mission.

Reese is currently enrolled in the Honors Program at the University of Missouri–Kansas City, where she continues to pursue academic excellence. Outside of work and school, she enjoys spending time outdoors and cherishing meaningful moments with her family and friends. Her enthusiasm, reliability, and drive make her a valuable part of the Paths Law Firm team.

Office Assistant

Christine G. Yates

Christine G. Yates
Christine serves as the Office Assistant at Paths Law Firm, where she supports day-to-day operations with a strong work ethic and a positive attitude. A student at Faith Christian Academy, Christine is passionate about pursuing a future career in both business and law, with a goal of serving her community and making a meaningful impact.
 
Outside of the office, Christine is a multi-talented individual who enjoys spending time with family and friends, playing musical instruments, practicing martial arts, cooking, exploring the outdoors, and constantly learning new skills. Her energy, curiosity, and dedication make her a valued member of the Paths team.

Legal Assistant

Bailey E. Harrison

Bailey
Bailey is a skilled Legal Assistant with a focus on elder law, providing dedicated support to both clients and attorneys. With a strong background in customer service and a certification from the University of Arkansas’ paralegal program, Bailey brings exceptional organizational skills, attention to detail, and a client-centered approach to their work.
 
Committed to efficiency and professionalism, Bailey assists in navigating complex legal matters with compassion and precision. Outside of work, Bailey maintains a balanced lifestyle by reading, staying active, and spending quality time with their cats.

Community Relations

Jeane M. Fracassa

Jeane M. Fracassa

Jeane Fracassa – a dedicated and accomplished professional who retired with an impressive 38-year service record from the Kansas City Missouri Police Department. Throughout her illustrious career, Jeane served as a Civian Supervisor in the Communications Unit, where she played a pivotal role in ensuring efficient and effective communication within the department.

Even in retirement, Jeane’s commitment to community service remains unwavering. Currently, she serves in various capacities within Community Relations at Paths Law Firm. Actively engaged in the Lee’s Summit and Overland Park communities, she proudly represents the law firm.

In all aspects of her life, Jeane Fracassa exemplifies the values of community, compassion, and family. Her commitment to making a difference and her love for exploration make her a remarkable individual, whose presence brightens the lives of those she encounters. Whether at work, with family, or during her travels, Jeane’s genuine care for others and her zest for life make her a truly remarkable and inspiring person.

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Sydney R. Morris

Sydney R. Morris

Sydney serves as the Director of Operations at Paths Law Firm, overseeing the firm’s internal processes, team coordination, and strategic initiatives. Since joining the firm in 2017, she has grown from an experienced paralegal and internal accountant into the central force behind the firm’s operational excellence. 

She graduated with honors from the University of Missouri–Kansas City in 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. Sydney is also a proud alumni member of Bloch Launchpad, Phi Theta Kappa, and the National Honor Society.

Outside of the office, Sydney enjoys spending time with her husband, reading, baking, and going on long walks.

FINANCIAL MANAGER

René A. Fracassa

René A. Fracassa

René is the Financial Manager at Paths Law Firm overseeing all aspects of revenue, expenses, and financial planning. She is also responsible for general office management, including assisting in many of the administrative matters that periodically arise. 

René earned her Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management from Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, Missouri and soon thereafter worked her way through management at The American Restaurant where she worked almost 17 years before relocating to the country of China.

In her spare time, René is currently quite active managing multiple generations of her family, including parents and grandkids.  René has had great impact on the lives of many women teaching discipling and teaching and abundance of Bible Studies. Her former career in management and event planning trained her well to juggle all the activity.

MARKETING MANAGER

Hilary R. Tichota

Hilary Tichota

Hilary plays a vital role in managing the Marketing Department at Paths Law Firm.  She is excellent at bringing new ideas and sharing valuable resources with the law firm and our community. Hilary has been with the law firm since the beginning, working in nearly every role which is invaluable in her marketing endeavors as she brings a unique set of skills into the Marketing Department.

Hilary is nearly complete in her Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Marketing at Park University.  She has earned the honor of being listed in National Honors Society, Phi Theta Kappa, and the Dean’s List. Hilary is always looking for new and innovative ways to share the law firm’s message.