Kevin D. Klagge, Esq.

I help families and business owners hold on to what they’ve built and pass it to their families, instead of losing it to probate, creditors, taxes, or the cost of long-term care.

This work is personal for me.

My grandfather was a decorated World War II veteran and a civil engineer. He worked his whole life to support his family and to buy the home they grew up in. When he had a stroke, the ambulance didn’t take him to the VA hospital, where the care he had earned through his service would have been covered. The cost of the care that followed slowly used up everything he had saved, and after he died the state moved to recover what Medicaid had paid. Within months, the home and savings he had built over a lifetime were gone.

He had spent his life providing for his family. But no one ever showed him how to protect it.

I became an attorney to protect what matters most. After beginning my career as a prosecutor, I built my practice in estate planning and asset protection, so that other families wouldn’t have to learn that lesson the way mine did. I help my clients put wills, trusts, and asset protection plans in place that keep their property and businesses out of the hands of the courts, creditors, and unnecessary taxation.

Most estate plans are written by attorneys who have never had to defend one in court. For more than fifteen years, I have also litigated poorly drafted documents in court, including probate and trust litigation. I’ve seen how a single ambiguous clause can set off a will contest, how loose trust language invites a challenge, and how a poorly handled transfer gets unwound by a creditor. Because I know how these plans get attacked, I write yours to hold up, and in many cases to keep your family out of court in the first place.

How I Work

• Plain English. One concept at a time, in language that makes sense.
• Flat fees, up front. You’ll know what your plan costs before you hire me.
• Wherever you are. I serve Florida, multi-state, and international clients by phone and video, helpful for snowbirds, recent relocations, and families handling a Florida estate from afar.
• Across borders. Cross-border and international estate and tax planning, including for the U.S.-Israel community.
• Built to hold up. Planning informed by what actually happens when families disagree.

Background

I earned my law degree summa cum laude from Suffolk University Law School in Boston, where I served on the Suffolk Transnational Law Review. Over the years my clients have included everyone from individuals and families to Fortune 100 companies. I am admitted to The Florida Bar (Fla. Bar No. 99502) and am a member of its Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section. I focus my practice on estate planning, probate, elder law, and trust and probate litigation.

When I’m not working, you’ll usually find me at my synagogue or with my kids. I take this work personally, because I’ve seen firsthand what it costs a family when no one plans ahead. If you want to make sure what you’ve built ends up with the people you love, I’d be glad to talk.