At a glance
| TOD / beneficiary deed | Available |
|---|---|
| Instrument | Beneficiary deed |
| Governing law | Mo. Rev. Stat. § 461.025 Mo. Rev. Stat. § 461.025 — Deeds effective on death of owner (Nonprobate Transfers Law) · first enacted 1989 — Missouri was an early adopter of the beneficiary deed (1989) |
| Recording | Must be executed and recorded before the owner's death |
| Revocation | Recorded revocation or a later recorded beneficiary deed |
| Community-property state | No |
How the deed works
Missouri uses the term 'beneficiary deed' and was an early adopter of the beneficiary deed, authorizize one, enacting Mo. Rev. Stat. § 461.025 in 1989 as part of the Nonprobate Transfers Law (Chapter 461). A deed that conveys an interest in real property to a grantee beneficiary and expressly states that it is not to take effect until the owner's death transfers that interest, effective on death, without probate.
To be effective the beneficiary deed must be executed and recorded, before the owner's death, with the recorder of deeds in the county (or city) where the property is located. It need not be supported by consideration and need not be delivered to the grantee beneficiary during the owner's life, and it may be used to transfer property to a trust (revocable or irrevocable).
Because a beneficiary deed conveys nothing until death, the beneficiary's interest is contingent on surviving the owner and on the property still being owned at death. An attorney licensed in Missouri can confirm the deed's wording and recording satisfy § 461.025 and coordinate it with any multiple-owner arrangements.
Recording & execution requirements
A transfer-on-death deed only works if it is executed and recorded correctly. In Missouri:
- Recording before death: Must be executed and recorded before the owner's death.
- Governing statute: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 461.025 Mo. Rev. Stat. § 461.025 — Deeds effective on death of owner (Nonprobate Transfers Law) · first enacted 1989 — Missouri was an early adopter of the beneficiary deed (1989).
Changing or revoking the deed
A Missouri beneficiary deed is freely revocable during the owner's life; the owner retains full ownership and may sell, mortgage, or convey the property, and a lifetime transfer defeats the beneficiary designation. Revocation is accomplished by recording, before death, a revocation or a later beneficiary deed changing the beneficiary.
Missouri's Nonprobate Transfers Law also allows the owner to change beneficiaries, and a beneficiary designation cannot be revoked or changed by will. Record any change before death in the county where the property lies.
Mortgages, Medicaid & community property
Existing mortgages and liens
A Missouri beneficiary deed passes the property subject to existing mortgages, liens, judgments, and tax obligations, and Chapter 461 preserves creditor rights against nonprobate transfers. The beneficiary takes the owner's interest as encumbered at death; the deed does not clear secured debt.
Medicaid estate recovery
Missouri's Nonprobate Transfers Law (see Mo. Rev. Stat. § 461.300) allows recovery of value from nonprobate transferees, so property passing by a beneficiary deed can be reached for MO HealthNet (Medicaid) estate-recovery claims. This is a flag: confirm current exposure with MO HealthNet and an attorney licensed in Missouri; a beneficiary deed does not automatically insulate the property from recovery.
Community property
Missouri is a common-law (separate-property) state. Missouri is a common-law (non-community-property) state, so no community-property survivorship interest interacts with a beneficiary deed. Spouses commonly hold real property as tenants by the entirety, which passes to the survivor outside probate independent of any beneficiary deed.
State-specific quirks
It's a 'beneficiary deed' here
Missouri calls the instrument a beneficiary deed (not 'transfer-on-death deed'), governed by § 461.025 within the Nonprobate Transfers Law. The label differs from other states but the function — recorded before death, effective at death — is the same.
Nonprobate-transferee recovery
Missouri can recover the value of nonprobate transfers, including beneficiary-deed property, from the recipient (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 461.300) for allowed claims such as Medicaid. Passing property by beneficiary deed does not necessarily place it beyond those claims.
Where to read next
- Missouri estate & inheritance tax — whether Missouri taxes what you leave behind, and the small-estate probate ceiling, each figure cited to the statute.
- The Executor & Heir’s Guide — the probate deadlines for Missouri, cited to the controlling statute.
- Funding a revocable trust — a common way to keep many kinds of property out of probate.
- ← Back to the transfer-on-death deed comparison
Sources & methodology
Methodology & sources
Whether Missouri offers a transfer-on-death deed — and how it is executed, recorded, and revoked — is checked against Missouri’s own code or legislature — an official source where available, or a third-party codified mirror of that code otherwise — for the cited fields; a figure or point that could not be confirmed from a primary source is flagged rather than guessed, and a flagged cell is not a cited one. Deed-form vendors and aggregator round-ups are not cited. State property and probate law changes every legislative session; this page carries the date it was last re-verified. See our editorial standards.
This page is educational and is not legal advice. Whether a transfer-on-death deed is right for you — and whether it survives Medicaid estate recovery, a mortgage’s due-on-sale clause, or a co-owner’s survivorship right — turns on facts a general page cannot resolve. Confirm your own situation with an attorney licensed in Missouri.
Last verified July 26, 2026.