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Missouri route screening

Missouri small-estate limit: $40,000

The net estate must not exceed $40,000. A bond may be required, and estates above $15,000 generally require notice to creditors.

Sources reviewed August 7, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.

Threshold evidence and currency

What the reviewed source establishes

Currency: No later session-law supersession is recorded in the reviewed source set for this threshold. The edition/currentness label below is the basis for the published figure.

Controlling citation: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.097 — Effective 28 Aug 2002.

Verbatim threshold text from that source:

(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
1. Where and when
Private by design: entries stay in this browser.
2. What they left

Ownership determines whether an asset usually enters probate. Choose “Not sure” when title or beneficiary status has not been confirmed.

Asset 1

Asset 2

Your working estimate

Missouri estate snapshot

Route check

More information is needed

Counted probate estate: not yet counted

A valid date of death is required before any waiting period can be tested.

Gross probate propertyNot yet counted
Court chargeMore information neededApplication for letters in a probate proceeding2 asset entries have no value entered. A blank amount is not treated as zero, so the charge cannot be computed.Court charges only, for the proceeding named beside each figure. That proceeding is not always the route screened above.
Scheduled executor compensationMore information needed2 asset entries have no value entered.Missouri publishes a minimum percentage schedule and allows additional reasonable compensation.

This route check is general information, not legal advice. It does not test every eligibility condition, creditor issue, will provision, local fee, or asset-title fact.

What the Missouri amount screen counts

The headline limit is not a count of everything the person owned. It is a test of the property and deductions named by this procedure. Classify title and beneficiary status first; property that transfers by a valid survivorship right, beneficiary designation, or funded trust follows its own transfer path.

This screen counts the probate estate within the statute’s stated scope, not merely cash accounts. Solely owned real property can therefore affect the amount test. That does not necessarily mean the same simplified procedure transfers the house; counting scope and transfer authority are separate questions.

The reviewed value basis subtracts enforceable liens and encumbrances. Enter the asset value and the lien separately. An unsecured bill is not a lien against an asset unless this state separately requires it as an input.

Timing and facts the threshold cannot answer

The reviewed route requires 30 days after death before the affidavit or petition can be used. That is a minimum timing condition, not a promise that the institution or court completes the transfer on that day.

The statute requires facts the asset list cannot derive:

  • Unsecured debt of the estate, which this state deducts before applying the limit

Leaving one blank keeps the result undecided. The calculator never substitutes zero for a legal input nobody supplied.

What does not qualify for this route

  • An estate above $40,000 does not qualify for this value-based route, unless the separately described alternate route applies.
  • Property that transfers by survivorship, beneficiary designation, or a funded trust is not probate property for this screen.
  • Filing before 30 days have elapsed from death fails the reviewed timing condition.
  • Unsecured debt of the estate, which this state deducts before applying the limit must be established before the result can be treated as qualifying.
  • A pending or completed personal-representative appointment, a will condition, creditor issue, or family-rights condition can disqualify the route even when the amount appears within the reviewed rule.

Move from the screen to the official Missouri path

Assemble the death date, will status, asset titles, beneficiary confirmations, values, enforceable liens, family facts, and any prior court filing before signing anything. Then use the court publisher’s current artifact for the selected route.

Missouri publishes no statewide small-estate affidavit form. The probate division of the circuit court in the county of residence supplies the affidavit and states its local requirements.

The Missouri Courts self-help probate page did not respond when this record was reviewed, so no link is published rather than publishing one that may not resolve.

If the state publishes no statewide form, that is a finding—not a missing link. Contact the Probate Division of Circuit Court or clerk in the proper county for its packet and current filing instructions rather than borrowing an unofficial form from another county.

Questions to resolve before relying on “likely qualifies”

  • The filing amounts in section 488.012 apply before adjustment by the supreme court, which sets the operative court costs by rule. The published figure is a statutory baseline, not a confirmed current charge.
  • The statute measures the estate "less liens, debt, and encumbrances". Liens come from the asset entries and unsecured debt is asked for separately, because it cannot be read off an asset list. Until that figure is entered the route stays undecided rather than being resolved as though the debt were zero.
  • A bond is required unless the court dispenses with it, and estates above $15,000 generally require published notice to creditors. Both add cost.
  • The court may award compensation above the statutory minimum.
  • Confirm deed, account title, beneficiary, and trust ownership from the actual records.
  • Confirm whether a will, prior appointment, creditor issue, or family allowance changes the route.
  • Confirm the official form, fee, copy count, and filing method with the receiving court or institution.
Use this as a starting point.

