Kara T. Burgess, Special Needs Attorney, graduated from Northwest Missouri State University, in Maryville, Missouri with a B.S. in Psychology in 1980. In 1983 she received her Master’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. In 1987 she graduated from the University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Law.
Ms. Burgess is the first member of Western Missouri in the Academy of Special Needs Planners, a professional organization for attorneys who practice in the area of special needs planning, including preparation of special needs trusts. She has served in the past as a voluntary attorney for Legal Aid of Kansas City and Western Missouri and currently serves as a volunteer attorney for Kansas City Hospice, primarily serving individuals in the Kansas City Missouri area. In addition, she volunteers for Healthy Families, a counseling and support service located in the Northland area of Kansas City, serving families in Platte, Ray and Clay Counties, Missouri.
Ms. Burgess serves on the Board of Director’s for Traility, Inc., a not-for-profit agency that provides day habilitation services for Clay and Platte County, Missouri residents with mental and physical disabilities, and therapies, education and child care for children with developmental disabilities.
Ms. Burgess has received hundreds of court appointments in Western Missouri to serve in the capacity as Guardian ad Litem for children, as well as to represent individuals with a disability in guardianship proceedings.
Practice emphasis is Special Needs Law and Guardianships – including preparing special needs trust for individuals with a disability who may receive lawsuit proceeds, inheritances or other funds; and preparing wills and special needs trusts for families of individuals with a disability, all with a focus on asset protection and preserving public benefits eligibility. Ms. Burgess serves all of the metropolitan Kansas City Missouri area, including Clay, Platte, Jackson, Ray, Cass and Clinton Counties.
