Personal Representative Deed Requirements in Missouri
At a glance
| Governing law and transaction scope | Chapter 473 separates will-power sales (§ 473.457), supervised court sales (§§ 473.460 to 473.523), and independent administration (§§ 473.780 to 473.833). This cell covers third-party sales, not § 473.844 distribution deeds |
|---|---|
| Property subject to representative control | Supervised representative takes realty possession only by court order when needed for claims or preservation (§ 473.263). Court sale may serve claims, allowances, legacies, administration expenses, taxes, distribution, estate best interests, or burdensome in-kind distribution (§ 473.460). Independent representative controls property as administration requires (§ 473.803) |
| Will power and independent authority | Executor with will power may use it or elect statutory court procedure (§ 473.457). Independent authority must appear in letters through will direction, required consents, or the disability route (§ 473.780), and permits realty sale for cash/credit with or without security (§ 473.810) |
| Court petition and required findings | Representative's petition states the reason, describes the land, and discloses judgment/attachment liens; a creditor or other interested person may petition after 20 days' notice to the representative (§§ 473.493, 473.497). After satisfactory proof, court may order sale. Personalty is exhausted first for estate obligations unless court orders otherwise (§ 473.460) |
| Notice, hearing, and objections | Petition-hearing notice goes to record-listed interested heirs/devisees and court-directed persons by mail, publication, or both; publication is weekly for 4 weeks and sets hearing 30-42 days after first insertion (§ 473.493). Public-sale notice is weekly for 4 weeks (§ 473.507). Sale report remains filed 10 days for written objections (§ 473.513) |
| Sale method, price, credit, and appraisal | Court order selects private sale or public auction; private-sale floor is 3/4 of appraised value. Court may set credit, interest, security, and other estate-benefit terms and may order reappraisal on probable value change (§§ 473.473, 473.500). Public auction is open at the courthouse door or other court-set county place (§ 473.510) |
| Confirmation, report, and deed execution | Within 10 days after sale, file a full verified report with any new appraisal and public advertisement; after the 10-day objection period, court approves only if price/terms are most advantageous and law was followed. Then representative executes, acknowledges, and delivers the deed with prescribed proceeding recitals (§§ 473.513, 473.520) |
| Recording the order and companion documents | Record the acknowledged deed with the county recorder where the land lies (§ 442.380). The supervised deed itself must recite the sale order, court, appraisal, advertisement, sale time/place, report, approval order, consideration, and estate interest (§ 473.520); surveyed statutes do not require a separate certified order or letters to accompany every deed |
| Purchaser protection and title effect | Court-ordered proceedings resist collateral attack for irregularity when the ordering court had estate jurisdiction (§ 473.480). A good-faith value buyer from an independent representative is protected as if power was properly exercised, has no duty to inquire, and keeps the conveyance despite an unreasonable-benefit breach (§ 473.811). Recording gives notice to later purchasers (§§ 442.390-.400) |
Requirements one by one
Start with the letters and the will
Missouri uses three distinct paths. Under §§ 473.457 and 473.460, an executor with a will power may use that power or choose the statutory court procedure. Sections 473.780 and 473.810 create the separate independent-administration route: the letters must authorize independence, and the representative may then sell estate realty for cash or credit, with or without security, while acting reasonably for interested persons.
Without either authority, §§ 473.493 and 473.497 require the supervised route. The representative petitions, gives the prescribed hearing notice, proves a permitted purpose, and receives an order before conducting the sale.
A supervised private sale has a price floor
Under § 473.473 and §§ 473.500 to 473.510, the court selects private sale or public auction and controls any credit, interest, security, or other terms. A private sale cannot be below three-fourths of the appraised value. The court may order a new appraisal if probable cause suggests the property's value has changed.
A public sale is conducted openly at the courthouse door or another place in the county fixed by the order. Section 473.507 requires weekly newspaper notice for four consecutive weeks before that auction.
The supervised deed follows approval, not merely the sale order
Sections §§ 473.513 to 473.520 require the representative to file a full report within ten days after the transaction. The report stays on file for ten days, during which an interested person may object in writing. The court approves only after finding the price and terms most advantageous to the estate and conformity with law. If the court does not approve, § 473.517 makes the proceedings void.
Only after approval does § 473.520 direct the representative to execute, acknowledge, and deliver the deed. That deed must recite the sale order and court, appraisal, advertisement, sale time and place, report, approval order, consideration, and the decedent's conveyed interest.
What trips people up
Ordinary supervised possession differs from independent control. Section 473.263 gives the supervised representative possession of personal property, but realty comes into possession only when the court orders it for claim payment or preservation. Sections §§ 473.803 to 473.811 instead give an independent representative control of the decedent's property as administration requires.
This survey excludes the § 473.844 deed used to distribute property in kind to a devisee or heir; that is not a third-party estate sale.
Consent to independent administration is not the same as consent to an individual supervised sale. Under § 473.780, the required heirs or devisees may consent so the letters authorize independent administration. The supervised sale statutes do not state that unanimous adult consent by itself erases the petition, hearing, report, and approval sequence.
Common questions
Can a creditor seek the sale if the representative will not?
Yes. Section 473.497 permits a creditor or other interested person to file a like petition after giving the executor or administrator twenty days' notice. The court then follows the § 473.493 procedure.
Does an independent sale return for confirmation?
Sections 473.780, 473.783, and 473.810 authorize administration without transaction-specific adjudication, order, or direction. The report-and-approval sequence in § 473.513 belongs to the supervised court-sale route.
Must a purchaser investigate independent authority?
No general inquiry is required. Section 473.811 protects a good-faith value purchaser as if the independent representative properly exercised the power and keeps the conveyance from being set aside merely because the representative failed the reasonable-benefit duty. Interested persons retain a damages remedy against the representative.
Where is the deed recorded?
With the recorder of the county where the land is located. Sections 442.390 and 442.400 make recording the step that gives later purchasers notice.
Statutes and sources
- Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 473.263, 473.457, and 473.460 — possession, will power, and permitted court-sale purposes: Missouri Revisor (accessed 2026-08-12).
- Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 473.473, 473.480, and 473.493 to 473.520 — supervised petition, notice, sale terms, report, approval, deed, and collateral-attack rule: Missouri Revisor (accessed 2026-08-12).
- Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 473.780, 473.783, 473.803, 473.810, and 473.811 — independent authority, property control, sale power, and purchaser protection: Missouri Revisor (accessed 2026-08-12).
- Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 442.380 to 442.400 — county recording and notice: Missouri Revisor (accessed 2026-08-12).
Source links
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