---
type: Authority
title: RSMo Chapter 474 (Missouri Wills and Intestate Succession)
description: Missouri's probate-code chapter governing who may make a will, how a will must be executed and witnessed, the self-proving affidavit, and how property passes when there is no valid will.
resource: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneChapter.aspx?chapter=474
tags: [wills, intestacy, probate, self-proving-affidavit, missouri]
timestamp: 2026-06-22
jurisdiction: Missouri
author: Patrick Nolan
authority_type: statute
citation: RSMo Chapter 474
---

# Summary

RSMo Chapter 474 is the Missouri statute on wills and intestate succession. It sets who may make a will, how a will must be signed and witnessed to be valid, how a will is made self-proving, and how a decedent's property is distributed when there is no valid will. A will that fails the execution requirements is void, and the estate passes by intestacy.

# Operative text

Paraphrased from key sections, verified against the official source:

- §474.310 (who may make a will): any person of sound mind who is eighteen or older, or an emancipated minor, may make a will.
- §474.320 (form, execution, attestation): every will must be in writing, signed by the testator (or by another at the testator's direction and in their presence), and attested by two or more competent witnesses who subscribe their names in the testator's presence.
- §474.337 (self-proved will): a will may be made self-proving by the acknowledgment of the testator and witnesses before an officer authorized to administer oaths, which removes the need for witnesses to testify in probate later.
- §474.010 (general rules of descent): when a person dies intestate, the surviving spouse takes the entire estate if there is no surviving issue, or the first twenty thousand dollars plus one-half of the balance when all surviving issue are also the spouse's; the remainder passes to issue and then to other heirs.

Read the full chapter at the official source linked above.

# Decision rule

Because a Missouri will is void unless it is written, signed, and attested by two competent witnesses (§474.320), execute every will to that standard and add a self-proving affidavit (§474.337); without a valid will, §474.010 decides who inherits, not you.

# Related

- [Wills and Will Requirements](/okf/estate-planning/wills.md)
- [Estate Planning Overview](/okf/estate-planning/overview.md)
- [The Six Core Documents](/okf/estate-planning/core-documents.md)
- Official source: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneChapter.aspx?chapter=474