Missouri beneficiary deed
A beneficiary deed lets you name who inherits your Missouri property without probate, while you keep full control, including the power to sell or mortgage it without anyone's signature. Here is exactly what Missouri requires, what it costs, and where to file it.
- Recording office
- Recorder of Deeds
- Witnesses
- Notary only
- Transfer tax
- None
- First-page margin
- 3″ top
- Recording fee
- ~$19 first page
- E-recording
- Approved submitters
What a beneficiary deed does in Missouri
A transfer-on-death deed (a beneficiary deed in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado and Missouri) names the person who should receive your real estate when you die. You record it now, but it transfers nothing until death: you keep full ownership, you can sell or mortgage the property, and you can revoke the deed at any time without your beneficiary's consent. When you die, the property passes outside probate. Your beneficiaries then record the documents your state requires to show them as the owners; in a few states that filing has a deadline, or is what completes the transfer.
In Missouri the governing statute is Mo. Rev. Stat. § 461.025. Missouri pioneered the beneficiary deed in 1989, the first state in the country to authorize one.
The Missouri law behind this deed
Start with Mo. Rev. Stat. § 461.025 if you want to read the statute's own language. The table below lists the main statutes behind the rules on this page.
| What it governs | Citation |
|---|---|
| Beneficiary deeds specifically | Mo. Rev. Stat. § 461.025 |
| Conveyances generally | Mo. Rev. Stat. § 442.020 |
| Recording with the Recorder of Deeds | Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 442.380 to 442.400, 59.310, 59.330 |
| Homestead and spousal consent | Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 513.475, 474.150 |
When Missouri homeowners use a beneficiary deed
- Leave a house to your children without probate
- Keep real estate out of a will contest
- Get probate avoidance without paying for a full living trust
- Name a backup beneficiary in case your first choice dies first
- Revoke or change an earlier beneficiary designation
What Missouri requires on the deed
These are the execution and formatting rules recorders of deeds enforce. Getting any of them wrong is the usual reason a deed comes back in the mail.
| Requirement | What Missouri says |
|---|---|
| Recording office | Recorder of Deeds |
| Notarization | Required. Each signer must appear before the notary and acknowledge the signature. Signing in front of the notary is the safest practice. |
| Witnesses | None required. A notarial acknowledgment is enough. |
| Legal description | Required, copied exactly from the prior recorded deed. A street address is not sufficient. |
| Grantee's address | Must appear on the face of the deed. |
| Return address | Recommended so the original comes back to you. |
| Preparer statement | Not required, but customary. |
| Prior deed reference | Not required, though it keeps the chain of title clean. |
| Page setup | 8.5 × 11 in, 3-inch clear space at the top of page one, 0.75-inch margins elsewhere, nothing under 8pt. This is the profile Deedly applies. |
| Timing | Must be recorded before the owner's death. Recording it afterwards has no effect. |
A spouse may have to sign even if they are not an owner
When a married owner conveys, the owner's spouse must join in the deed even if not on title. A conveyance of the homestead by one spouse alone is void (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 513.475.2). Any other conveyance made without the spouse's joinder or written assent is presumed to defraud the spouse's marital rights if the spouse survives the owner (§ 474.150.2).
How to complete and record it in Missouri
- Find your current deedYou need the legal description from it, word for word. If you can't find your copy, the Recorder of Deeds can provide one, usually for a few dollars.
- Identify everyone by full legal nameNames must match the current deed and government ID exactly, middle names included. A mismatch creates a gap in the chain of title that shows up years later at closing.
- Complete the deedDeedly builds it with the wording, notary certificate, and 3-inch first-page margin used for Missouri deeds.
- Sign in front of a notaryBring photo ID. Wait to sign until you are in front of the notary: you have to appear before the notary anyway, and signing there leaves no question about who signed.
- Record it with the Recorder of DeedsFile in the county where the property is located and pay the recording fee. Many offices in this state also accept e-recording, but usually only from approved submitters such as title companies. Keep the stamped receipt. It fixes your priority date.
- Tell your beneficiaries where it isAfter your death they record proof of it, such as a certified death certificate or an affidavit of death, with the Recorder of Deeds so the land records show them as the owners.
What it costs in Missouri
| Cost | Typical amount |
|---|---|
| Recording fee | About $19 for the first page and roughly $3 per additional page |
| Transfer tax | None in this state |
| Notary | Missouri caps a notary's fee for an acknowledgment at $5 per signature, plus any travel fee agreed in advance (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 486.685). |
| Deedly | $49, one time (launch price, regular $69) |
| Attorney (for comparison) | $150–$700 for the same statutory document |
Missouri imposes no state real estate transfer tax, so the recording fee is normally your only cost beyond notarization.
Where to record it in Missouri
Missouri deeds are recorded with the Recorder of Deeds in the county where the property sits, not where you live. There are 114 counties in Missouri.
Many Missouri recording offices accept e-recording through vendors such as Simplifile, CSC, or ePN. E-recording is generally open only to approved submitters such as title companies, attorneys, and lenders, so if you prepared the deed yourself, plan to record in person or by mail. Some offices accept filings from the public through those vendors; your county's website will say.
