Missouri timeline
The simplified route starts 30 days after death.
That clock is one condition among several, and it is not the whole estate timeline. The deadlines that carry the most risk are creditor deadlines, and in Missouri they are set out below against the event each one runs from.
Sources reviewed August 7, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.
The small estate affidavit route requires 30 days to elapse from the date of death. This is a precondition: the affidavit or petition cannot be presented before it runs, regardless of how straightforward the estate is.
(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 decedentMo. Rev. Stat. § 473.097 — Missouri Revisor of Statutes; Effective 28 Aug 2002.
Missouri does not run one creditor clock. Separate periods start from separate events, and the date that actually bars a claim is the one the applicable period produces. They are listed here against the event that starts each, because a period attached to the wrong starting event is how a deadline gets missed by weeks.
How these combine. The ordinary bar is six months from first published notice of letters (§ 473.360.1). A creditor who is actually mailed or served notice gets the LATER of that six-month date or two months from the date the notice was sent. Independently of any administration or notice, § 473.444.1 forever bars every claim one year after death, so the one-year repose limit caps the publication and actual-notice periods whenever no letters are published within the year.
which are not filed in the probate division of the circuit court within six months after the date of the first published notice of letters testamentary or of administration or, if notice was actually mailed to, or served upon, such creditor, within two months after the date such notice was mailed, or served, whichever later occursMo. Rev. Stat. § 473.360.1 — Missouri Revisor of Statutes; Effective 23 May 1996.
shall become unenforceable and shall be forever barred against the estate, the personal representative, the heirs, devisees and legatees of the decedent one year following the date of the decedent's death, whether or not administration of the decedent's estate is had or commenced within such one-year periodMo. Rev. Stat. § 473.444.1 — Missouri Revisor of Statutes; Effective 13 Jul 1989.
Publishing notice starts a period after which most claims are barred. Missing a required notice can extend the estate’s exposure and, in some circumstances, the personal exposure of the person administering it. Confirm the dates that apply to this estate with the Probate Division of Circuit Court before relying on them, because a specific case can carry deadlines these general provisions do not reach.
RSMo 473.360.1 sets the bar by reference to a pair of dates rather than one. A claim is barred unless it is filed in the probate division of the circuit court “within six months after the date of the first published notice of letters testamentary or of administration or, if notice was actually mailed to, or served upon, such creditor, within two months after the date such notice was mailed, or served, whichever later occurs.” A creditor who was served personally therefore gets the longer of the two windows, not the shorter.
The consequence is stated without qualification: claims not filed in time, or not paid by the personal representative within six months after the first published notice, “are forever barred against the estate, the personal representative, the heirs, devisees and legatees of the decedent.” The bar reaches the people who inherited, not only the estate itself.
The section carries its own exclusions, and the list is long enough to matter when reading the six-month figure. It does not apply to costs and expenses of administration, exempt property, family allowance, homestead allowance, claims of the United States, or claims of any taxing authority within the United States. It also provides that “no contingent claim based on any warranty made in connection with the conveyance of real estate is barred under this section.”
Two limits on how far the rule reaches are worth separating. The statute opens “Except as provided in section 473.370,” so that section governs before this one. And it states expressly that “this six-month period does not extend any other applicable limitation periods” — a claim already dead under an ordinary statute of limitations is not revived by being inside the probate window.
Subsection 2 adds a filing duty that is easy to overlook: unless written notice of actions instituted or revived under RSMo 473.363 or 473.367 is filed in the probate division within six months after the first published notice of letters, no recovery may be had in those actions.
Source: RSMo § 473.360 (limitations on filing of claims), eff. May 23, 1996, read from the enacting state’s own published code on 2026-09-17. Quoted wording is the statute’s; the surrounding explanation is this site’s reading of it and is not legal advice.
Missouri timeline decision map
The Missouri waiting period is only one condition. Use this map to separate the route clock from creditor deadlines, asset scope, court costs, and the documents needed to move from screening to filing.
| Question | Recorded Missouri answer | Carry into the case |
|---|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Small estate affidavit | Confirm 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? | $40,000 | Establish 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. |
Clock ledger
The Missouri record names separate triggers. The description beside each trigger is the source-bound statement to carry into the estate calendar; the interaction rule explains which period controls when more than one applies.
| Clock starts with | Recorded period | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Publication of notice | Claims are barred unless filed in the probate division within six months after the date of the first published notice of letters testamentary or of administration (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.360.1). | Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.360.1 |
| Actual notice to a known creditor | If notice was actually mailed to or served upon a creditor, that creditor has until two months after the date the notice was mailed or served, when that is later than the six-month publication period (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.360.1). | Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.360.1 |
| Outer limit from death | In any event, all claims are forever barred one year following the date of death, whether or not administration is commenced and whether or not the creditor received any notice (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.444.1). | Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.444.1 |
How the periods combine: The ordinary bar is six months from first published notice of letters (§ 473.360.1). A creditor who is actually mailed or served notice gets the LATER of that six-month date or two months from the date the notice was sent. Independently of any administration or notice, § 473.444.1 forever bars every claim one year after death, so the one-year repose limit caps the publication and actual-notice periods whenever no letters are published within the year.
Case-file context
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.
Missouri permits a small-estate affidavit after 30 days for estates not exceeding $40,000 after liens, debts, and encumbrances.
The net estate must not exceed $40,000. A bond may be required, and estates above $15,000 generally require notice to creditors.
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.
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.
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
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 amount | Comparison to the Missouri ceiling | What it does not decide |
|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | Below $40,000 | Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties |
| $50,000 | Above $40,000 | Whether another statutory route or court process applies |
Next evidence to collect
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
The order in which an estate is actually worked — secure property, confirm title and beneficiary designations, identify the court route, notify and account, then close — is the same everywhere and carries no citation, so it is set out once rather than repeated on each state’s page. Read it inthe executor’s first week, and seehow long probate takes for how the phases stretch in practice.
What is jurisdiction-specific is above: the Missouri periods, the event each one runs from, and the source each was read in.
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.