RSMo 473.620effective 28 Aug 1955

Order in which assets are appropriated

In plain English

When someone dies and there is not enough money or property to give everyone their full share, the law sets an order for who gets cut first. First, property that the will did not mention gets used up. Then leftover property (called residuary). Then general gifts of money. Last, specific items that were named in the will. If everyone in the same group gets cut, each person in that group loses the same percentage. If following this order would go against what the person who made the will clearly wanted, the property gets divided in whatever way matches that person's wishes instead.

Word-for-word law

473.620. in which are — . — 1. When it is necessary that there be an abatement of the shares of the , they shall, subject to the of the , , without any preference or as between , in the following order:

(1) Property not by the will;

(2) ;

(3) ;

(4) .

2. Subject to the provisions of the will, and to section 473.623, s of the same class shall abate .

3. If the provisions of the will or the or the purpose of the devise would be defeated by the order of and prescribed by 1 hereof, the property of the shall be in the manner found necessary to give effect to the intention of the testator.

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Source & history notes

(L. 1955 p. 385 § 218) (1984) In determining how the surviving spouse's election to take against the will affects the distribution of the rest of the estate when the testator has not specified what is to happen, the court held that the legislature did not intend for the abatement statute to apply to an election to take against the will. Wilkinson v. Brune (Mo. App. E.D.), 682 S.W.2d 107.

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