Gaughan & Connealy Estate Planning Attorneys

Creating Comprehensive Estate Plans in Kansas & Missouri

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Attorney, Chris Gaughan

CHRIS GAUGHAN, JD

Attorney

Meet the co-author of the book Midwest Estate Planning: A Guide For Your Family.

Chris Gaughan has been recognized for 14 consecutive years as a Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyer (2013-2026), an award given to the top 5% of attorneys in Missouri and Kansas. In April 2025, he was publicly celebrated for maintaining more than 10+ consecutive years of “Excellence in Practice” status with the organization.

Backed by the highest praise from his clients and peers, Chris maintains a perfect five-star rating on Avvo.

He has also been recognized multiple times by the American Institute of Legal Counsel as one of the “10 Best Estate Planning Attorneys” in the State of Kansas. Chris practices exclusively in the field of estate planning and asset protection. Over his career of more than 20 years, he has provided peace of mind to thousands of families across Missouri and Kansas.

Driven by a desire to make legal concepts accessible, Chris co-authored Midwest Estate Planning: A Guide for Your Family alongside his lifelong friend and business partner, Casey Connealy. The duo wrote the book after realizing most estate planning resources were either too simplistic to be useful or too complex for everyday situations. The result is a highly practical, down-to-earth guide designed specifically for the unique needs of families in the Midwest.

Mr. Gaughan is a lifelong resident of the Kansas City area.  He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law in 2004, and his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Rockhurst University in 2001.

Mr. Gaughan spends his spare moments frequenting local eateries with his wife Kristin, watching 80’s films with his three children, and smoking meat on his back patio.

Learn more about Attorney Gaughan’s speaking events.

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Lawyer Christopher Gaughan | Top Attorney Estate Planning

Lawyer Christopher Gaughan | Top Attorney Estate Planning
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Attorney | Casey Connealy

CASEY CONNEALY, JD, MBA

Attorney

Meet the co-author of the book Midwest Estate Planning: A Guide For Your Family and the recent recipient of the prestigious Deo Gratias Award, which honors his outstanding service and dedication to the community.

Casey Connealy has been recognized eight times by National Advocates as a top 100 Attorney in Estate Planning as well as ten consecutive years being awarded the Best of the Best Top Ten in Estate Planning for the state of Kansas.  Casey has presented hundreds of workshops all over the metro area and has given peace of mind to more than 2,500 families in Kansas City by tailoring estate plans with a unique blend of legal acumen and genuine empathy.Deo-Gratias-Mass-JCS_6567-jpg

Recognized by Super Lawyers Magazine as a Missouri & Kansas Rising Star (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) – an award presented to the top 2.5% of attorneys in Missouri and Kansas under the age of 40, internationally distinguished as a Leading Lawyer on Lawyer Monthly Magazine’s Global 250 list (2014), and honored by the legal community with the highest attorney Avvo-rating of “Superb”, Casey Connealy is very well-respected in the Kansas City legal community.

Known for his ability to reduce estate taxes, to minimize or avoid the nightmare of probate and, most significantly, to deliver well-crafted Estate Plans to clients based upon their lifestyles, professions, and specific situations, Mr. Connealy takes definitive measures to analyze updates in the Estate Planning industry and compare them to the various challenges his clients face daily.

Regularly called upon by local and national financial experts for niche Estate Planning matters, Mr. Connealy has most recently presented to an audience of 100+ financial professionals with Ameriprise Financial Advisors, to the H&R Block World Headquarters in Kansas City, the National Business Institute, and numerous continuing education classes for financial professionals, as well as to the general public.

A lifelong resident of Kansas City, he earned his Juris Doctor, Masters in Business Administration and undergraduate degrees from the University of Kansas. He is a member of the prestigious American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, as well as the individual Kansas and Missouri Bar Associations.

Married with three beautiful daughters, and most recently a son to join the Connealy clan, he strives to balance his time between raising three teenage girls in the house at the same time (pray for him!) and volunteering at his local parish.

He is a published co-author of the book Midwest Estate Planning a guide for your family

KATE REILLY, CBT

Paralegal

Kate Reilly – Paralegal (Chief Bureaucracy Tamer & Asset Guardian)

In 2022, Gaughan & Connealy welcomed Kate Reilly to the team, and we have been refusing to let her leave ever since. As our resident asset protection wizard, Kate handles the heavy lifting of trust funding, ensuring your hard-earned assets actually end up where your estate plan says they should. She also coordinates with local county offices to process and record deeds, which is legal speak for “she fights the courthouse bureaucracy so you don’t have to.”

Kate serves as our frontline diplomat, seamlessly translating requests between our attorneys, our clients, and their financial advisors. Always looking for new ways to make our operations run smoother, she recently survived several days of intensive training in Phoenix, Arizona, mastering cutting-edge marketing and client services systems to elevate our customer experience to the next level.

Kate holds a degree in Paralegal Studies from National American University and packs an impressive 18+ years of customer service experience. (Yes, that means she has the infinite patience required to handle both legal gridlock and our attorneys’ jokes).

 A Kansas City native born and raised, Kate spends her free time practicing photography, escaping into the great outdoors for camping, hiking, and biking, and spending quality time with her husband.

Director of Marketing | Jamie Smead

JAMIE

Director of Marketing

Director of Marketing and Client Experiences

Jamie – Making Sure You Actually Enjoy Working With a Law Firm

Jamie has been the marketing and client experience guru at Gaughan & Connealy since 2015. In everyday terms, that means she’s the person who makes sure the firm not only looks good on the outside (website, emails, events, and social media), but also feels good on the inside…whether you’re calling for the first time, walking through our doors, or receiving your finished estate plan.

With over two decades of customer service under her belt and a marketing brain that never shuts off, Jamie knows how to keep things clear, helpful, and even a little fun (yes, even when we’re talking about legal documents). She’s shared her marketing tips with hundreds of attorneys nationwide…and once made a room full of estate planners laugh out loud talking about email newsletters, which should’ve earned her a medal.

Originally from Jefferson City, Missouri, Jamie earned her marketing degree (plus psychology and French, because she’s an overachiever) and an MBA from Missouri Southern State. After working in real estate marketing, she brought her talents to the legal world – and the rest is history.

When she’s not keeping our firm fresh and client-friendly, Jamie teaches fitness classes at a local self-defense school, volunteers with MOCSA, and cheers loudly for all things Kansas City sports.