You got the call nobody is ever ready for.
And somewhere in the days that followed — between the funeral arrangements, the family phone calls, the quiet moments that hit you when you least expect them — someone handed you a document and said: you’ve been named executor.
Maybe you knew it was coming. Maybe it was a complete surprise. Either way, you’re now responsible for settling someone’s estate through the Missouri court system, and most people have very little idea what that actually means until they’re standing in the middle of it.
At Brandt Law, LLC in Washington, Missouri, we help families in Franklin, Crawford, Warren, and Gasconade Counties navigate probate — often starting with this same conversation. What is probate? What does an executor actually do? What does it cost? How long does it take?
Here’s the plain-language version of what you need to know.
What Is Probate — and Why Does Missouri Require It?
Probate is the court-supervised process of settling a deceased person’s estate — confirming the will is valid, paying outstanding debts, and transferring ownership of property to the people who inherit it. Missouri requires probate for most assets held solely in the deceased person’s name because banks, title companies, and county recorders won’t transfer ownership without court authorization.
This is the reason probate exists: not to make things complicated, but to provide a legally recognized process that gives everyone — heirs, creditors, and courts — confidence that the transfer of property happened correctly.
Without probate, a deed can’t be put in a new owner’s name. A bank account titled only to the deceased can’t be distributed. A vehicle title can’t be transferred. Even if every family member agrees on who should receive what, the institutions that hold or record those assets require the court’s authorization before anything moves.
What assets go through probate: Property held solely in the deceased person’s name — a house titled only to them, a bank account without a joint owner or beneficiary designation, personal property like vehicles and valuables.
What typically avoids probate: Assets with named beneficiaries (life insurance, retirement accounts, payable-on-death bank accounts), jointly owned property that passes automatically to the survivor, and assets held in a trust. Missouri also has a simplified procedure for small estates — currently estates under $40,000 in value — that avoids full court probate.
If you’re unsure whether an estate requires full probate, a short consultation with a probate attorney is the fastest way to get a clear answer for your specific situation.
What Are the First Things an Executor Should Do in Missouri?
Before filing anything with the court, three immediate priorities move the process forward: locating the will and gathering key documents, obtaining certified death certificates, and notifying beneficiaries that probate is beginning.
Locate the will. The original will — not a copy — is what gets filed with the probate court. Look in the obvious places: a safe, a filing cabinet, a safe deposit box. If you can’t find it, the deceased’s attorney may have a copy on file. Missouri requires the original to be filed; a photocopy typically won’t open probate.
Get multiple certified death certificates. You will need more than you think. Banks, title companies, insurance companies, the probate court, and government agencies each require their own certified copy. The funeral home can help you order them — order at least ten, and more if the estate is complex.
Gather financial documents. Account statements, property deeds, vehicle titles, insurance policies, tax returns, outstanding bills — everything that tells you what the estate owns and what it owes. You don’t need to have it all figured out before you start probate, but having this paperwork organized speeds up every step that follows.
Decide early whether to consult a probate attorney. Franklin County estates range from simple to genuinely complex, and the cost of getting something wrong at the beginning often exceeds the cost of professional guidance upfront. A brief consultation establishes what your specific estate requires before you invest time doing things that may need to be redone.
How Does the Missouri Probate Process Actually Work?
Missouri probate follows a sequence of steps — opening the estate with the court, notifying creditors and heirs, inventorying assets, paying debts, distributing what remains, and closing the estate with a final accounting. The full process typically takes six months to a year for a straightforward estate.
Here’s what each stage actually involves:
Opening the estate. The executor files a petition with the probate court in the county where the deceased lived — for most of our clients at Brandt Law, that’s the Franklin County Circuit Court in Union or one of the surrounding county courts. The petition asks the court to formally appoint you as executor, which gives you legal authority to act on behalf of the estate. If there’s a will, it’s filed along with the petition and the court confirms its validity.
Notifying heirs and creditors. After the court appoints an executor, Missouri law requires formal notice to everyone with an interest in the estate — heirs named in the will, immediate family members, and creditors. This typically involves both direct written notice and publication of a notice in a local newspaper, which gives unknown creditors a window to come forward with claims.
Inventorying the estate. The executor creates a complete list of everything the estate owns and its estimated value. Real property, vehicles, bank and investment accounts, personal property, business interests — everything gets documented. Missouri generally requires this inventory to be filed with the court within 30 days of appointment, though extensions are available.
