How Long Does Probate Take in Missouri?

The call comes. Then the funeral. Then, somewhere in the grief, you find yourself saying: "We need to deal with the estate."

That's when the second clock starts — and most executors have no idea how long it runs, or what can make it run longer.

Which path applies to your situation depends on one number: the estate's net value.

For a formal Missouri estate (anything above $40,000), the law mandates a minimum of approximately 6 months and 10 days. Not because courts are slow. Because Missouri statute builds that window in deliberately, and no level of organization, legal skill, or family cooperation can close an estate faster.

Most formal estates take 9 to 12 months. Some run longer. Knowing exactly why — and what you control — is the difference between an estate that closes at 8 months and one that drags past 18.

Small Estates: A Faster Path, With Conditions

If the estate's net value is $40,000 or less, Missouri offers a shortcut: the Small Estate Affidavit under RSMo (Missouri Revised Statutes) § 473.097.

You can't file it immediately. There's a mandatory 30-day waiting period from the date of death. After that, the process typically wraps in weeks to a couple of months — far faster than formal probate.

If the estate falls between $15,001 and $40,000, you must also publish notice to creditors for two consecutive weeks before the creditor window opens. That adds time even to the simplified path.

One local factor: St. Louis County and Jackson County require an attorney even for small estates. Attorney scheduling adds coordination time the statutes don't account for.

Formal Estates: The Statutory Floor

For estates above $40,000, you're in formal probate. This applies whether or not the decedent left a will — intestate estates (no will) follow the same statutory phases and the same 6-month minimum; the difference is that distribution follows Missouri's intestacy rules rather than the decedent's wishes.

This process looks complex because it is. But each phase has a clear trigger and a clear deadline. Here's the sequence:

Days 1–5 The death certificate must be filed through Missouri's MoEVR system within 5 days of death. Order 5–10 certified copies at the same time ($14 for the first, $11 each after) — every financial institution, transfer agent, and government agency will ask for one.

Months 1–2: Opening the Estate Petition filed with the Circuit Court. Bond secured and filed. Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (without) issued. Once Letters are in hand, notice must be published once a week for four consecutive weeks.

That publication starts the 6-month creditor clock.

Month 2: Inventory Deadline Within 30 days of receiving Letters, you must file a complete inventory and appraisement. If real estate is involved, that means commissioning an appraisal. No extensions are built in.

Months 2–8: The Creditor Window No estate can close before the 6-month creditor period expires. You can file everything perfectly, respond to every creditor promptly, and still sit and wait.

Known creditors must receive direct written notice by mail. Once notified, they have two months from that mailing — or until the 6-month general window ends, whichever is later — to file claims.

If the decedent was 55 or older and received Medicaid, you must also submit Form MO 886-4354 to the MO HealthNet Cost Recovery Unit and wait for a formal release letter before closing. There's no statutory deadline on that process — submitting the form early is the only lever you have.

Month 8 and Beyond: Closing For independent administration — the less court-supervised track, available when heirs cooperate and the will is uncontested — you can file to close no earlier than 6 months and 10 days after the first published notice. That 10 days comes from the mandatory 20-day objection period after filing the Statement of Account, accounting for mailing time. Mail the Statement to all interested parties, wait out the objection window. If no objections, distribute and close.

Supervised administration requires more: Final Settlement published in a newspaper for four consecutive weeks, followed by a court audit and judicial approval. That adds months.

If you're working through this now and want the full statutory checklist — every deadline, every required form, including the inventory filing that trips up most first-time executors — the Missouri Probate Process Guide maps the entire sequence to Missouri's Circuit Court requirements.

What Extends Missouri Probate Beyond a Year

The 6-month minimum is just that — a minimum. Here's what pushes estates past 12 months, and where you have control:

• A contested will. Under RSMo § 473.083, a will contest must be filed within 6 months of the will being accepted or rejected. If contested, the estate moves to supervised administration automatically. Contested estates regularly run 18 months to several years.
• The consent requirement. Independent administration requires all heirs to sign consent. One heir who won't sign — for any reason — forces supervised administration. This is something you can often address early by having the conversation before filing.
• Real estate sales in supervised administration. Every sale requires a court petition, a hearing, and calendar availability. Each transaction adds weeks.
• MO HealthNet processing. No statutory deadline governs how long the Cost Recovery Unit takes to issue a release letter. Submitting Form MO 886-4354 as early as possible is the only way to reduce the wait.
• Out-of-state property. If the decedent owned property in another state, that state's courts may require separate ancillary probate proceedings running in parallel — each with their own timelines.
• Complex assets. Business interests and investment securities require professional valuations. Commission those appraisals early.
• A missing will. Missouri requires a will to be submitted to probate court within 1 year of death — or 6 months after first publication, whichever is later. Miss that window and the estate distributes as if no will ever existed.

One hard cutoff worth knowing: RSMo § 473.444 sets a 1-year absolute bar on creditor claims. Any claim filed more than one year after the date of death is permanently unenforceable — regardless of whether formal administration was ever opened.

The Estate That Closes at 8 Months vs. 18 Months

The difference usually isn't legal complexity. It's information.

Executors who know the statutory sequence before they need it — who understand what triggers supervised administration, when the inventory is due, and what the Medicaid recovery process requires — move through the process without costly detours.

The estates that drag past 18 months are typically ones where the executor discovered the consent requirement after filing, or didn't know to flag the Medicaid claim, or missed the inventory deadline and lost credibility with the court.

None of those outcomes are inevitable. They're almost all the result of not knowing what was coming.

The Missouri Probate Process Guide gives you that map before you're in the middle of it — the complete statutory timeline, jurisdiction-specific requirements, and every checkpoint from the first court filing to the moment assets are distributed.

The clock runs on Missouri statute. How smoothly it runs depends on what you know going in.

See more Missouri guides →