Missouri · nonprobate transfersMissouri beneficiary deed: selling a house that passed on the owner's death

Missouri lets an owner record a beneficiary deed that transfers real estate to a named grantee beneficiary only when the owner dies (RSMo 461.025). It must expressly say it doesn't take effect until the owner's death and must be recorded with the recorder of deeds in the county where the property sits before the owner dies; it doesn't need consideration or delivery, and it can name a trust. During life the owner can revoke or change the designation – joint owners only together – but not by will unless the designation allows it, and selling or otherwise transferring the property during life ends the designation for what was transferred (§461.033). If a named beneficiary who is the owner's lineal descendant dies first, that beneficiary's own descendants take their share per stirpes unless the deed says 'no LDPS'; for other beneficiaries the deed can add 'LDPS' to get the same result (§461.045). A divorce or annulment after the designation revokes it as to the former spouse and the former spouse's relatives, unless the deed says otherwise (§461.051). The home doesn't pass completely free of the owner's obligations: the deceased owner's creditors, surviving spouse and unmarried minor children keep the rights in §461.300, under which recipients can be made to account for their share of unpaid claims and allowances in an action started within 18 months after the death. For a TC, that means checking the recording date, the exact beneficiaries, any substitutes and what the title company needs before listing the property.