Missouri probate runs on a set of filings and deadlines that start the moment letters are issued. This guide walks you through each step with the actual statute citation and the current small estate threshold.
Missouri recognizes 2 paths. The right one depends on the will, the value of the estate, and whether all beneficiaries agree.
Less court supervision. Personal representative can act autonomously on property sales and distributions.
Full court oversight. Court approval required for major actions including property sales and distributions.
These are the filings ordered the way they actually happen in a typical Missouri estate. Each deadline is keyed to the triggering event — death, letters issued, first publication — and tied to the statute.
File Application to Probate Will or Petition for Letters of Administration with Circuit Court Probate Division
The court clerk (or probate division) drafts and issues the Notice to Creditors. The attorney's role is to contact the court-approved legal publisher to arrange the four-consecutive-weeks publication — do NOT draft the notice yourself. Common publishers by county: St. Louis Countian (St. Louis County, 21st Circuit); St. Louis Daily Record (City of St. Louis, 22nd Circuit); Daily Record (Kansas City / Jackson County). Confirm the current approved publisher with the specific probate division before each filing.
List all known assets with market values. Include real estate, personal property, financial accounts.
Wait for creditor claims deadline. Personal representative investigates and allows/disallows claims.
Independent: file Statement of Account. Supervised: file formal accounting with court.
Distribute remaining assets to beneficiaries per will or Missouri intestacy law.
File final report. Court issues Order of Distribution and discharges executor.
After the personal representative is appointed, a notice to creditors must be published weekly for 4 weeks. Creditors then have a limited window to file claims; claims filed after the deadline are generally barred.
Direct mailing is also required to Each heir, Each devisee, Known creditors (optional but recommended).
If the gross estate is small enough, Missouri allows a simplified path that skips most of the formal probate machinery. Faster, cheaper, and — done right — every bit as final.
Probate is filed in the county where the decedent lived at the time of death. A sample of active Missouri courts:
Missouri probate runs on Chapter 473 of the Revised Statutes, but the real friction happens at the circuit level. How fast a case moves depends on whether you're filing in the 22nd Circuit in St. Louis City, the 21st in Clayton, the 16th in Jackson County, or one of the smaller downstate circuits — each has its own e-filing posture, inventory format, and appetite for shortcuts like Refusal of Letters. The summaries below are how a Missouri-licensed attorney would brief you before you walk into one of these courthouses.
Mandatory attorney e-filing through the statewide Missouri eFiling System. The FI-50 Confidential Case Filing Information Sheet for Probate — revised January 2026 — must accompany every new case. Pro-se filers still walk paper to the clerk's counter.
Probate Division was consolidated into the main Circuit Court in May 2009 — so unlike Jackson or Greene, there is no standalone probate judge on a separate docket. Records filed on or after July 1, 2023 appear on Case.net; older files are clerk-counter only. Clayton publishes its own Inventory and Appraisement form; don't assume a Jackson County form will be accepted here.
One probate division, two courthouses. Files closed before May 16, 2005 are not on Case.net — out-of-state family searching for a parent's 1990s estate will come up empty and panic. The 16th Circuit publishes the most comprehensive county-level Probate Procedures Manual in the state, including a detailed Independent Administration section covering partial distributions.
Probate Division handles both Chapter 473 (decedents) and Chapter 456 (trusts) — a broader mandate than most Missouri circuits. Every new probate filing requires either a non-domestic or domestic Filing Information Sheet at intake. Circuit Clerk's office: (417) 868-4074.
A surviving spouse who wants a statutory share instead of what the will leaves them must file the election within 10 months of death. Wait until month 11 and the window is closed — even if probate hasn't opened yet.
Revocable trusts, joint accounts, POD/TOD designations, and retirement accounts get added back into the estate for elective-share valuation. A planner who pushed everything into a living trust to avoid probate does not escape spousal elective rights.
Miss the one-year deadline to present the will to the probate division and the will is ineffective for probate purposes. The estate then passes by intestate succession regardless of what the will says.
If the will doesn't authorize independent administration — or there's no will at all — all competent heirs can still waive supervision in writing and elect independent admin. That one document saves families the annual-settlement attorney fees across the life of the case.
A properly recorded beneficiary deed passes real estate outside probate at death. It's cheap, reversible before death, and avoids the single most expensive asset in most Missouri estates. Most families have never heard of it.
That's the statutory floor. But if the personal representative mails direct notice to a known creditor, that specific creditor has only 2 months from mailing to file (whichever is later). Mailing direct notice to suspicious claimants is a strategic tool, not a mandate.
