Missouri executor and estate paperwork checklist

This is an organizer, not legal advice. An estate attorney or the county probate/surrogate office answers questions about your situation.

The first 30 days

Work down the list; nothing you tick is saved or sent. The steps are general, the dates come from the official pages.

1. Order certified death certificatesThrough the funeral director or the vital records office. Order several: banks, insurers, pension plans and the court may each want one.
2. Check that Social Security has been toldThe funeral home usually reports it. Otherwise call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778), and ask about the $255 lump-sum death payment for a surviving spouse or some children.
3. Track down the willCheck the home, a safe deposit box and the lawyer who drafted it. Leave the original exactly as you found it and work from copies.
4. See whether a self-proving affidavit is attachedIt's a sworn page signed by the witnesses, usually at the end of the will; the rule for this state is below.
5. Protect the propertyChange locks if keys are out, keep insurance paid, and have the mail forwarded so bills and statements reach you.
6. Don't pay bills or hand out belongings yetFirst learn which route fits and who is allowed to act; ask the probate office or an attorney about anything urgent.
7. Know that a power of attorney has endedA power of attorney ends when the principal dies; the agent's authority stops there.
8. List what the person owned and owedNote how each asset is held: in the person's name alone, jointly, or with a named beneficiary. Accounts with a beneficiary or joint owner usually pass outside the will.
9. Compare the estate with $40,000That's the small estate figure on this state's official page. Count only what the page says counts.
10. Count 30 days from the deathThat's when the official page says the small estate paperwork can be used.
11. Keep an account of every transactionWrite down each payment and each deposit with the date and a receipt; heirs and the court may ask to see it.
12. When appointed, get an EIN and open an estate accountPay estate bills from that account only. Form 1041 is due if the estate has more than $600 of gross income in a year (IRS).

Sources for the federal steps: Social Security Administration: When someone dies · IRS: Deceased taxpayers, filing the estate income tax return (Form 1041) · power of attorney: Power of attorney at a real estate closing.

The small estate route

• ConfirmedSmall estate limit

  The entire estate, less liens, debts and encumbrances, $40,000 or less. Distributees can establish title to real estate by recording the affidavit and the clerk's certificate.

  "does not exceed forty thousand dollars"

  Sources: RSMo 473.097, Small estates (Missouri Revisor of Statutes); Form PR16 (SJRC 01-24), Small estate affidavit, intestate (Missouri Courts); RSMo 473.090, Refusal of letters (Missouri Revisor of Statutes), checked November 2026

• ConfirmedReal estate

  Real estate counts toward the value, and the procedure can reach it.

  Sources: RSMo 473.097, Small estates (Missouri Revisor of Statutes); Form PR16 (SJRC 01-24), Small estate affidavit, intestate (Missouri Courts); RSMo 473.090, Refusal of letters (Missouri Revisor of Statutes), checked November 2026

• ConfirmedWaiting period after the death

  30 days. Thirty days after the death.

  "Thirty days have elapsed since the death of the decedent."

  Sources: RSMo 473.097, Small estates (Missouri Revisor of Statutes); Form PR16 (SJRC 01-24), Small estate affidavit, intestate (Missouri Courts); RSMo 473.090, Refusal of letters (Missouri Revisor of Statutes), checked November 2026

• ConfirmedNotary or oath

  Signed before a notary. The Missouri courts' statewide small estate affidavit form ends with a notary jurat. The statute itself lists what the affidavit must state without naming a notary.

  "Subscribed and sworn to me on the ______ day of"

  Sources: RSMo 473.097, Small estates (Missouri Revisor of Statutes); Form PR16 (SJRC 01-24), Small estate affidavit, intestate (Missouri Courts), checked November 2026

• ConfirmedWhere the paperwork goes

  Through a court office. A copy of the affidavit and the clerk's certificate is filed with the probate division clerk, usually with a bond the court can waive.

  "A copy of the affidavit and certificate shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the probate division."

  Sources: RSMo 473.097, Small estates (Missouri Revisor of Statutes); Form PR16 (SJRC 01-24), Small estate affidavit, intestate (Missouri Courts); RSMo 473.090, Refusal of letters (Missouri Revisor of Statutes), checked November 2026

• ConfirmedOfficial form

  PR16, Affidavit to Establish Title of Distributee to Property in Estate of Less than $40,000, Small Estate, Intestate (Without Will). A statewide probate form, revised January 2024 (SJRC 01-24), posted on the Missouri courts' site.