Paying valid debts and taxes. Before any heir receives a single dollar, the estate’s legitimate debts must be paid — funeral expenses, medical bills, credit cards, taxes, and valid creditor claims. The executor uses estate funds to satisfy these obligations. Disputes about which debts are valid, or whether the estate has enough assets to cover everything, are the situations that benefit most from legal guidance.
Distributing the remainder. After debts are settled, whatever remains goes to the beneficiaries according to the will — or, if there’s no will, according to Missouri’s intestacy statutes (which prioritize spouse, then children, then more distant relatives). This step involves formally transferring ownership of property: deeds get recorded, vehicle titles get reissued, accounts get closed and distributed.
Closing the estate. The executor prepares a final accounting — a complete record of every asset collected, every debt paid, and every distribution made — and submits it to the court. Once the judge approves it, the estate is officially closed and the executor’s legal authority ends.
What Happens in Missouri If There Is No Will?
When someone dies without a will in Missouri — called dying “intestate” — the probate court appoints an administrator rather than an executor, and Missouri’s intestacy statutes determine who inherits. The sequence of priorities goes: surviving spouse, then children, then parents, then siblings, then more distant relatives.
The process of intestate probate is essentially the same as probate with a will — the same court filings, the same notifications, the same inventory and debt payment steps. The difference is that instead of following the deceased’s written instructions about who receives what, the court follows Missouri’s default inheritance rules.
These rules work for many families. A spouse typically inherits the majority of the estate. Children split what remains. For families without close relatives or with complicated family structures — blended families, estranged relatives, unmarried partners — the result can be significantly different from what the deceased would have wanted if they’d taken the time to write a will.
The most direct lesson: a will is the only reliable way to ensure your property goes where you intend it to. A simple will prepared at Brandt Law costs a fraction of what intestate probate complications can cost your family — and it removes the uncertainty entirely.
What Does Probate Cost in Missouri?
Missouri probate costs include court filing fees, executor compensation (which Missouri law permits as a percentage of the estate), professional fees for appraisers or accountants, publication costs, and attorney fees if you hire a probate lawyer. Total costs for a straightforward estate often range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.
The specific numbers depend on the estate’s size and complexity. Here’s how each category typically works:
Court fees. Filing fees in Franklin County and surrounding Missouri probate courts are based on the size of the estate. They’re typically modest for smaller estates — a few hundred dollars — and scale upward with estate value.
Executor compensation. Missouri law allows executors to receive a fee for their service — typically calculated as a percentage of the estate’s value. This compensates the executor for the time and responsibility involved. If you’re serving as executor for a family member’s estate, you can accept or waive this compensation; waiving it can be appropriate in some family situations.
Attorney fees. Probate attorneys in Missouri typically charge hourly or flat-fee rates, depending on the estate’s complexity. At Brandt Law, we discuss fees directly in the initial consultation — what the work will likely involve and how we’ll charge for it — so families aren’t surprised partway through the process.
Other professional costs. Appraisals for real estate or specialized property, accountant fees for estate tax returns, and publication costs for the required newspaper notice are the most common additional expenses.
The most reliable way to understand what probate will cost for a specific estate is a consultation where we can look at what the estate actually contains and what the process will require.
Can You Handle Missouri Probate Without a Lawyer?
For very simple estates — a small amount of cash, no real property, and all family members in full agreement — Missouri’s probate courts provide self-help forms and many executors successfully complete probate without legal assistance. For anything more complex, the time and error cost of going it alone usually exceeds professional fees.
Missouri doesn’t require an attorney for probate. Courts provide forms and some basic guidance for self-represented executors.
The practical challenge is that Missouri probate courts expect correct, complete filings on the right schedule — whether or not you have legal help. A missed filing deadline, an incomplete inventory, or an error in the creditor notification process can cause delays, require additional court appearances, or in some cases create personal liability for the executor.
For estates that involve real property, significant assets, multiple beneficiaries, any family disagreement, or questions about debts and creditor claims — the combination of risk and complexity typically makes professional guidance worth the cost.
The most common pattern we see: families attempt probate without an attorney, reach a point where something goes wrong or becomes confusing, and hire legal help at a stage where more work is required than if they’d started with representation. A brief initial consultation costs very little and establishes clearly whether your estate is the kind that straightforwardly doesn’t need legal help — or the kind where it does.
