Title XV, JUDICIAL BRANCH AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURES (Ch. 595 - 686D)

1. Formal execution. All wills and codicils, except as provided in section 633.283 , to be valid, must be in writing, signed by the testator, or by some person in the testator’s presence and by the testator’s express direction writing the testator’s name thereto, and declared by …

When a petition is filed for a conservatorship or guardianship, or a combined petition as provided in section 633.627 , the administration thereof shall be treated as one proceeding, with one docket number, from the date of the filing of the petition. The separate reporting requi…

Any person who is sixteen years of age, or older, and who is competent to be a witness generally in this state, may act as an attesting witness to a will. [C66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §633.280 ]

No will is invalidated because attested by an interested witness; but any interested witness shall, unless the will is also attested by two competent and disinterested witnesses, forfeit so much of the provisions therein made for the interested witness as in the aggregate exceeds…

If a codicil to a defectively executed will is duly executed, and such will is clearly identified in said codicil, the will and the codicil shall be considered as one instrument and the execution of both shall be deemed sufficient. [C97, §3274; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, § 11853; C46, …

A will executed outside this state, in the mode prescribed by the law, either of the place where executed or of the testator’s domicile, shall be deemed to be legally executed, and shall be of the same force and effect as if executed in the mode prescribed by the laws of this sta…

A will can be revoked in whole or in part only by being canceled or destroyed by the act or direction of the testator, with the intention of revoking it, or by the execution of a subsequent will. When done by cancellation, the revocation must be witnessed in the same manner as th…

After being informed of the death of the testator, the person having custody of the testator’s will shall deliver it to the court having jurisdiction of the testator’s estate. Every person who willfully refuses or fails to deliver a will after being ordered by the court to do so …

The clerk shall maintain a file for the safekeeping of wills. There shall be placed therein wills deposited with the clerk by living testators or by persons on their behalf, and wills of deceased testators not accompanied by petitions for the probate thereof, when deposited with …

Every such will shall be enclosed in a sealed wrapper. The clerk shall indorse thereon the name of the testator, the name of the depositor, the date of deposit, and, if provided, the name of the person to be notified of the deposit of such will upon the death of the testator. The…

During the lifetime of the testator, such will shall be delivered only to the testator, or to some person authorized by the testator by an order in writing duly acknowledged. [C66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §633.288 ] Referred to in §633.287 , 633.645

After being informed of the death of a testator, the clerk shall notify the person, if any, named in the indorsement on the wrapper of said will. If no petition for the probate thereof has been filed within thirty days after the death of the testator, it shall be publicly opened,…

1. After the death of the testator, any interested person may file a verified petition in the district court of the proper county for any of the following: a. To have the will admitted to probate. b. For the appointment of the executor. c. To request a hearing before the will is …

A petition for probate of a will shall state: 1. The name, domicile, and date of death of the decedent. 2. If the decedent was not domiciled in the state at the time of the decedent’s death, then, that the decedent had property within the county in which the petition is filed, or…

A petition for the appointment of an executor shall state the name and address of the person nominated or proposed as executor, and that such person is qualified to act as executor. If the person proposed in said petition is not the person nominated in the will, the petition shal…

Upon the filing of a petition for probate of a will, the court or the clerk may, in its or the clerk’s discretion, hear it forthwith, or at such time and place as the court or clerk may direct, with or without requiring notice, and upon proof of due execution of the will, admit t…

Letters testamentary may be granted to one or more persons found to be qualified. Preference for appointment shall be in the following order: 1. The person designated in the will; 2. Any beneficiary named in the will, or a person nominated by the beneficiaries; 3. Any creditor of…

The proof may be made by the oral or written testimony of one or more of the subscribing witnesses to the will. If such testimony is in writing, it shall be substantially in the following form executed and sworn to before or after the death of the decedent: In the District Court …

If it is desired to prove the execution of the will by deposition, rather than by use of the affidavit form provided in section 633.295 , upon application, the clerk shall issue a commission to some officer authorized by the law of this state to take depositions, with the will an…

If all of such witnesses are deceased or otherwise not available, then it shall be permissible to prove said will by the sworn testimony of two credible disinterested witnesses that the signature to the will is in the handwriting of the person whose will it purports to be, and th…

The court or the clerk shall enter an order either admitting said will to probate, or disallowing probate because of insufficient proof thereof. [C66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §633.298 ]

If a petition for appointment of an executor has been filed, the order admitting the will to probate shall include appointment of an executor thereof, unless the court or clerk shall determine that no appointment should be made at such time. [C51, §1299, 1302; R60, §2331, 2334; C…

When used in this probate code, unless otherwise required by the context, or another subchapter of this probate code, the following words and phrases shall be construed as follows: 1. “Administrator” means any person appointed by the court to administer an intestate estate. 2. “A…

