Missouri route screening
The net estate must not exceed $40,000.
Sources reviewed August 7, 2026. Sources rechecked October 3, 2026. This page last revised .
A bond may be required, and estates above $15,000 generally require notice to creditors.
Where the limit comes from
$40,000 is the limit in Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.097 as it read on October 3, 2026; confirm it with the probate court before you file.
Controlling citation: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.097, Revised Statutes of Missouri, Small Estate Affidavit (Missouri Revisor of Statutes; Effective 28 Aug 2002).
(1) The value of the entire estate, less liens, debt, and encumbrances, does not exceed forty thousand dollars; (2) Thirty days have elapsed since the death of the decedent
| Procedure | Small estate affidavit |
|---|---|
| What counts | The probate estate within the statute’s scope, so solely owned real property can count |
| Value basis | Value less enforceable liens and encumbrances |
| Waiting period | 30 days after death |
| Facts the asset list cannot supply | Unsecured debt of the estate, which this state deducts before applying the limit |
The Missouri caveats that can change this answer are listed once, on the Missouri overview.
No statewide form is published for this route; ask the Probate Division of Circuit Court in the county of residence for its packet.
What a small-estate screen can and cannot decide, and which assets never enter it, is explained once in small-estate affidavit or probate and what counts as a probate asset.
RSMo 473.097 lets distributees take an estate “without awaiting the granting of letters testamentary or of administration” only when four conditions are all met. The value of the entire estate, “less liens, debt, and encumbrances,” must not exceed forty thousand dollars. Thirty days must have passed since the death, with no application for letters, for administration or for refusal of letters under section 473.090 pending or granted. A bond must be filed. And the fee set by subsection 1 of section 483.580, plus the cost of publishing the creditor notice when one is required, must be paid.
The bond is the condition most summaries leave out. It must be “in an amount not less than the value of the personal property,” approved by the judge or clerk of the probate division, and conditioned on paying the decedent’s debts (including debts to the state of Missouri) and the funeral and burial expenses, on obeying later court orders about the estate, and on handing over any property the distributee turns out not to be entitled to. The court “may dispense with the filing of a bond if it finds that the same is not necessary,” and the sureties’ liability ends unless proceedings against them begin within two years after the bond is filed.
Subsection 2 settles who signs. If a will was presented for probate within the section 473.050 limitation periods, the person the will designates as personal representative may make the affidavit; otherwise any distributee entitled to receive property may make it once thirty days have passed. The affidavit itemizes and values the decedent’s property, and that list leaves out property “held by the decedent as a tenant by the entirety or a joint tenant.” It names who holds each item and who will receive it, and states that unpaid debts, claims and any estate taxes on the transfers “have been or will be paid,” with the signer’s liability for unpaid claims limited to the value of the property received.
The clerk of the probate division endorses a certificate naming the persons entitled to the property, and the affidavit and certificate are filed in that office. Land passes by recording a copy of both with the recorder of deeds in each county where it lies. When the property listed is worth more than fifteen thousand dollars, the clerk has a notice to creditors published in a qualifying county newspaper once a week for two consecutive weeks, proof of publication is due within ten days after the publication is completed, and the notice warns creditors that section 473.444 bars claims one year after the death.
Source: RSMo § 473.097 (small estates, distribution without letters), eff. Aug. 28, 2002, read from the enacting state’s own official publication on 2026-10-13. Quoted wording is the statute’s; the surrounding explanation is this site’s reading of it and is not legal advice.
Revised Statutes of Missouri, Small Estate Affidavit
(1) The value of the entire estate, less liens, debt, and encumbrances, does not exceed forty thousand dollars; (2) Thirty days have elapsed since the death of the decedent
Sources rechecked October 3, 2026: Missouri source list · how sources are checked · report a correction