LEGACY LAW CENTER WAS FOUNDED IN 2012 WITH THE GOAL OF PROVIDING SENIORS, VETERANS AND FAMILIES WITH A LEGACY OF PROPER ESTATE PLANNING.
Since 2012, Legacy Law Center has grown considerably and has received several awards for customer service and excellence. In 2013, he was voted by the public in O’Fallon / St. Peters Flash Flyer as “Favorite Attorney”. In the past several years, clients and colleagues have given Legacy high praise on Google and Avvo for excellent service, client satisfaction and its helpful and friendly staff. More recently, Charles was named one of the “10 Best Estate Planning Attorneys in Missouri” in 2018, 2019, and 2020 by the American Institute of Legal Counsel, an honor he is particularly proud of.
Your Estate Plan, Step by Step
Planning your estate doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. At Legacy Law Center, we guide Missouri families through a clear,
straightforward process—so you can protect the people and things that matter most.
Step 1: Initial Consultation
Everything starts with a conversation. We’ll discuss your family situation, your assets, and what you want to accomplish. Whether you’re a young parent naming guardians for your children or a retiree mostly concerned about leaving an inheritance and avoiding probate, this first meeting helps us understand your unique needs. The consultation is free, and there’s no pressure—just honest answers to your questions.
Step 2: Gathering Information
Once you decide to move forward, we’ll ask you to complete a simple questionnaire about your assets, debts, family members, and wishes. This includes things like real estate, bank accounts, retirement funds, life insurance policies, and any specific items you want to leave to particular people. The more complete this picture, the better we can protect your legacy.
Step 3: Designing Your Plan
Based on your goals and circumstances, we’ll recommend the right combination of documents for your situation. For some families, a simple will is enough. Others benefit from a living trust that helps avoid probate. Nearly everyone needs powers of attorney for finances and healthcare, plus a living will to make your medical wishes clear. We’ll explain each option in plain language so you understand exactly what you’re getting and why.
Step 4: Drafting Your Documents
Our team prepares your customized estate planning documents. This isn’t a one-size-fits-all template—each document reflects your specific wishes, your family, and Missouri law. Before your signing appointment, you’ll have a chance to review everything and ask questions.
Step 5: Signing Appointment
We’ll meet to formally execute your documents. This includes proper witnessing and notarization to ensure everything is legally valid. We’ll walk through each document one more time, making sure you’re comfortable with every detail before you sign.
Step 6: Trust Funding (If Applicable)
If your plan includes a living trust, the work isn’t done at signing. A trust only protects assets that are actually in it. We’ll help you understand how to re-title property, update beneficiary designations, and transfer assets into your trust—a critical step that many attorneys overlook.
Step 7: Ongoing Support
Life changes, and your estate plan should change with it. Marriage, divorce, new children or grandchildren, significant purchases, moves to different states—these all affect your plan. We’re here when you need updates, and we recommend reviewing your documents every few years to make sure they still reflect your wishes.
Meet Charles Moore
Charles Moore has been in estate planning for 21 years. For the last 14 years, his law firm, Legacy Law Center has helped seniors, veterans, and families throughout the St. Charles County area to protect what they’ve built and earned.
He keeps the process simple, explains things in words you’ll actually understand, and treats every client like family. His support staff is second to none and receives rave reviews from their satisfied client base. Charles and his firm have won multiple awards for outstanding service both in St. Charles County, in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area and across the State of Missouri.
As Seen On
Client Reviews
Practice Area
Living Will & Advanced Directives
21 Years of Experience in Estate Planning, Elder Law, Estate Litigation and Probate Administration In Missouri
Our Team
Attorney / Owner
Charles J. Moore is the owner and founder of Legacy Law Center. He has been practicing law since 2005 and started his legal career as an estate planning and probate attorney in Southern California. He subsequently moved to the Princeton, New Jersey area where he continued work primarily as an estate planning / probate attorney. He began litigating estate matters as well. It was during this time that he also began serving as an assistant municipal prosecutor in Princeton Borough, West Windsor and Robbinsville.
Practice Coordinator
Margoth Moore is the Paralegal at Legacy Law Center. She has worked at the firm since 2014 and her job is primarily to assist in the drafting and reviewing of client documents and serving as the liaison between legal staff and clients. She also helps coordinate client conferences and signing meetings.
Estate Planning Paralegal
Melissa Byers is the Legal Assistant at our firm. She has an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice. In her role at Legacy, she not only serves as reception but administers all the files in our office.
Frequently Asked Questions
Estate planning is the process of arranging for the management and distribution of your estate during your lifetime and after death. A comprehensive plan typically includes a will to direct how your assets pass to heirs, a living will to outline your medical wishes, powers of attorney, and often a trust to avoid probate and provide more control over your inheritance distributions. Without proper planning, Missouri courts decide who receives your property, who raises your minor children, and who handles your affairs if you become incapacitated. Estate planning puts you in control of these critical decisions.
A special needs trust and a supplemental needs trust are actually the same thing—the terms are used interchangeably. These trusts allow you to leave an inheritance to a loved one with disabilities without disqualifying them from essential government benefits like Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income. The trust funds supplement—rather than replace—public assistance by paying for things benefits don’t cover: education, recreation, personal care items, and therapies. This is a crucial elder law and estate planning tool for families with disabled members. Proper trust administration ensures the funds are used appropriately while maintaining benefit eligibility throughout the beneficiary’s lifetime.
Probate is the court-supervised process of distributing a deceased person’s estate, and it can be time-consuming and costly. Several strategies can help your heirs avoid it. A revocable living trust allows assets to transfer directly to beneficiaries without court involvement, though proper trust administration and funding are essential. Deeds—specifically beneficiary deeds in Missouri—let real estate pass outside probate. Payable-on-death designations on bank accounts and proper beneficiary designations on retirement accounts also bypass the process. While a will alone doesn’t avoid probate, combining it with these tools creates a comprehensive estate planning strategy that minimizes delays and expenses for your family.
Absolutely. If you own a business, estate planning becomes even more critical. Without a business succession plan, your company could face uncertainty, disputes among heirs, or even forced liquidation upon your death or incapacity. A proper plan addresses who will take over operations, how ownership transfers to the next generation or a buyer, and how to minimize tax consequences. Tools like a trust can facilitate smooth transitions while protecting the estate for your family. We work with business owners on buy-sell agreements, succession strategies, and coordination with your existing will and overall plan to ensure your life’s work continues as you intend.