Recording offices we cover in Missouri: St. Louis County, Jackson, St. Charles, Greene, St. Louis City, Clay, Jefferson, Boone. See all Missouri recording offices.
What a beneficiary deed does NOT do
Being honest about the limits is more useful than a sales pitch. Every one of these catches somebody out.
- Only 34 states plus DC recognize it. Recording one in a state that does not accept it accomplishes nothing.
- It does not clear the mortgage. Your beneficiary takes the property subject to any loan, lien, or judgment against it.
- It doesn't protect the property from your creditors, and in many states it doesn't shield the property from Medicaid estate recovery.
- The beneficiary receives no ownership interest until you die. They cannot be added as a co-owner this way.
- If a beneficiary dies before you, what happens to their share depends on state law: in some states it passes to the other beneficiaries or to the beneficiary's descendants, in others it fails. Naming an alternate, where your state's form allows one, avoids the question.
Quirks of Missouri law that catch people out
- Page one must state whether each grantor is married or unmarried (Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 442.130.2, 59.310.2).
- The recorder will not record a deed without a legal description and a mailing address for at least one grantee (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 59.330).
- Nothing may be written or stamped in the top 3 inches of page one. A recorder may refuse a document that breaks Missouri's format rules, or record it as non-standard for an extra $25 (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 59.310.1, .3).
- A married owner's spouse must sign the deed, even if not on title: one spouse alone cannot convey the homestead (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 513.475.2).
- In the City of St. Louis, every grantee must also sign the deed before a notary, and the deed must give the grantor's residence address; the Recorder will not record a deed without them (St. Louis Rev. Code §§ 15.152.030, 15.152.040). The grantee must first file a Certificate of Value with the City Assessor (§ 5.70.010).
- Missouri has 114 counties plus the independent City of St. Louis, 115 recording offices in all. The City of St. Louis is not part of St. Louis County and has its own Recorder of Deeds, so check which one the property is in before you record.
- Missouri's constitution bars the state, counties and other political subdivisions from imposing any new tax on the sale or transfer of real estate (Mo. Const. art. X, § 25).
- A conveyance to a married couple is presumed to create a tenancy by the entirety, which protects the property from creditors of only one spouse.
$49, one time. Your finished deed appears in full before you pay, with Missouri's witness rules, margins, and recording instructions already applied.
Common questions
No. Missouri has no requirement that an attorney prepare a deed. What matters is the correct statutory language, an accurate legal description, proper notarization, and recording with the Recorder of Deeds. Deedly produces all of that for $49, versus roughly $150–$700 for an attorney to draft the same document. If ownership is disputed, the current owner has died without probate, or the transfer is tax-sensitive, use an attorney.
Expect around $19 for the first page and roughly $3 per additional page. Missouri has no state real estate transfer tax, so the recording fee is normally the whole cost. Missouri's statutes set a base charge of $19 for a deed's first page and $3 for each page after it ($5 and $3 under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 59.310.6, plus a $6 user fee under § 59.319.1, a $3 housing trust fee under § 59.319.2 and a $5 fee under § 59.800.1), and every office we read charges more, so the fee varies by county: $23 in Jackson County and the City of St. Louis, and $26 in Clay County and St. Louis County. Some county schedules are undated and may not show the August 28, 2026 increase in the user fee. Confirm the fee with your recorder before you send a check.
No. Missouri requires only that the grantor's signature be acknowledged before a notary public. Forms that show witness lines are usually generic templates borrowed from another state.
With the Recorder of Deeds in the county where the property is located, not where you live, and not where the buyer lives. Missouri has 114 counties. Many offices in this state also accept e-recording, but usually only from approved submitters such as title companies.
Yes. Beneficiary deeds are revocable during your lifetime. You can record a revocation, record a new one naming different beneficiaries, or simply sell the property. You don't need your beneficiary's permission for any of it.
Yes, for this property. On your death the property passes directly to the people you named, outside probate. They then record proof of your death with the Recorder of Deeds so the public record shows the change. It doesn't avoid probate for anything else you own, it doesn't clear the mortgage, and it doesn't protect the property from your creditors.
Often, yes. When a married owner conveys, the owner's spouse must join in the deed even if not on title. A conveyance of the homestead by one spouse alone is void (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 513.475.2). Any other conveyance made without the spouse's joinder or written assent is presumed to defraud the spouse's marital rights if the spouse survives the owner (§ 474.150.2). That surprises people, because the spouse is not becoming an owner. They are releasing rights the law gives them automatically. Deedly adds a joinder block for the signature when it applies.
Keep reading
- Missouri quitclaim deedTransfers whatever interest you have in a property, with no promises about the title.
- Missouri general warranty deedTransfers ownership with the strongest title guarantees the law allows.
- Missouri special warranty deedTransfers ownership, but only guarantees the title for the period you owned it.
- Missouri life estate deedYou keep the right to live in the property for life; named remaindermen own it after you.
- All deed rules for MissouriRecording offices, transfer tax, witness rules, and fees.
- Missouri recording officesWhere to file in each county.
Deedly is not a law firm
Its software and documents are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. We provide self-help software and state-specific deed forms; you make your own decisions about your property. Using Deedly does not create an attorney-client relationship, and nothing here is legal advice. If your situation is complex or contested, talk to a licensed attorney in your state.