This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Probate law varies by state and county and changes over time. Verify the current rule with the court or a licensed attorney in the relevant state.

Missouri eligibility map

What the Missouri simplified route still requires

The Missouri threshold is one screen, not a complete legal conclusion. This map pairs the recorded ceiling with the property scope, deductions, date, and court artifact that have to be checked before relying on a likely-qualifies result.

QuestionRecorded Missouri answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Small estate affidavitConfirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route.
What property and basis count?probate property within the rule's stated scope; net of enforceable liens and encumbrances.Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately.
What is the amount screen?$40,000Establish unsecured debt before treating the screen as decided.
What is the time or deadline record?30 days after death; Missouri bars creditor claims six months after first published notice of letters, extended to the later of that date or two months from actual notice when a creditor is individually notified, and in all events one year after death. The periods run from different events, so they are published separately.Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number.
What does the cost record establish?1 published schedule; the proceeding and value basis control the total.Ask the Probate Division of Circuit Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
What does compensation use?Missouri publishes a minimum percentage schedule and allows additional reasonable compensation. The relevant base is the estate accounting.Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate.

Eligibility inputs

The Missouri screen is made of these inputs

A threshold is useful only when the amount is measured the way the source describes. Keep this table with the asset worksheet so an empty or misclassified field cannot look like a confirmed qualification.

InputRegistry record
Threshold$40,000
Property scopeprobate property within the rule's stated scope
Value basisnet of enforceable liens and encumbrances
Waiting period30 days after death
Required extra factsunsecured debt

Case-file context

Keep the Missouri answer with its neighboring conditions

A route answer is easier to use when the facts that can change it stay in the same record. These are the reviewed Missouri descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.

Cost context

When letters are applied for, section 488.012 lists a graduated fee from $75 below $10,000 to $365 above $500,000. The statute states these amounts apply before adjustment by the supreme court, which sets the operative figures by rule.

1 published schedule; the proceeding and value basis control the total.

Compensation context

Missouri publishes a minimum percentage schedule and allows additional reasonable compensation.

Missouri publishes a minimum percentage schedule and allows additional reasonable compensation. The relevant base is the estate accounting.

Deadline context

Missouri bars creditor claims six months after first published notice of letters, extended to the later of that date or two months from actual notice when a creditor is individually notified, and in all events one year after death. The periods run from different events, so they are published separately.

  • The filing amounts in section 488.012 apply before adjustment by the supreme court, which sets the operative court costs by rule. The published figure is a statutory baseline, not a confirmed current charge.
  • The statute measures the estate "less liens, debt, and encumbrances". Liens come from the asset entries and unsecured debt is asked for separately, because it cannot be read off an asset list. Until that figure is entered the route stays undecided rather than being resolved as though the debt were zero.
  • A bond is required unless the court dispenses with it, and estates above $15,000 generally require published notice to creditors. Both add cost.
  • The court may award compensation above the statutory minimum.

Court-material note: Missouri publishes no statewide small-estate affidavit form. The probate division of the circuit court in the county of residence supplies the affidavit and states its local requirements. The Missouri Courts self-help probate page did not respond when this record was reviewed, so no link is published rather than publishing one that may not resolve.

Arithmetic illustration

See the Missouri amount screen without mistaking it for a result

The recorded Missouri ceiling is $40,000, and it is tested against probate property within the rule's stated scope, on a basis this site records as net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. Counted that way, $30,000 sits below the Missouri figure and $50,000 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what Missouri counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.

Illustrative counted amountComparison to the Missouri ceilingWhat it does not decide
$30,000Below $40,000Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties
$50,000Above $40,000Whether another statutory route or court process applies

Next evidence to collect

Use the calculator for arithmetic, then verify title, timing, and the receiving court's form.

  1. Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
  2. Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
  3. Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
  4. Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.

Official material

Missouri publishes no court artifact in this registry. Missouri publishes no statewide small-estate affidavit form. The probate division of the circuit court in the county of residence supplies the affidavit and states its local requirements.

Missouri publishes no statewide small-estate affidavit form. The probate division of the circuit court in the county of residence supplies the affidavit and states its local requirements.

The Missouri Courts self-help probate page did not respond when this record was reviewed, so no link is published rather than publishing one that may not resolve.

Source trail

Records used by this Missouri map

Controlling source

Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.

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