FOULSTON & SIEFKIN L.L.P. 
700 Fourth Financial Center 
Wichita, Kansas 67202 
(316)267-6371 
 
March 29, 1996 
AmVestors Financial Corporation 
415 S.W. Eighth Avenue 
Topeka, Kansas 66603 
 
    Re:  Registration Statement on Form S-3 
      AmVestors Financial Corporation 1995 Agents Stock Option Plan 
 
Dear Sirs: 
 
    We have acted as special counsel to AmVestors Financial Corporation, a
Kansas corporation (the 
"Company"), in connection with the preparation and filing with the Securities
and Exchange Commission of a 
registration statement on Form S-3 and exhibits thereto (the "Registration
Statement") covering the registration under 
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, of 500,000 shares of the Company's
common stock, no par value (the 
"Shares"), which may be offered pursuant to the Company's 1995 Agents Stock
Option Plan (the "Plan"). 
 
    In connection with this opinion, we have examined originals, or copies
certified or otherwise identified to 
our satisfaction, of such documents, corporate records, certificates, and
other instruments as we have deemed 
necessary or appropriate for purposes of this opinion, with respect to: 
 
    1.  The organization of the Company; and 
 
    2.  The legal sufficiency of all corporate proceedings of the Company
taken in connection with the adoption 
of the Plan. 
 
 
    Based upon such examination, we are of the opinion that: 
 
    (a)  The Company is a corporation, validly existing and in good standing
under the laws of the State 
of Kansas; 
 
 
 
Exhibit 5.1 

    (b)  The Company has taken all necessary and required corporate action in
connection with the creation 
of the Plan; and 
 
    (c)  When the Registration Statement shall have been filed with the
Securities and Exchange 
Commission, the Shares will, when issued pursuant to and as described in the
Registration Statement and the Plan 
and upon receipt by the Company of the consideration for such shares as
described in the Registration Statement 
and the Plan, be duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid, and
nonassessable. 
 
 
    We hereby consent (i) to be named in the Registration Statement, and in
the Prospectus which constitutes 
a part thereof, as the attorneys who will pass upon legal matters in
connection with the sale of the Shares covered 
by the Registration Statement, and (ii) to the filing of this opinion as
Exhibit 5.1 to the Registration Statement. 
 
 
                   Very truly yours, 
 
 
 
                   FOULSTON & SIEFKIN L.L.P.