Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: in Missouri, dying without a will does not mean the state keeps the estate; it means Missouri’s intestacy statute (Mo. Rev. Stat. §474.010) decides who gets it, and the surviving spouse usually does not take everything. The single most common misunderstanding on this page: a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship can cut the spouse’s share sharply below what most people assume.
What this guide covers
Who inherits from Missouri residents who die without a will is set by statute, not custom: Mo. Rev. Stat. §474.010 and the sections around it. It governs only the probate estate: what is left after retirement accounts and life insurance with a living named beneficiary, payable-on-death accounts, property in joint tenancy with survivorship, and anything already in a funded trust have already passed outside it. This page covers the spouse’s share, who inherits if there is no spouse, and the rules that can change the answer: half-blood relatives.
The spouse’s share
When the spouse takes everything: Spouse takes the ENTIRE intestate estate only if there is no surviving issue of the decedent. A surviving parent alone does not reduce the spouse’s all-or-nothing share.
When it is less than everything: If surviving issue ALL also issue of the surviving spouse: ‘the first twenty thousand dollars in value of the intestate estate, plus one-half of the balance.’ BLENDED-FAMILY CASE (no $20,000 floor): if one or more surviving issue are NOT issue of the surviving spouse, the spouse takes only ‘one-half of the intestate estate.’
(1) The surviving spouse shall receive: (a) The entire intestate estate if there is no surviving issue of the decedent; (b) The first twenty thousand dollars in value of the intestate estate, plus one-half of the balance of the intestate estate, if there are surviving issue, all of whom are also issue of the surviving spouse; (c) One-half of the intestate estate if there are surviving issue, one or more of whom are not issue of the surviving spouse;
Source: Mo. Rev. Stat. §474.010
If a DIY will fits your situation in Missouri
In Missouri, a surviving spouse can end up sharing the estate with a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship under the default rules above; a will is what lets you decide that instead of the statute. LawDepot builds a state-specific last will and testament.
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Who inherits if there is no spouse
children/descendants equal parts -> father, mother, brothers and sisters or their descendants POOLED into a single tier, equal parts (parents not ranked ahead of siblings) -> grandparents, uncles, aunts, or their descendants, equal parts -> great-grandparents/descendants and so on up the line, within the ninth degree of kinship -> if no spouse or kindred, whole estate to kindred of a predeceased spouse -> escheat.
Rules that change the outcome
Half-blood relatives: REDUCED to half share when whole- and half-blood collaterals are mixed in the same inheriting class (§474.040); if ALL collaterals are half-blood, they take whole portions (only ascendants get double portions in that case).
What a will changes
A will does not just skip the statute above; it lets you choose who gets Missouri property that the intestacy rules would send somewhere else: a spouse who would otherwise share the estate with a stepchild, a partner who is not married and inherits nothing under intestacy at all, or specific people the statute’s ladder never reaches. It also lets you name an executor rather than leaving the court to appoint one. What it does not change: assets that already pass outside probate: a will has no effect on a beneficiary designation, a payable-on-death account, or property held in joint tenancy.
General information drawn from state intestate-succession statutes, not legal advice. Who inherits without a will is STATE law and differs in every state; the spouse’s share, the order of inheritance, and how half-blood and community-property rules apply all change, and every figure here is sourced and dated. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice.