Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Missouri

Re: beneficiary deed

In most circumstances the beneficiary deed will control over the Will. The beneficiary deed was made to keep the real estate out of the probate administration, which is what the Will is for. There will be rare circumstances where this will not be the case. You should hire an attorney in the county where you mother resided to oversee everything.

Re: beneficiary deed

Assuming the beneficiary deed was properly drafted and recorded, the ownership of the real estate passed to the beneficiaries upon the death of your mother. Personally I advise my clients not to set things up like this since it will usually cause problems between multiple beneficiaries. Now, all of you must agree on what to do with the real estate. Also, does the beneficiary deed list all of you as joint tenants? If so, then if one of you should die before transferring his or her interest in the real estate, that interest will be lost. If you all are tenants in common, then upon the death of one of you while still holding an ownership interest that interest will pass to the heirs of the sibling who died owning a piece of the real estate. Apparently any other assets owned in you Mother's name at the time of her death will pass through her Will in probate.