Friendly & ExperiencedEstate Planning

Kent Phelps
Founder and Attorney

As a second-generation estate planning attorney with over 25 years of experience, Kent Phelps appreciates the positive impact a customized estate plan can have on his clients and the generations that follow. Without considering estate planning, family members can be left in confusion, turmoil, or worse, after a loved one passes.

That is why his focus is on creating comprehensive estate plans that fulfill the wishes of professionals, business owners, and retirees – enabling a transition that protects the remaining beneficiaries. His vision is simple and powerful: provide every client with an exceptional legal planning experience. With a decade spent in the courtroom as a trial attorney, Kent understands how to help clients and their families protect against predatory lawsuits and stay out of court. Kent is recognized in the media as an estate planning authority. He has been featured in ABC News, NBC News, FOX News and Bloomberg Law.

When Kent is not at the office and growing the firm, he enjoys spending time with his wife, children and grandchildren. He’s determined to keep up with his kids while snowboarding and is an avid wilderness backpacker. Kent has backpacked to the bottom (and back out!) of the Grand Canyon 14 times.

Chris Halkitis
Attorney

Chris has been an attorney for over 14 years, with over five years of experience working for a highly regarded boutique estate planning firm in southwest Florida. Before that, Chris worked as a maritime attorney and then as a prosecutor in Tampa Bay, Florida.

Chris joined Trajan Estate in 2024. He assists clients in all aspects of their estate plans, including preparing and reviewing trusts, wills, powers of attorney, and advance healthcare directives.

Chris’s academic and athletic prowess is evident from his time in college. He went to Washington University in St. Louis Law School, where he earned a law degree and an LL.M. in taxation. Prior to that, Chris attended Washington & Lee University, earning a degree in politics and being a student-athlete for four years. As the point guard for the men’s basketball team, he started all four years and served as Team Captain his senior year. This experience instilled in him the values of leadership and teamwork that he brings to his legal practice.

In his leisure time, Chris cherishes moments with his wife, Brittany, and their two delightful younger children—Benny and Charli. He also enjoys following college and professional sports.

Marque Carey
Attorney

Attorney Marque Carey is originally from Atlanta, GA, and comes to Trajan and the Phoenix/Scottsdale area by way of Louisville, KY, where he spent almost two decades obtaining a legal education and practicing as an attorney. His practice is focused on estate planning, asset protection, business formation and dissolution, and creditor rights law. He has litigated cases in state and Federal courts and argued several appellate cases.  Marque has the heart of a teacher, and having spent time as an educator and as a supervisor with the  U.S. Small Business Administration, he is adept at presenting complex subjects to various groups. 

Marque obtained his Bachelor of Science from Tennessee State University, his Master of Science in Social Work from the Raymond A. Kent School of Social Work at the University of Louisville, and his Juris Doctor from the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville.  

Marque is an active member of the state bar associations in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the State of Indiana, and the State of Tennessee, and he is admitted to practice before all courts in each jurisdiction. He is also admitted to practice in all Federal courts in Kentucky and Indiana, the Middle and Western Districts of Tennessee, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.  

In his leisure time, Marque enjoys reading, traveling, volunteering, cooking, watching tv and movies.  He is a foodie and enjoys a good salmon filet. Marque is an avid watcher of sports, with his favorite being baseball. Having spent his formidable years in Georgia, he is a “die hard” Atlanta Braves fan and enjoys catching a game.