When a will has been admitted to probate the clerk shall have a certificate of such fact, endorsed thereon or annexed thereto, signed by the clerk and attested by the seal of the court; and, when so certified, it, or the transcript of the record properly authenticated, may be rea…

Upon request by the executor, when a will has been admitted to probate and certified pursuant to section 633.300 , the clerk shall cause a certified copy thereof to be placed in the hands of the executor to whom letters are issued. The clerk shall retain the will in a separate fi…

When the clerk places an original will in a separate file as provided in section 633.301 , the clerk shall place and keep a true copy of such will in the probate file containing the proceedings in the estate which it governs. [C66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §633.302 ]

1. As used in this section , “heir” means only such person as would, in an intestate estate, be entitled to a share under section 633.219 . 2. On admission of a will to probate, the executor, as soon as letters are issued, shall cause notice to be published once each week for two…

1. On admission of a will to probate, the executor shall, in accordance with section 633.410 , provide by electronic transmission on a form approved by the department of health and human services to the entity designated by the department of health and human services, a notice of…

1. On admission of a will to probate without administration of the estate, the proponent shall cause to be published, in the manner prescribed in section 633.304 , a notice of the admission of the will to probate. As soon as practicable following the admission of the will to prob…

Whenever it shall appear that the testator died seized of real estate located in a county of this state other than that in which probate is granted, a complete transcript, properly authenticated, of the record entry of the order of court admitting the will to probate, and, if a c…

The cost of such transcript and of the recording thereof shall be taxed against the estate of the decedent unless administration thereof is closed, in which event it shall be paid by the owner of the real estate involved. [S13, §3287; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, § 11870; C46, 50, 54, 58…

Any interested person may petition to set aside the probate of a will by filing a written petition in the probate proceedings. The petition for such purpose shall state the grounds therefor. [C51, §1297; R60, §2329; C73, §2353; C97, §3296; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, § 11882; C46, 50, 5…

1. An action to contest or set aside the probate of a will must be commenced in the court in which the will was admitted to probate within the later to occur of four months from the date of second publication of notice of admission of the will to probate or one month following th…

1. The clerk shall keep a court calendar, and enter thereon such matters as the court may prescribe. 2. The clerk shall charge and collect the following court costs in connection with probate matters: a. For services performed in short form probates pursuant to sections 450.22 an…

Nothing contained in this part shall prevent any interested person from filing objections to probate of a proposed will prior to admission of the will to probate. If such objections are filed prior to the admission of the will to probate, the will shall not be admitted to probate…

An action objecting to the probate of a proffered will, or to set aside a will, is triable in the probate court as an action at law, and the rules of civil procedure governing law actions, including demand for jury trial, shall be applicable thereto. [C97, §3283; C24, 27, 31, 35,…

In all actions to contest or set aside a will, all known interested parties who have not joined with the contestants as plaintiffs in the action, shall be joined with proponents as defendants. When additional interested parties become known, the court shall order them brought in …

Any person named as a defendant in an action to contest or set aside a will may, at time of appearance, or by leave of court at any time thereafter, elect to join with the contestants. [C66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §633.313 ]

The court shall tax the costs in an action to contest or set aside a will. No costs shall be taxed against a losing party who has been joined in the action but who does not appear. [C66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §633.314 ]

When any person is designated as executor in a will, or has been appointed as executor, and defends or prosecutes any proceedings in good faith and with just cause, whether successful or not, that person shall be allowed out of the estate necessary expenses and disbursements, inc…

If the ground of objection is that another will of the decedent has been discovered, each devisee named in such other will shall be joined in the action. [C66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §633.316 ]

If, after letters of administration have been granted, a will of the decedent is admitted to probate, such letters of administration are thereby revoked, and the person to whom such letters were issued shall promptly file a final report and make an accounting to the court. [C66, …

If, after a will has been admitted to probate, another instrument purporting to be the will of the decedent, which has not been previously presented for probate, is filed, the court shall determine whether or not the former grant of letters should be revoked pending determination…

If the lack of the due execution of a will constitutes a ground for objection, proof of such execution shall not be made by affidavit as provided in section 633.295 . [C66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §633.319 ]

1. On June 1 and December 1 of each year, the clerk shall notify the fiduciary and the fiduciary’s attorney of any delinquent inventories or reports due by law in any pending estate, trust, guardianship, or conservatorship, and that unless such delinquent inventory or report is f…

The executor or any person named as a beneficiary in a will may bring an action for a declaratory judgment to have such will declared to be the last will of the decedent. In such action, all known interested persons, including heirs of the decedent and persons named as beneficiar…