Last Will and Testament for a Single Person with Minor Children
Note:
This summary is not intended to be an all-inclusive summary of the law of wills for Missouri, but does contain basic
and other provisions. Handwritten wills and wills where the testator cannot
sign his or her name are not discussed.
Who may make will: Any person of sound
mind, eighteen years of age or older or any minor emancipated by
adjudication, marriage or entry into active military duty into the military
may by last will devise his or her real or personal property and may also
devise the whole or any part of his or her body to any college, university,
licensed hospital or to the state anatomical board for use in the manner
expressly provided by his or her will or otherwise. 474.310.
Will form, execution, attestation: Every
will shall be in writing, signed by the testator; and shall be attested
by two or more competent witnesses subscribing their names to the will
in the presence of the testator. 474.320.
Who may witness will - effect of interest in will:
1. Any person competent to be a witness generally in this state may act as
attesting witness to a will.
2. No will is invalidated because attested by an interested
witness; but any interested witness shall, unless the will is also attested
by two disinterested witnesses, forfeit so much of the provisions therein
made for him as in the aggregate exceeds in value, as of the date of the
testator's death, what he would have received had the testator died intestate.
3. No attesting witness is interested by reason of being
a creditor of the estate or because he is named executor in the will or
unless the will gives to him some personal and beneficial interest. 474.330.
Revocation of wills: No will in writing,
except in the cases herein mentioned, nor any part thereof, shall be revoked,
except by a subsequent will in writing, or by burning, canceling, tearing
or obliterating the same, by the testator, or in his presence, and by his
consent and direction. 474.400.
Will may provide for disposal of personal property by separate
list: A will may refer to a written statement or
list to dispose of items of tangible personal property not otherwise specifically
disposed of by the will, other than money, evidences of indebtedness, documents
of title, securities and property used in trade or business. To be admissible
under this section as evidence of the intended disposition, the writing
must either be in the handwriting of the testator or be signed by the testator,
must be dated and must describe the items and the devisees with reasonable
certainty. The writing may:
(1) Be referred to as one to be in existence at the time of the
testator's death;
(2) Be prepared before or after the execution of the will;
(3) Be altered by the testator after its preparation; and
(4) Be a writing which has no significance apart from its effect
upon the dispositions made by the will. 474.333.
Written will self-proved, how: A written will
may at the time of its execution, or at any subsequent date, be made self-proved,
by the acknowledgment thereof by the testator and the witnesses, each made
before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of this
state, and evidenced by the officer's certificate, under official seal,
attached or annexed to the will. 474.337.
Written will valid if executed in compliance with law:
A written will is valid if executed in compliance with
(1) The laws of this state;
(2) The laws, as of the time of execution, of the place where the
will is executed; or
(3) The laws of the place where, at the time of execution or the
time of the testator's death, the testator is domiciled, has a place of
abode or is a national. 474.360.
Deposit of will in court in testator's lifetime:
1. A will may be deposited by the person making it, or by such person's
agent, with the probate division of any circuit court, to be safely kept
until delivered or disposed of as hereinafter provided. The clerk of the
court shall receive and keep the will, and give a certificate of deposit
for it.
2. Every will intended to be deposited shall be sealed in an appropriate
manner approved by the circuit court, en banc, subject to administrative
rules of the supreme court, which shall have endorsed thereon "Will of",
followed by the name of the testator. The clerk of the court shall endorse
thereon the day when, and the person by whom, it was delivered. The wrapper
may also be endorsed with the name of the person to whom the will is to
be delivered after the death of the testator. It shall not be opened or
read until delivered to a person entitled to receive it, or otherwise disposed
of as hereinafter provided.
3. During the lifetime of the testator, the will shall be delivered
only to such testator, or to some person authorized by such testator by
an order in writing duly proved by the oath of a subscribing witness. After
the testator's death, the clerk shall notify the person named in the endorsement
on the wrapper of the will, if there is a person so named, and deliver
it to such person.
4. If the will is not delivered to a person named in the endorsement
on the wrapper, it shall be publicly opened in the court within thirty
days after notice of the testator's death, and be retained by the court
until offered for probate. Notice shall be given to the executor named
therein and to such other persons as the court may designate. If the proper
venue is in another court, the will shall be transmitted to such court;
but before such transmission a true copy thereof shall be made and retained
in the court in which the will was deposited. 474.510.
