Mr. Reaves has been Certified as an Elder Law Attorney (CELA) by the National Elder Law Foundation since the Charter class of 1995. He was the first attorney licenesd in Missouri or Kansas to receive this certification.

Mr. Reaves is a past President of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). He is a Fellow of NAELA and a Fellow of the American College of Trust & Estate Counsel (ACTEC). He was a founding director and the second president of the Missouri Chapter of NAELA, and has been a member of the Kansas Chapter since it was formed. He is a member of the Special Needs Alliance, an invitation-only national organization of lawyers dedicated to disability and public benefits law. 

Mr. Reaves is a Member of the Appeals Commission, and a former member of the Disciplinary and Ethics Commssion, of the Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) Board of Standards.  He has been selected for inclusion on the Kansas and Missouri Super Lawyers list since 2005 and has been included in the current editions of The Best Lawyers in America since 2007. 

Mr. Reaves teaches an Elder Law course at the University of Kansas School of Law, where he is a lecturer, and the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, where he is an adjunct professor, and he has contributed to a law school course at Stetson University College of Law. 

Mr. Reaves is a Past Chair and current member of the Board of Directors of the Kansas City Estate Planning Symposium and a Past President of the Brain Injury Association of Kansas and Greater Kansas City. In addition, Mr. Reaves is the Past President of LifeCare Planning, Inc., a non-profit organization assisting parents of persons who have a disability to plan for future care of their children. He also currently serves on the Advisory Board of The Mission Project. He previously served for nine years as a director and officer of the Arthritis Foundation-Western Missouri/Greater Kansas City Chapter. He was a founding director and officer for eleven years of Respite Care Services, Inc., a non-profit organization that provided highly trained temporary home care for persons who had a disability so the primary caregivers could have time away without worrying.

Mr. Reaves is admitted to practice law in the state courts of Kansas and Missouri, the Federal Court for the Western District of Missouri, and the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a member of the Kansas, Missouri, Kansas City Metropolitian and American Bar Associations, along with the Probate, Real Property and Trust, and Elder Law Sections of the state bar associations.

EDUCATION:
Mr. Reaves received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Political Science from the University of Kansas in 1975.

He received a Juris Doctor (law degree) from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1978.

He received the CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter) designation in 1977 and the ChFC (Chartered Financial Consultant) designation in 1984 from the American College in Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania. He received the CELA (Certified Elder Law Attorney) designation from the National Elder Law Foundation in 1995.

AWARDS:

Estate Planning Socity of Kansas City Hall of Fame - 2023 Inductee.

Corporate/Business Sponsor Award for 2003 from the Kansas City Missouri Mayor's Committee for People with Disabilities.

Outstanding Achievement Award from Missouri Chapter of NAELA in 2000.

Outstanding Elder Law Attorney in Missouri in 1999.

Listed in Who's Who in American Law since 1987.

Ten year Volunteer Appreciation Award from KCPT, the Public Television Station in Kansas City in 1997.

Annual Appreciation Award from the Kansas City Chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in 1986.

PUBLICATIONS: My Approach to Teaching Elder Law, 40 Stetson L. Rev. 301 (2010).

Special Needs Trust portion of Chapter 16 - Supplemental Security Income Eligibility and Special Needs Trusts, Advising the Elderly Client, Thompson-West, 2003.

Chapter 3 - Using Trusts for Persons Who are Elderly or Disabled, Missouri Elder Law (Mo. Bar 2002, last updated 2023).

Numerous Continuing Legal Education (for attorneys), Continuing Education (for financial services professionals, Certified Public Accountants, social workers, hospital discharge planners, nurses and others), and public presentations on the topics of Special Needs Trusts, Elder Law, Medicaid planning, estate planning, and related subjects.

Firm Description

Complete Estate & Probate Law, LLC, provides creative, practical, and effective legal solutions for persons with estate planning, special needs planning, and elder law related needs.

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