  Source: Form PR16 (SJRC 01-24), Small estate affidavit, intestate (Missouri Courts), checked November 2026

• ConfirmedSimplified court procedure

  Refusal of letters (RSMo 473.090): The probate division may refuse to grant letters when the estate is no larger than the exempt property and the allowance for the surviving spouse or unmarried minor children, or when the personal estate is $15,000 or less and a creditor or other qualified person applies.

  Source: RSMo 473.090, Refusal of letters (Missouri Revisor of Statutes), checked November 2026

• ConfirmedWorth knowing

  A bond at least equal to the personal property's value is required unless the court dispenses with it. Current version effective August 28, 2002.

  Sources: RSMo 473.097, Small estates (Missouri Revisor of Statutes); Form PR16 (SJRC 01-24), Small estate affidavit, intestate (Missouri Courts); RSMo 473.090, Refusal of letters (Missouri Revisor of Statutes), checked November 2026

The will at probate

How the will had to be signed matters when it's offered to the court.

• ConfirmedWitnesses the will needed

  Two or more competent witnesses, who sign in the testator's presence.

  "two or more competent witnesses subscribing their names to the will in the presence of the testator"

  Sources: RSMo Chapter 474, Probate Code: Intestate Succession and Wills (Revisor of Missouri); RSMo 474.337, Written will self-proved, how (Revisor of Missouri); RSMo 474.330, Who may witness will, effect of interest in will (Revisor of Missouri); Nolo (secondary source): How to Make a Will in Missouri (Nolo), checked November 2026

• ConfirmedSelf-proving affidavit

  Allowed at signing or any later date, before an officer authorized to administer oaths in the state, under official seal.

  "officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of this state"

  Sources: RSMo Chapter 474, Probate Code: Intestate Succession and Wills (Revisor of Missouri); RSMo 474.337, Written will self-proved, how (Revisor of Missouri); RSMo 474.330, Who may witness will, effect of interest in will (Revisor of Missouri); Nolo (secondary source): How to Make a Will in Missouri (Nolo), checked November 2026

• ConfirmedIf the will is handwritten

  Not recognized unless witnessed: a handwritten will needs the same witnesses as any other will, per Nolo's Missouri page.

  "Missouri does not permit handwritten (holographic) wills that are not witnessed."

  Source: Nolo (secondary source): How to Make a Will in Missouri (Nolo), checked November 2026

• ConfirmedA witness who inherits

  The will stays valid, but an interested witness loses anything above an intestate share unless two disinterested witnesses also signed.

  "No will is invalidated because attested by an interested witness."

  Sources: RSMo Chapter 474, Probate Code: Intestate Succession and Wills (Revisor of Missouri); RSMo 474.337, Written will self-proved, how (Revisor of Missouri); RSMo 474.330, Who may witness will, effect of interest in will (Revisor of Missouri); Nolo (secondary source): How to Make a Will in Missouri (Nolo), checked November 2026

Documents to gather

• The original will and any codicils
• Deeds and mortgage statements
• Vehicle titles and registrations
• Recent bank, brokerage and retirement statements
• Life insurance policies and annuities
• The last few years of tax returns
• Recent bills, loan and credit card statements
• Pension, Social Security and benefit letters
• Safe deposit box location and keys
• Certified death certificates
• The official small estate form: PR16, Affidavit to Establish Title of Distributee to Property in Estate of Less than $40,000, Small Estate, Intestate (Without Will)

Who to notify

Social Security (if the funeral home hasn't), Banks and credit unions, Brokerage and retirement accounts, Life insurance companies, Utilities and phone, Landlord or mortgage servicer, Credit card companies, Pension or employer. Write once to each, enclose a death certificate copy, and record the reply.

Documents needed abroad

• ConfirmedA death certificate needed abroad

  Apostilles for this state's documents come from the Missouri Secretary of State, Commissions. $10 per certification or authentication. Vital records: Birth certificates: a certified copy from the Bureau of Vital Records. Marriage: a certified copy from the recorder of deeds of the county of the marriage.

  Source: Missouri Secretary of State, Commissions, checked November 2026

Where to ask

An estate attorney or the county probate/surrogate office answers questions about your situation. Official pages for Missouri:

• Form PR16 (SJRC 01-24), Small estate affidavit, intestate (Missouri Courts)
• RSMo Chapter 474, Probate Code: Intestate Succession and Wills (Revisor of Missouri)

General information, not legal, tax or financial advice. We are not lawyers, and MCC Solutions is not a law firm. An estate attorney or the county probate/surrogate office answers questions about your situation. Facts checked November 2026.

Common questions

Related: Executor guide by state · Will signing requirements · Estate paperwork help