Robert K. "Bob" Kirkland

Bob Kirkland is a founding partner of Kirkland Hochstetler PLLC and practices in Kansas City, Missouri. He is licensed to practice law in Missouri, Kansas and Florida. Mr. Kirkland represents individuals, families, and fiduciaries in a wide range of trusts and estates matters, including estate planning, trust formation, and estate and trust administration. His work includes the preparation of wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, durable powers of attorney, charitable trusts, and trusts for minors. He also counsels clients on gifting strategies, asset protection considerations, charitable planning, and business succession planning.

In addition to planning and administration, Mr. Kirkland’s practice includes Litigation – Trusts and Estates, Litigation and Controversy – Tax, and Trusts and Estates. He regularly advises trustees, personal representatives, conservators, and beneficiaries in contested estate, trust, and fiduciary matters, and he frequently serves as a mediator in trust and estate disputes.

Mr. Kirkland is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC). His service with ACTEC has included roles as Missouri State Chair, member of the Board of Regents, and member of the Executive Committee. He has also served on numerous ACTEC committees and task forces, including those focused on digital property, electronic wills, long-range planning, communications, and membership selection. He completed ACTEC’s Effective Probate Mediation Training program and is often asked to assist as a neutral mediator in fiduciary conflicts.

Mr. Kirkland has served as an ACTEC Observer to the Uniform Law Commission Drafting Committee on Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets and currently serves as an ACTEC Observer to the Uniform Law Commission Drafting Committee on Electronic Wills, contributing to the development of uniform laws affecting trusts, estates, and emerging technologies.

His professional involvement also includes service as Vice Chair of the Missouri Bar Probate and Trust Committee and as a member of the editorial board of Trusts and Estates magazine. Mr. Kirkland is a frequent author and lecturer on estate planning, trust administration, fiduciary litigation, and charitable giving. He has presented at programs sponsored by ACTEC, ALI-CLE, The Missouri Bar, The Kansas Bar Association, The Heckerling Institute, and numerous national and regional estate planning organizations.

Mr. Kirkland earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from William Jewell College, a Juris Doctor from the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law, and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Estate Planning from the University of Miami School of Law. While at UMKC School of Law, he served as Managing Editor of the UMKC Law Review.