Transfer on death deed in Missouri

Missouri at a glance

TOD deed for real estate

Yes

Name in Missouri law

Beneficiary deed

Law

RSMo § 461.025 (Nonprobate Transfers Law, RSMo §§ 461.003-461.081)

Notary

Required

Witnesses

None

When to record

Before the death

Where to record

Recorder of deeds of the city or county (or counties) where the real property is located

After-death document

No specific filing named in the law

Notice to heirs

Not required

Official form

No state form

Your checklist

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Making a valid TOD deed in Missouri

• What the law does. A deed that expressly says it does not take effect until the owner's death passes the property to the named grantee beneficiary at death, if it is recorded before the owner dies.
• Signing. The owner signs the deed. Like any Missouri deed, it must be acknowledged before a notary to be recorded, and it must state whether each grantor is married. Will formalities do not apply, so no witnesses are needed. The Missouri Supreme Court applies the contract-capacity standard to beneficiary designations, not testamentary capacity (Ivie v. Smith, 2014, noted in the official annotations). An agent can make or change one only if the power of attorney or a court order expressly allows it.
• Recording. The deed must be executed and recorded before the owner's death, or it does not work as a beneficiary deed. The statute sets no deadline in days after signing.
• Payment, delivery, acceptance. No payment is needed, and the deed does not have to be delivered to the beneficiary. The beneficiary's signature or agreement is not needed for any transaction during the owner's life.
• Form. The statute contains no form.

Changing it, and who you can name

• Revoking or changing. The owner can revoke or change it during life. For joint owners, all living owners must agree. A later beneficiary designation revokes an earlier one unless it says otherwise. Selling or giving away the property during life ends the designation for that property. A will can revoke it only if the designation expressly allows that. Divorce revokes a gift to the former spouse.
• Beneficiaries. Persons, entities, and trusts (even revocable ones) can be named, with primary and contingent beneficiaries. If a beneficiary who is the owner's lineal descendant dies first, that person's descendants take the share per stirpes unless the deed says 'no LDPS'. Other beneficiaries can get the same result by adding 'LDPS'. Surviving co-beneficiaries hold as tenants in common unless the deed provides survivorship. If no beneficiary survives, the property goes to the owner's estate.

After the owner dies

• Where. Recorder of deeds of the county where the property is located (presumed)
• Steps. At the owner's death the property passes to the beneficiary by operation of law. For joint owners, this happens at the death of the last survivor. 'Proof of death' includes a death certificate. The statute does not name an affidavit or other document for the beneficiary to record; ask the county recorder of deeds what it needs.

Debts, Medicaid and the spouse

• Creditors and Medicaid. If the probate estate cannot pay the owner's creditors and the statutory allowances for the surviving spouse and dependent children, each beneficiary must pay a pro-rata share, up to the value received. The personal representative or a qualified claimant must bring this action within 18 months after death. The official annotation to § 461.300 notes that the Missouri Supreme Court allowed the State to use this accounting action for Medicaid (MO HealthNet) estate recovery of the value of a nonprobate asset (In re Estate of Jones, 2009). State public-assistance claims under § 473.398 are claims against the estate.
• Surviving spouse. A surviving spouse and unmarried minor children can recover statutory allowances from the beneficiary under § 461.300. Laws protecting a spouse from being unintentionally left out of a will do not apply to nonprobate transfers.

Good to know in Missouri

• Section 461.025 came from L. 1989 H.B. 145 and was amended in 1994 and 1995 (current text effective August 28, 1995).
• A will does not override a beneficiary deed unless the deed expressly lets the owner change it by will (§ 461.033.4).

Official pages

• Missouri statute
• No TOD deed or other plan? How Missouri handles a small estate without probate →

Sources

• RSMo § 461.025 Deeds effective on death of owner (read October 28, 2026)
• RSMo § 461.005 Definitions (read October 28, 2026)
• RSMo § 461.009 Nonprobate transfers not subject to will requirements (read October 28, 2026)
• RSMo § 461.031 Effect of beneficiary designation (read October 28, 2026)
• RSMo § 461.033 Revocation or change (read October 28, 2026)
• RSMo § 461.035 Agents (read October 28, 2026)
• RSMo § 461.045 Lineal descendant substitutes (read October 28, 2026)
• RSMo § 461.051 Dissolution of marriage (read October 28, 2026)
• RSMo § 461.054 (annotation: Ivie v. Smith, contractual capacity) (read October 28, 2026)
• RSMo § 461.059 Omitted spouse or child (read October 28, 2026)
• RSMo § 461.062 Nonprobate transfer rules (read October 28, 2026)
• RSMo § 461.071 Rights of creditors (read October 28, 2026)
• RSMo § 461.300 Recipients of recoverable transfers (read October 28, 2026)
• RSMo § 442.130 Execution of deeds (acknowledgment; marital status) (read October 28, 2026)
• RSMo § 442.380 Instruments to be recorded (read October 28, 2026)
• RSMo § 473.398 Recovery of public assistance from estates (read October 28, 2026)

Legal information from the official sources above, not legal advice. A TOD deed can affect Medicaid, taxes, creditors and co-owners; for a decision about your own property, ask the county recorder, a legal aid office or a lawyer. How we check: methodology.