RSMo 473.090 works when the personal estate is under $15,000 and there are no minor children (creditor path) or when the estate is exhausted by exempt property and family allowance (family path). Real estate in the decedent's name usually defeats this shortcut — the real property still needs to change hands somehow.
When a family member empties the decedent's bank account pre-death or a power-of-attorney makes suspicious transfers, Missouri practitioners file a verified Discovery of Assets petition in probate court rather than opening a separate conversion action in circuit court. Cheaper, faster, and handled by the judge who already knows the estate.
A will already admitted to probate in another state is admitted in Missouri by filing an authenticated copy of the foreign order — you don't re-prove the will from scratch. Self-proving affidavits executed under another state's law are generally honored.
The 16th Circuit's own internal records portal holds the older files. Out-of-state heirs searching Case.net for a 1990s estate often conclude the case was never opened — it just wasn't migrated.
Missouri's 6-month will-contest window under RSMo 473.083 runs from the later of admission/rejection or first publication of notice of letters. The contest itself is filed on the circuit court's equity side — not across the hall in probate.
The family allowance + exempt property under RSMo 474.250–.260 is Missouri's closest analog, but it's a cash/chattel allowance against the estate, not a constitutional protection of the home. Missouri creditors can reach real estate in probate that Florida creditors couldn't.
Exact figures vary by county and by the specific circuit clerk — your matched Missouri attorney will confirm filing costs before anything is filed.
Most Missouri estates close in 9–15 months. The floor is set by the creditor claim period (later of 6 months from first publication or 2 months from mailed notice.) plus the time to file inventory, settle debts, and prepare the final accounting. Estates with real property sales, tax returns, or disputes run longer.
Yes. If the gross estate is $40,000 or less and at least 30 days have passed since the date of death, you can generally use a small estate affidavit or collection procedure instead of full probate. Citation: RSMo 473.097.
Missouri recognizes independent or supervised administration. independent — Less court supervision. Personal representative can act autonomously on property sales and distributions. supervised — Full court oversight. Court approval required for major actions including property sales and distributions.
After the personal representative is appointed, a notice to creditors must be published weekly in a qualifying newspaper for 4 weeks. Creditors then have later of 6 months from first publication or 2 months from mailed notice. Claims filed after the deadline are barred. Citation: RSMo 473.033, 473.097.
Missouri law doesn't strictly require an attorney, but most personal representatives retain one. Court rules, creditor notice requirements, tax returns, and fiduciary accounting obligations create personal liability for the personal representative if they're done incorrectly. A flat-fee attorney through Closewell handles filings, statutory notices, inventory, and accounting with fixed pricing and no hourly billing.
Court filing fees in Missouri typically run $200–$500, plus publication costs of $100–$300 for the creditor notice. Attorney fees are the biggest variable — traditional hourly counsel on a routine estate often bills $5,000–$15,000, while flat-fee services like Closewell price the same work from $1,400–$4,500 depending on complexity. Bond premiums, appraisals, and tax preparation are additional.
No — Missouri does accept non-resident personal representatives, but RSMo 473.117 requires the out-of-state PR to file a Designation of Resident Agent (someone in Missouri or an authorized trust corporation) before letters can issue. Filing the designation constitutes submission to the probate court's jurisdiction for the duration of the administration.
Both are shortcuts that skip full administration, but they're different tools. Refusal of Letters (RSMo 473.090) caps at a $15,000 personal estate and is used either by a creditor (who posts bond) or by the surviving spouse/minor children (for exempt property + family allowance). Small Estate Affidavit (RSMo 473.097) goes up to $40,000 net of liens, requires a 30-day wait after death, and publication if the estate exceeds $15,000. Neither handles real estate well — if the decedent owned real property in their sole name, both routes get complicated.
Legally, yes — Missouri allows a personal representative to appear pro se in the probate division for their own case. Practically, the 16th Circuit's Probate Procedures Manual, the per-county form overlays, and the 473.153 statutory fee schedule all push toward attorney involvement. Most pro-se filers hit a wall at the first supervised-settlement hearing or at the non-resident PR bond question.
By statute. RSMo 473.153 prescribes a graduated percentage schedule applied to personal property administered and real-property sale proceeds — 5% of the first $5,000, 4% of the next $20,000, 3% of the next $75,000, and so on down. The schedule runs twice on the same base: once to the personal representative and once to the attorney. Extraordinary services (will contests, discovery of assets actions, tax controversy) can earn additional court-approved fees on top.
Tell us about the estate and we’ll match you with a Missouri-licensed attorney for a flat-fee quote within a business day.