Missouri Probate and Intestate Succession: What Happens Without a Will (2026)

Missouri probate runs through the Probate Division of the Circuit Court in each county, and Missouri is one of the few states that requires an attorney to represent the personal representative even in its lighter-oversight track.

Information last verified on 2026-07-16. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

How Probate Works in Missouri

Missouri probate is handled by the Probate Division of the Circuit Court in the county where the decedent lived at death. Each of Missouri's judicial circuits maintains its own probate division; the 16th Circuit Court, covering Jackson County, is one example. Missouri has not adopted the national Uniform Probate Code, but its own Probate Code, codified at RSMo Chapter 472 and following sections, offers a broadly similar choice between two tracks. Independent Administration gives the personal representative reduced court oversight and lets them act without seeking court approval for most individual steps, but it is only available when all interested heirs consent and the will, if there is one, does not prohibit it. Supervised Administration requires the court to approve the personal representative's actions at each major step and requires periodic accountings and audits, giving heirs and creditors more built-in court oversight.

A detail that sets Missouri apart from many other states is that it requires the personal representative to be represented by an attorney under both tracks, not just in contested or supervised cases. Even a straightforward, uncontested Independent Administration in Missouri generally needs an attorney of record for the personal representative. Within either track, the general sequence still applies: the court appoints and issues letters to the personal representative, the estate's assets are inventoried and valued, notice is published to creditors and valid claims are paid, and the remaining assets are distributed to the heirs or beneficiaries before the estate is closed.

Intestate Succession in Missouri: Who Inherits Without a Will

When a Missouri resident dies without a valid will, RSMo Section 474.010 sets the order of descent. If the decedent has no surviving descendant, meaning no children, grandchildren, or other lineal descendants, the surviving spouse takes the entire estate. If the decedent does have surviving descendants and all of them are also descendants of the surviving spouse, meaning there is no blended-family complication, the spouse takes the first $20,000 of the estate plus one half of whatever remains, with the balance passing to the descendants. If the decedent has surviving descendants who are not also descendants of the surviving spouse, commonly a child from a prior relationship, the spouse's preferential $20,000 amount drops away entirely and the spouse instead takes a flat one half of the estate, with the other half passing to the descendants. Missouri is not a community property state, so this statutory division governs the decedent's full probate estate.

If no spouse survives, the estate passes to the decedent's descendants by representation. If there are no descendants, it passes to the decedent's parents. If no parent survives, it passes to siblings and their descendants. Missouri notably continues to recognize inheritance by fairly remote collateral relatives, sometimes informally called laughing heirs, before an estate would ever escheat to the state, which under Missouri law happens only when no qualifying relative at all can be located.

One way to make sure your property goes to the people you actually choose, rather than following Missouri's intestate succession order, is to have a valid will in place. recordinglaw.com's free Missouri Last Will and Testament Generator can help you create one, with no account required.

Small Estate and Simplified Probate in Missouri

Missouri's small estate procedure, set out in RSMo Section 473.097, lets qualifying estates avoid full Independent or Supervised Administration. It is available when the value of the entire estate, after subtracting valid liens, debts, and encumbrances, does not exceed $40,000. As with most states, Missouri also requires a waiting period, at least 30 days after death, before the procedure can be used. This threshold applies to the estate's net value overall, not just to personal property, which makes it a somewhat narrower small estate procedure than the personal-property-only thresholds some other states use.

Because Missouri's small estate ceiling is comparatively modest at $40,000, many Missouri estates, particularly ones that include real property, will not qualify and will need to go through Independent or Supervised Administration instead, with the attorney-representation requirement described above.

Does Missouri Have an Estate or Inheritance Tax?

Missouri has no state estate tax. Missouri's estate tax was tied to the federal state death tax credit and was effectively eliminated once Congress phased out that credit, with the Missouri Department of Revenue confirming no state estate tax applies to deaths since that change took effect around 2005. Missouri also has no state inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax can apply to a Missouri estate, and in 2026 that tax exempts the first $15,000,000 per person, so it reaches only the largest estates nationally.

Do You Need a Probate Attorney?

In Missouri, the question is somewhat different than in states where hiring an attorney is optional. Both Independent and Supervised Administration require the personal representative to be represented by an attorney, so for any estate that does not qualify for the RSMo Section 473.097 small estate procedure, engaging a probate attorney is effectively built into the process rather than a separate choice. An attorney's involvement becomes especially important when a will is likely to be contested, when the estate includes a business interest, or when the family is blended in a way that intestate succession's fixed categories do not address cleanly. For a broader look at when a probate attorney is worth the cost, see Probate by State.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about probate and intestate succession in Missouri as of the verification date above. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is not a substitute for advice from a probate attorney licensed in Missouri, particularly for a contested estate, a business interest, or a blended family. Dollar thresholds and statutes change; verify current figures directly with the Missouri Probate Division of the Circuit Court or the cited official source before relying on any figure here.

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Last updated: 2026-07-16. Figures and statutes cited reflect their in-force version as of 2026-07-16.