What If Someone Contests the Will or Disputes the Estate?
A will contest — where someone challenges the validity of the will or the executor’s actions — transforms straightforward probate into contested litigation that requires legal representation to navigate effectively.
Will contests in Missouri are based on specific legal grounds: the person who made the will lacked legal capacity, was under undue influence from someone else, or the will itself was improperly executed. These aren’t claims that can be made simply because an heir is unhappy with what they received.
If a will contest is filed, the probate case moves into litigation — court hearings, discovery, legal arguments, and potentially a full trial. The estate can’t be distributed while the contest is pending. The executor’s role becomes significantly more complex, and the stakes of every procedural decision increase substantially.
Creditor disputes — where someone claims the estate owes money that the executor disputes — are a smaller but common category of probate complication that also benefits from legal guidance.
At Brandt Law, we handle contested probate matters in Franklin, Crawford, Warren, and Gasconade Counties. If a family dispute has surfaced in the context of an estate you’re administering, or if you’re an heir who believes something is being handled incorrectly, a consultation establishes your options.
FAQ: Probate in Missouri
How long does probate take in Missouri?
A straightforward estate with clear assets, no real property disputes, and cooperative beneficiaries can close in four to six months. Estates with real property, complex assets, creditor disputes, or family disagreements routinely take twelve months or more. Missouri courts have procedural timelines that must be followed — the 30-day inventory requirement, the creditor claims window — and some delays are built into the process regardless of how efficiently the executor moves. Having organized documentation from the start and meeting every filing deadline is the most reliable way to avoid unnecessary delay.
Does every estate in Missouri have to go through probate?
No. Assets with named beneficiaries (life insurance, retirement accounts, payable-on-death accounts), jointly owned property with right of survivorship, and assets held in a trust all pass outside probate. Missouri also has a simplified affidavit procedure for small estates under $40,000 in total value. If an estate consists primarily of these types of assets, full probate may not be required at all.
What happens if the estate doesn’t have enough assets to pay all its debts?
Missouri has a priority order for paying debts from an insolvent estate. Funeral expenses and the costs of estate administration come first, then taxes, then secured creditors, then general unsecured creditors. If the estate runs out of funds before all creditors are paid, lower-priority creditors simply don’t receive full payment. Heirs receive nothing until all creditors at higher priority levels are paid. The executor is generally not personally liable for the deceased’s debts — only the estate’s assets are at risk.
Do I have to go to court in person as executor?
For most straightforward Missouri probate matters, routine court appearances can be handled by an attorney on your behalf. You’re typically required to sign documents and may need to appear for certain hearings, but the day-to-day process doesn’t require you to be in the courthouse. For contested matters, personal appearances may be required.
Can I be executor if I live outside Missouri?
Yes. Missouri allows out-of-state executors, though the court may require you to appoint a local agent for service of process. Practical logistics — filing documents, attending any required hearings, managing local assets — are easier if you’re working with a local probate attorney who can handle in-person matters on your behalf.
What is the difference between a will and a trust in Missouri?
A will takes effect at death and goes through probate — the public court process described in this post. A trust is a legal arrangement created during your lifetime that holds assets on behalf of beneficiaries, allowing those assets to pass to heirs outside probate entirely. Trusts offer privacy (probate is public record), potentially faster distribution, and avoidance of probate costs. For families with significant assets or specific privacy concerns, a trust may be the more effective planning tool. Brandt Law handles both wills and trusts as part of estate planning.
What’s the free consultation process at Brandt Law for probate matters?
Call us at (636) 432-1234 and describe the estate situation in brief — whose estate it is, roughly what it contains, and where you are in the process. We schedule a free consultation, typically by phone or in person at our Washington, MO office, where we assess what the estate requires, what the process will look like in your specific county, and what our involvement would cost. No obligation beyond the conversation.
You Don’t Have to Figure This Out Alone
Probate is a process. It has steps, timelines, and rules — but none of it is mysterious once someone explains it clearly in the context of your specific situation.
Jacob Brandt and the team at Brandt Law serve families in Franklin, Crawford, Warren, and Gasconade Counties through every stage of the probate process — from the initial petition to the final accounting. We explain fees upfront, we communicate directly, and we handle the legal details so you can focus on what actually matters during this time.
The consultation is free.
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Brandt Law, LLC — Washington, Missouri. Representing your interests when you need it most.
