PMCW Law

The Law Offices of Phillips, McElyea, Carpenter & Welch, P.C . are committed to providing our clients as many options to protect their hard earned assets via good estate planning advice.  If you own a business, a home, investment property, stocks, or other assets, you may need to protect yourself from attack by potential creditors or from exorbitant taxation.  One structure that may help you is a "Family Limited Partnership". What is a Family Limited Partnership ? A family limited partnership (FLP) is designed to pool together a family's assets into a single family-owned business partnership.  This is different from a conventional trust and the family members actually own a share in the business.  There are two types of partners; general and limited.  General partners control all the decisions of the partnership and bear 100% of the liability.  Limited partners cannot participate in the management of the FLP and their liability is limited. FLPs...

At the Law Offices of  Phillips, McElyea, Carpenter & Welch, P.C ., we have a proven investment in our community and the next generation. We care deeply about the lives of those around us and want to help each young person in our community fulfill their dreams. We want to take this opportunity to pay it forward to the next generation of lawyers by compiling a list of tips and techniques for studying and maximizing your LSAT test score. The Test The LSAT is a standardized test that every prospective law school candidates must take. The exam lasts several hours and tests the candidates' reading comprehension and their logical and verbal reasoning proficiencies.  There are five 35 minute sections of multiple-choice questions.   Proper preparation is key to a strong test score! The Tips Determine your baseline. Take a few complete practice tests to determine your strengths and weaknesses. This will help you decide where to start prepa...

The Law Offices of  Phillips, McElyea, Carpenter & Welch, P.C . have the  best attorneys in the Lake of the Ozarks  area and a top notch support team to help you with most legal issues.  We want to feature the outstanding members of our firm via a series of Blogs where we ask some questions and get some insight on why they went into Law, learn about them as individuals, and feature what they do when they are not at work helping others.  We hope you enjoy this series, and we will feature a different team member every other week. Question - Why did you become a lawyer? Answer -   That is a good question because I almost didn’t become one.   I was in Forestry School at the University of Missouri scheduled to graduate in 1970 and it became apparent to most of us that there were no jobs in that field due to a recession that we were then going through.   I could have accepted a Fellowship in the Department of Plant Physio...

The Law Offices of Phillips, McElyea, Carpenter & Welch, P.C. (1939 - present) Seventy five years is a long time and many things have changed over the years.  Our firm is celebrating this great milestone throughout 2014, but we have something special planned for this weekend at the Dogwood Festival.  We will be building a float with the theme of "Then and Now"! We have several elements of the float that will highlight our theme.  Attorney Charlie McElyea will be representing the "Then" days of our firm with legal secretary Clare Harris dressed as an old-fashioned secretary taking short hand.  The latter portion of the float will represent the "Now" period and will have Attorney Ron Carpenter's 13 year old granddaughter, Mary, dressed up as the modern, hip, and forward thinking attorney with all the modern technology.  Mary is a 4th generation descendent of our founder, Hugh Phillips. Ron Carpenter will be driving the float and t...

The Law Offices of  Phillips, McElyea, Carpenter & Welch, P.C . have the  best attorneys in the Lake of the Ozarks  area and a top notch support team to help you with most legal issues.  We want to feature the outstanding members of our firm via a series of Blogs where we ask some questions and get some insight on why they went into Law, learn about them as individuals, and feature what they do when they are not at work helping others.  We hope you enjoy this series, and we will feature a different team member every other week. Question: Why did you become a lawyer? Answer:  As an undergraduate, I had no idea what my career path would be. I was a political science major (with no particular interest in politics). My junior year I had to interview a lawyer for a class assignment and his passion for what he did really had an impact on me. I decided then and there that it was what I wanted to do. Question:   Where did you...

Conducting family estate planning can be a difficult and emotional job.  Providing for the disposition of your assets however, is extremely important.  Having a Will that is complete and up to date along with other estate planning documents, will give you and your family peace of mind.   Here is a partial list of topics you should consider when preparing to do estate planning: Designating a Personal Representative or Trustee: This is the person (or persons) that you designate and trust to manage your affairs and wishes upon your passing.  They will ensure your financial requirements, wishes and desires are adhered to according to your Will or Trust.  Choices often include your spouse or surviving children.  A good strategy is to pick a primary choice and one or two alternates, and to check with them to make sure they are willing to serve. Powers of Attorney: There are 3 typical types of documents appointing a power of attorney...

The Law Offices of Phillips, McElyea, Carpenter & Welch, P.C . have the best attorneys in the Lake of the Ozarks area and a top notch support team to help you with most legal issues.  We want to feature the outstanding members of our firm via a series of Blogs where we ask some questions and get some insight on why they went into Law, learn about them as individuals, and feature what they do when they are not at work helping others.  We hope you enjoy this series, and we will feature a different team member every other week. Q & A with Attorney Matt Hamner Q)   Why did you become a Lawyer? A)   I read the book To Kill A Mockingbird in Seventh Grade and thought Atticus Finch was the coolest and said “What a great way to make a living.” Q)   Where did you go to school? (Undergrad/Law School) A)    I received both my undergraduate and Law degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Q)    W...

The Law Offices of Phillips, McElyea, Carpenter & Welch, P.C . have the best attorneys in the Lake of the Ozarks area and a top notch support team to help you with most legal issues.  We want to feature the outstanding members of our firm via a series of Blogs where we ask some questions and get some insight on why they went into Law, learn about them as individuals, and feature what they do when they are not at work helping others.  We hope you enjoy this series, and we will feature a different team member every other week. Q & A with Attorney Deirdre O'Donnell Q)   Why did you become a Lawyer? A)   I had my first inkling of wanting to become a lawyer when I was working in St. Louis as a social worker. I was serving adults with disabilities who lived in a group home setting, and some of them were getting into trouble with the law. That got me thinking a lot about the importance of strong legal advocacy for people who cou...

Jury Service:  Hallmark of the American System of Justice Few activities in our civic life provide such a direct contact with our democracy as does jury service. Besides voting, nothing is so active and participatory in nature. In fact, Thomas Jefferson believed that serving on a jury is more important than voting. He said, "I consider trial by jury as the only anchor yet imagined by man by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution." Jury Service during the Trial process In earlier Blogs, we described how jurors are chosen, trials procedures for jurors, and answered some frequently asked questions about Juror service at the Lake of the Ozarks .  In this Blog, the Law Offices of Phillips, McElyea, Carpenter & Welch, P. C. would like to give some further information about the jury deliberation process and what to expect after the verdict.  Information for this Blog was gathered from www.courts.mo.gov . Jury Deliberations ...