Find Buchanan County Probate Records

Buchanan County Probate Division Contact

Probate in Buchanan County is handled by the Probate Division of the Circuit Court. The 5th Judicial Circuit's Buchanan County Circuit Clerk page lists probate clerks in Room 333 at the Buchanan County Courthouse. The published probate clerk phone numbers are 816-271-1418 and 816-271-1449. The courthouse address is 411 Jules Street, St. Joseph, Missouri 64501.

Use the probate clerks when the question is about an estate, will, guardianship, conservatorship, small estate filing, refusal of letters, or copy of a probate filing. Use the main Circuit Clerk office when submitting the court-record request form or when the exact division contact is not clear. Probate copy requests use the same Circuit Clerk copy request channel, but the form warns that probate documents vary by case type.

Buchanan County Probate Case Types

The official Buchanan County fee schedule is a useful map of what the probate division handles. It includes adult and minor guardianship or conservatorship, small estates with or without a will, amended small estates, applications for letters with or without a will, refusals of letters, successor letters, applications to admit a will, will deposits, heirship, trust estates, discovery of assets, and will contests.

These records can show different facts depending on the file. A decedent estate may include a will, application for letters, inventory, settlement, accounting, final distribution, or heirship material. A guardianship or conservatorship may involve a protected person and personal capacity or financial-management facts. A will contest or discovery of assets petition may be more like a contested civil matter inside the probate docket.

• Estate administration, including letters testamentary or letters of administration.
• Small estate affidavit matters when the estate qualifies under Missouri law.
• Will deposit, application to admit a will, and will contest filings.
• Guardianship and conservatorship for adults or minors.
• Trust estate, heirship, discovery of assets, and settlement filings.

Buchanan County Probate Terms

Probate records use terms that can be unclear if the file is being searched for a family, title, benefits, or genealogy purpose. These definitions keep the local probate file categories readable without changing the legal effect of any court order.

Testator

A person who made a will.

Executor

A person named to carry out a will, often called a personal representative after appointment.

Intestate

Dying without a valid will, so property passes under state succession rules.

Guardianship

A court case about care, custody, or personal decision-making for a minor or incapacitated adult.

Conservatorship

A court case about managing property or finances for a protected person.

Search Buchanan County Probate Records

Start with Missouri Case.net when the goal is to identify a public probate case number, filing date, party names, estate or ward name, docket entries, hearing dates, or disposition. Case.net is the statewide case-information portal for Missouri courts, including public circuit and probate case information. Automated collection was blocked during research, so the research file does not claim that a live probate case result was opened.

For actual document copies, use the Buchanan County Circuit Clerk's court-record request form. The request should identify the case number if known, the name tied to the case, the date or approximate time frame, any helpful identifiers, and the copy type needed. Certified and authenticated copies cannot be emailed under the form's delivery rules, so choose pickup or mail when an official copy is required.

1. Search Case.net by case number when a notice, attorney letter, or prior copy gives a number.
2. Use a name search if the number is unknown, then narrow by Buchanan County or the 5th Judicial Circuit.
3. Review the public docket to confirm the case type and division before requesting copies.
4. Contact the probate clerks in Room 333 if the file type or fee category is uncertain.
5. Submit the court-record request form to the Circuit Clerk for the specific probate documents needed.

Note: Probate documents vary by case type, so a request for "the whole file" may require fee review and redaction before release.

Buchanan County Probate Fee Schedule

The 5th Judicial Circuit cost deposits page lists probate deposits and special notes for Buchanan County. Publication costs appear in several categories and cannot be e-filed under the fee schedule. The schedule also notes an additional clerk fee when a decedent estate final inventory is over $50,000, plus a $10 additional clerk fee for each citation issued by the court on deceased, guardian, and conservator estates.

Buchanan County Small Estate Rules

Small estate filings have two numbers that can confuse searchers. RSMo 473.097 sets the Missouri small estate affidavit procedure where the value of the entire estate, less liens, debt, and encumbrances, does not exceed $40,000 and 30 days have elapsed since death, subject to the statute's conditions. Buchanan County's fee schedule separately notes publication is required if a small estate is over $15,000.

The state small-estate statute is the legal source for the $40,000 ceiling and 30-day timing rule used in Buchanan County probate records.

The local fee schedule then adds the publication-cost trigger, so both the state threshold and county deposit schedule matter before filing.

Buchanan County Probate Process

The probate path depends on the matter. A will deposit is not the same as opening an estate. A refusal of letters is not the same as full administration. A guardianship or conservatorship may have annual settlements and more restricted information than an ordinary estate file. The research file supports a practical sequence for local filings without inventing packet names or legal advice.

1. Identify whether the matter is a will deposit, small estate, refusal of letters, letters case, guardianship, conservatorship, trust estate, heirship, discovery of assets, or will contest.
2. Contact the probate clerks in Room 333 before filing if the proper case type or deposit amount is unclear.
3. Pay the required filing deposit and publication cost where the fee schedule requires publication.
4. File the application or petition with the Circuit Clerk or probate clerk.
5. Watch Case.net and mailed notices for hearings, orders, inventory deadlines, settlements, citations, or final action.
6. Request certified or plain copies from the Circuit Clerk when proof of an order or filing is needed.

Buchanan County Restricted Probate Records

Not every probate-related file is open in the same way as an ordinary estate docket. Guardianship and conservatorship records can include medical, disability, financial, and minor-identifying information. Juvenile matters are especially sensitive. RSMo 211.321 makes juvenile court records and related social records confidential in most circumstances, except where statute or court order allows access.

The Missouri juvenile confidentiality statute is relevant when Buchanan County probate records overlap with minor guardianship or protected child information.

That confidentiality rule is why a public case search may show less detail than the clerk-held file, and why a copy request can require review before release.

Adoption files, mental-health commitment records, financial account details, Social Security numbers, medical information, and documents sealed by order should not be expected in routine public probate search results. If a certified order is needed, identify the exact order and explain the requester's role when submitting the form.

Buchanan County Estate Records

Probate records often intersect with other courthouse records. A death can lead to a small estate affidavit, letters, estate inventory, heirship issue, trust estate, or property transfer. A prior marriage or divorce can matter in an estate, but marriage licenses are held by the Recorder of Deeds and divorce judgments are domestic court records. When a family-history search needs both types, start with the probate case number and then request the separate marriage or divorce proof from the correct office.

The same building houses the Recorder, Circuit Clerk, and probate clerks, which helps in-person research. It does not merge the record systems. Marriage records, divorce judgments, and probate records each have distinct custodians and copy rules in Buchanan County.