Missouri property deeds
Deed rules are state law, and Missouri's differ from its neighbors in ways that decide whether your document records or comes back. Here is the whole picture: which deeds exist here, how they have to be signed, what the recorder wants on the page, and what it costs.
- 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
Deeds Missouri recognizes
| Deed | What it does | Available? |
|---|---|---|
| Quitclaim deed | Transfers whatever interest you have in a property, with no promises about the title. | Yes |
| General warranty deed | Transfers ownership with the strongest title guarantees the law allows. | Yes |
| Special warranty deed | Transfers ownership, but only guarantees the title for the period you owned it. | Yes |
| Beneficiary deed | Names who inherits your property, skips probate, and changes nothing while you're alive. | Yes |
| Lady Bird Deed | An enhanced life estate deed: you keep total control for life, and the property passes automatically at death. | Yes, as the life estate deed with powers (Deedly doesn't prepare it) |
| Life estate deed | You keep the right to live in the property for life; named remaindermen own it after you. | Yes, less common |
| Gift deed | Transfers property to someone as an outright gift, for no payment. | Yes, less common |
How a deed has to be signed in Missouri
Missouri requires the grantor's signature to be acknowledged before a notary public. No witnesses are required.
| Requirement | Rule |
|---|---|
| Notarization | Required. Each signer must appear before the notary and acknowledge the signature. |
| Witnesses | None |
| Preparer statement | Customary, not required |
| Grantee address on the deed | Required |
| Prior deed reference | Optional |
| Spousal joinder | 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). |
Missouri document formatting rules
A safe layout for Missouri is 8.5 × 11 inch paper with a 3-inch clear space at the top of the first page for the recorder of deeds' stamp, 0.75-inch margins elsewhere, and no type smaller than 8 point. That is the profile Deedly formats every Missouri document to. Writing into the recorder's stamp area is the most common formatting rejection there is.
- Missouri requires a 3-inch top margin on the first page and 0.75-inch margins elsewhere, with type of at least 8 points in black or dark ink on white paper of at least 20-pound weight (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 59.310).
- Below that margin, the first page must show the title, the date of the document, every grantor's name and marital status, the grantees' names, the statutory addresses, and the legal description (§ 59.310.2). Deedly lays out every Missouri document so that all of them start on page one.
- A recorder may refuse a document that misses these rules, or record it as "non-standard" for an extra $25 (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 59.310.1, .3).
Missouri transfer tax and recording fees
Missouri has no state real estate transfer tax. Missouri's constitution bars the state, counties and other political subdivisions from imposing any new tax, including a sales tax, on the sale or transfer of homes or any other real estate (Mo. Const. art. X, § 25).
Recording fees run about $19 for the first page and roughly $3 per additional page. 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.
See how Missouri's transfer tax and recording fee compare with other states.
How to hold title in Missouri
- Sole ownership. One person owns everything.
- Tenancy in common. Separate, divisible shares with no survivorship. A deceased owner's share goes to their heirs.
- Joint tenancy with right of survivorship. Equal shares; the survivor takes the whole property automatically.
- Tenancy by the entirety. Married couples only, with automatic survivorship and, in most states that allow it, protection from one spouse's creditors.
What the law presumes for married couples
A conveyance to a married couple in Missouri is presumed to create a tenancy by the entirety.
Where to record a deed in Missouri
Deeds are recorded with the Recorder of Deeds in the county where the property is located. Missouri has 114 counties. Many offices accept e-recording, but usually only from approved submitters such as title companies, attorneys, and lenders.
St. Louis County · Jackson · St. Charles · Greene · St. Louis City · Clay · Jefferson · Boone. all Missouri recording offices
Why deeds get rejected in Missouri
- 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.
From $29. Every Missouri rule above is applied automatically, and you read the finished document before you pay.
Common questions
You sign a deed, have it notarized, and record it with the Recorder of Deeds in the county where the property sits. Which deed depends on what you're doing: a quitclaim for family transfers and adding or removing a name, a warranty deed for a sale, and a transfer-on-death deed for probate avoidance.
No. Missouri does not require an attorney to prepare or record a deed. Use one when ownership is disputed, when the owner has died and the estate has not been probated, when the estate is large enough to owe tax, or when Medicaid planning is involved.
About $19 for the first page and roughly $3 per additional page. Missouri has no state transfer tax.
Yes. The statute is Mo. Rev. Stat. § 461.025. Missouri calls it a beneficiary deed. It must be recorded before the owner's death to be effective.
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 beneficiary deedNames who inherits your property, skips probate, and changes nothing while you're alive.
- Missouri recording officesWhere to file in each county, with fees and contact details.
- Compare all 51 jurisdictionsWitness rules, transfer taxes, and recording fees side by side.
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.