The probate process involves gathering, inventorying, and valuing a decedent’s estate assets, paying a decedent’s debts, and distributing the remaining estate to the decedent’s beneficiaries or heirs. However, Missouri has different types of probate administration for various circumstances, such as complex, contested, or small estates. An experienced probate attorney can walk you through the different types of probate administration available in Missouri.
Types of Probate Administration in Missouri
The most common types of probate administration in Missouri include:
Independent Administration
An independent administration in Missouri occurs when the court exercises minimal oversight of the executor’s or administrator’s management of the estate administration process. Most formal probate proceedings occur as independent administrations, which offer a more streamlined process due to the minimized court oversight. A probate proceeding can occur as an independent administration when not expressly prohibited by the decedent’s will and when the decedent’s heirs or beneficiaries consent.
Supervised Administration
In a supervised administration, the court closely monitors the estate administration process by requiring regular accountings from the executor or administrator, or holding periodic hearings. The court may also require the executor or administrator to obtain the court’s approval for various decisions or actions. Supervised administration typically occurs with disputes among heirs or when an estate involves complex assets. A decedent may also require supervised administration by expressly mandating it in their will.
Small Estate Procedures
Missouri law provides streamlined procedures for “small” estates valued at less than $40,000. Once 30 days have passed since a decedent’s death, their heirs or beneficiaries can file a small estate affidavit to authorize the distribution of the decedent’s estate per their will or state intestacy law without the need for a full probate proceeding.
Alternatively, estates valued less than the statutory allowance afforded to a surviving spouse or unmarried minor children or $15,000 may qualify for a “refusal of letters,” under which the court may exercise its discretion to refuse to open a probate proceeding and instead distribute a small estate to a decedent’s heirs or beneficiaries.
Determination of Heirship
In Missouri, parties claiming an interest in a decedent’s estate can file a petition for determination of heirship when the decedent died more than one year ago and did not leave a will, and when no one has opened up another probate proceeding for the decedent. A determination of heirship proceeding can determine who qualifies to inherit from the decedent’s estate and their respective interests in the estate. People may petition for the determination of heirship when a person dies without a will, and it takes time to locate the person’s surviving family members or the person’s family when they later discover that they had estate assets.
Contact a Probate Administration Lawyer
When you must oversee a loved one’s estate, an experienced probate administration attorney can help you determine which procedure you should follow in Missouri. Contact Martin & Birdsong, Attorneys at Law, today for a free initial consultation with our legal team to learn more about the types of probate administration.