The information provided on this page is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws vary by state and change over time, and the answers below reflect general principles of Missouri law that may not apply to your specific circumstances. Reading this FAQ does not create an attorney-client relationship with Constance & Minton LLC. For advice about your particular situation, please contact our office directly to speak with one of our attorneys.
Probate is the court-supervised process of validating a will (if one exists), paying a deceased person’s debts, and distributing their remaining property to heirs or beneficiaries. In Missouri, probate is generally required whenever a deceased person owned assets solely in their own name that don’t automatically transfer to someone else, such as through joint ownership or a beneficiary designation. Estates in Jackson County are handled through the Probate Division of the Jackson County Circuit Court, with a courthouse location in Independence for matters arising in the eastern part of the county.
Missouri law requires most estates to remain open for at least six months to allow creditors to file claims, though many estates take longer. A straightforward estate with no disputes might close in six to twelve months, while contested or complex estates can take considerably longer. The right timeline for your family’s situation depends on the size of the estate, whether a will is being contested, and how quickly heirs and creditors can be identified.
Probate costs vary based on the size and complexity of the estate, and typically include court filing fees, the Personal Representative’s compensation (which Missouri law allows to be set as a percentage of the estate), and attorney’s fees. Because every estate is different, we can only give you an accurate estimate after learning more about your specific situation.
Missouri uses the term “Personal Representative” for the person appointed by the court to manage a deceased person’s estate (some states call this role an “executor” or “administrator”). A Personal Representative is typically named in the deceased person’s will, though if there is no will, or if the named person is unable to serve, Missouri law sets out an order of priority for who the court may appoint, generally starting with a surviving spouse or adult children.
When a person dies without a valid will, they are said to have died “intestate,” and Missouri’s intestacy statutes determine who inherits their property, rather than the deceased person’s stated wishes, since none exist in writing. Depending on family circumstances, this can mean a surviving spouse shares the estate with children rather than inheriting everything, which often surprises families who assumed otherwise.
Certain strategies, such as placing assets in a properly funded revocable living trust, holding property in joint tenancy, or designating beneficiaries directly on accounts, can allow assets to pass outside of probate. Whether this makes sense for your family depends on your goals, the nature of your assets, and other factors specific to your estate.
If you want to control who inherits your property, name a guardian for minor children, or choose who will administer your estate, a will is one of the most important documents you can have, regardless of the size of your estate. Without one, Missouri’s intestacy laws make these decisions for you.
Missouri law requires a will to be in writing, signed by the person making it (or by someone else in their presence, at their direction), and signed by at least two witnesses who watched the will being signed. A will that doesn’t meet these formalities can be vulnerable to challenge or may not be admitted to probate at all.
While it’s legally possible to draft your own will, do-it-yourself documents are one of the most common sources of the estate disputes we see. Generic templates often fail to account for Missouri-specific requirements, family circumstances, or the way particular assets are titled, and these problems often surface only after it’s too late to fix them. This caution applies with equal force to wills or legal guidance generated using artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT or other large language models. These tools can produce confident-sounding answers that are inaccurate, outdated, or simply wrong for Missouri law, and they cannot substitute for the judgment of a licensed attorney familiar with your specific situation.
A will contest is a legal challenge to the validity of a will, typically filed by an heir or beneficiary who believes something was wrong with how the will was made. Common grounds in Missouri include lack of testamentary capacity (the person wasn’t of sound mind when signing), undue influence, fraud, or improper execution (the signing didn’t follow legal formalities).
Missouri law generally requires a will contest to be filed within a specific window after the will is admitted to probate. Because this deadline is strictly enforced and can pass quickly, anyone considering a challenge should speak with an attorney as soon as possible.
If a court finds a will invalid, the estate is typically distributed under an earlier valid will (if one exists) or, if none exists, under Missouri’s intestacy laws. Will contests can be emotionally and financially costly for a family, which is one of the reasons careful, properly executed estate planning matters so much from the outset.
A will only takes effect after death and must go through probate, while a properly funded trust can manage your assets during your lifetime, in the event of incapacity, and after death, often without court involvement. Many complete estate plans use both documents together, each serving a different purpose.
Not everyone needs a trust, but it can be a valuable tool if you want to avoid probate, plan for potential incapacity, maintain privacy (since wills become public record in probate, while trusts generally do not), or provide for beneficiaries with special circumstances. Whether a trust makes sense depends on your assets, your family, and your goals.
A revocable living trust is a legal arrangement you create during your lifetime that holds title to your assets, with you typically serving as the initial trustee. Because you can amend or revoke it at any time while you’re competent to do so, it offers flexibility while still providing a mechanism for managing your affairs if you become incapacitated and for distributing assets after death, without the assets in the trust passing through probate.
A trustee has a fiduciary duty to manage trust assets prudently, in the best interests of the beneficiaries, and strictly according to the terms of the trust document. This includes keeping accurate records, avoiding conflicts of interest, and communicating appropriately with beneficiaries, duties that carry real legal responsibility and potential liability if not properly fulfilled.
Assets properly transferred into a trust during your lifetime, a step commonly called “funding” the trust, generally bypass the probate process in Jackson County and elsewhere in Missouri. An unfunded trust, however, provides none of these benefits, which is why the funding step is just as important as creating the trust document itself.
Yes. From our office in Independence, we regularly represent clients throughout Jackson County and the broader Kansas City metropolitan area in matters of probate administration, estate planning, and trust administration.
For an initial estate planning consultation, it’s helpful (though not required) to have a general sense of your assets and who you’d like to name as a Personal Representative, trustee, or guardian for minor children. For a probate matter, bringing the original will (if one exists), a death certificate, and basic information about the deceased’s assets and family members will help us get started efficiently, though we can guide you through gathering anything you don’t yet have.
Because every estate plan is tailored to the individual or family, we’re not able to quote a flat fee without first understanding your situation. We’re happy to discuss our approach to fees during an initial consultation.
Have a question that wasn’t answered above? Our attorneys are ready to help.
Constance & Minton LLC
501 W. Lexington Ave.
Independence, MO 64050
Phone: 816-833-1800
Hours: Mon–Fri, 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM