Make your own Missouri will.
Yours in about 20 minutes. Legally valid in Missouri. Free to create, or add secure online document storage with the $29/year subscription.
Is a self-written will legal in Missouri?
Yes. Missouri recognizes wills you write yourself, as long as they meet the state's signing requirements. The governing statute is Mo. Rev. Stat. §474.310 et seq.
Your will needs to be in writing, signed by you, and witnessed by 2 adults. You don't need a notary for the will itself to be valid, but adding a notarized "self-proving" affidavit makes the probate process faster later (this tool generates that for you automatically).
You must be at least 18 years old and of sound mind. A minor emancipated by adjudication, marriage, or entry into active military duty may also make a will (Mo. Rev. Stat. §474.310). Choose witnesses who don't inherit under your will: some states void or reduce a gift to a witness, and the exact Missouri rule is covered below. This tool walks you through the rules so you don't trip over them.
A will you write yourself has the same legal force as one drafted by an attorney, provided you follow the signing rules. Courts admit self-written wills to probate every day. An attorney's value is in advising on complex estates, not in drafting the document itself.
What it costs to make a will in Missouri
A Missouri estate-planning attorney typically charges $300 to $600 for a simple will, and $1,000 to $1,500 for a will-plus-revocable-trust package. Rates run higher in dense metros and lower in rural areas. Most attorneys bill at $250 to $400 per hour and need one or two meetings to draft a basic will.
You can also write a will entirely from scratch with a sheet of paper and a pen, with no software at all. Missouri requires the same 2-witness signing process regardless of who drafts the document. The risk with a from-scratch will is technical: a missing self-proving affidavit, a witness who's also a beneficiary, or wording that creates ambiguity for the probate court. That's what this tool prevents.
Will.com is free at the document level. The $29/year subscription adds cloud-stored, zero-knowledge-encrypted access so you can edit and update your plan as life changes.
Missouri will requirements at a glance
How it works
- 1
Answer a few questions
About you, your family, and what you own.
- 2
Download your will
A complete, personalized document, formatted for Missouri courts.
- 3
Sign with witnesses
Print and sign in front of 2 adult witnesses. Keep the signed copy somewhere safe.
When you might want an attorney instead
An online will works for most people. It's the right tool when your situation is straightforward: you want to leave your assets to family or friends, you don't have complex tax issues, and you're not anticipating a fight over your estate.
Consider hiring an attorney if any of these apply:
- Your estate is large enough to trigger federal estate tax (over $15 million in 2026) or Missouri estate or inheritance tax.
- You own a business, complex investments, or assets in multiple states or countries.
- You're in a blended family, especially if you want to leave assets to a current spouse while protecting children from a prior relationship.
- You have a child or beneficiary with special needs and want a supplemental-needs trust that won't disqualify them from public benefits.
- You expect someone to contest the will, or you're disinheriting a close family member.
- You have substantial retirement accounts and want sophisticated beneficiary planning.
If none of these apply, an online will is genuinely fine. The legal validity of your will doesn't depend on who drafted it, only on whether Missouri's signing rules were followed.
Self-proving affidavit in Missouri
Missouri recognizes self-proving affidavits. Will.com attaches one to your will: a short statement your witnesses sign in front of a notary, swearing to what they saw when you signed. See Mo. Rev. Stat. §474.337.
A self-proven will skips the requirement to track down witnesses years later for the probate court. It's optional, but adding the affidavit at signing time saves your executor work. Will.com generates the affidavit alongside the will.
Who can witness your will in Missouri
Mo. Rev. Stat. §474.330: a beneficiary may serve as an attesting witness without invalidating the will, but if the will is not otherwise attested by two disinterested witnesses, the interested witness forfeits the portion of any beneficial disposition that exceeds the value of what the witness would have taken by intestacy. Creditors and executors named in the will are not interested unless they take a personal beneficial disposition.
Family changes after you sign
A child born or adopted after the will. A child who arrives after you sign, and who isn't named or accounted for in the will, is covered by Missouri law rather than by your wishes. The safest practice is to update your will when your family changes.
Mo. Rev. Stat. §474.240: a child born or adopted after the will was executed, and not provided for in the will, receives a share equal in value to what the child would have received had the testator died intestate. Three exceptions defeat it: it appears from the will that the omission was intentional (§474.240.1(1)); when the will was executed the testator had one or more children and devised substantially all the estate to the other parent of the omitted child (§474.240.1(2)); or the testator provided for the child by a transfer outside the will and the intent that the transfer be in lieu of a testamentary provision is shown by the testator's statements, the amount of the transfer or other evidence (§474.240.1(3)). The second exception turns on the testator already having a child when the will was executed, and the third is not made out by the transfer alone. A living child left out solely because the testator believed the child to be dead receives the same intestate-equivalent share (§474.240.2). Missouri also limits who counts as a child here: under §474.240.3 a child born outside marriage is not a child of a male testator for purposes of this section unless the testator, during his lifetime or in the will, recognized the child as his. In satisfying either share the devises made by the will abate as provided in §473.620 (§474.240.4).
A spouse you married after signing. Updating the will after marriage avoids relying on whatever Missouri law provides by default.
Mo. Rev. Stat. §474.235: a surviving spouse who married the testator after the will was executed, and for whom the will fails to provide, receives the same share of the estate the spouse would have received if the decedent had left no will. The claim is defeated where it appears from the will that the omission was intentional, or that the testator provided for the spouse by a transfer outside the will with the intent that the transfer be in lieu of a testamentary provision, shown by the testator's statements, the amount of the transfer or other evidence (§474.235.1). A transfer outside the will does not by itself defeat the claim without that showing of substitutionary intent. Missouri does not narrow the base of the share, so it makes no carve-out for property devised to a child of the testator born before the marriage. In satisfying the share the devises made by the will abate as provided in §473.620 (§474.235.2).
Recent Missouri will-law changes
Missouri authorizes electronic wills and estate planning documents
The Missouri Uniform Electronic Wills and Electronic Estate Planning Documents Act takes effect, authorizing electronic wills, trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, and beneficiary deeds.
HB 754 / SB 221
Two tiers, both private
Free: nothing leaves your browser. No account, no storage. Clear your answers whenever.
Subscription ($29/year): zero-knowledge encrypted storage. We store the ciphertext; only you hold the key. Edit and update as life changes.
Ready to write your will?
Whatever you decide today, your family won’t have to guess. Start free, or save it to your account for $29 a year.