Current as of November 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice.
Missouri adopted the Uniform Trust Code in Chapter 456 of the Revised Statutes, effective January 1, 2005. It kept the uniform annual report but gives trustees twice the usual time for the opening notices, 120 days, and lets them charge a reasonable fee for providing information. Estates are a separate system: unless administered independently, a Missouri estate files annual settlements with the court.
Who must provide an accounting in Missouri
Section 456.8-813 requires the trustee to keep the qualified beneficiaries reasonably informed about the administration of the trust and the material facts they need to protect their interests, and to respond promptly to a beneficiary's request for information unless that would be unreasonable. A trustee who follows the notice and information rules in the section is presumed to have met the duty.
On request, the trustee must furnish a copy of the trust instrument. Within 120 days after accepting a trusteeship, the trustee must notify the qualified beneficiaries of the acceptance and of the trustee's name, address and telephone number. Within 120 days after learning that an irrevocable trust has been created, or that a revocable trust has become irrevocable, the trustee must tell them of the trust's existence, the settlor's identity, their right to request a copy of the trust instrument, and their right to a trustee's report. The trustee must also give advance notice of any change in the method or rate of compensation.
The report goes to the permissible distributees of income or principal, and to other beneficiaries who request it, at least annually and at termination of the trust. A beneficiary may waive reports and later withdraw the waiver. The trustee may charge a beneficiary a reasonable fee for providing information, a request must identify a single trust clearly enough for the trustee to find its records, and a beneficiary must agree to any confidentiality restrictions that bind the trustee on a particular asset. The section does not apply to trusts that became irrevocable before January 1, 2005.
Section 456.1-105 limits how far a trust's terms can reach. The trustee of an irrevocable trust must still notify each permissible distributee who has reached age 21 of the trust's existence and of the right to request reports, and must respond to a qualified beneficiary's request for reports and information. The settlor may designate one or more permissible distributees to receive that notice in place of others.
What a Missouri trust accounting must contain
The report covers the trust property, liabilities, receipts and disbursements, including the source and amount of the trustee's compensation, and a listing of the trust assets with market values if feasible. On a vacancy with no cotrustee remaining, the former trustee sends the report. A personal representative, conservator or guardian may send it for a trustee who has died or become incapacitated.
Income and principal allocation in Missouri
Allocation is governed by sections 469.401 to 469.467 of the Revised Statutes, Missouri's principal and income act. It includes a unitrust option in section 469.411: where that section applies, the trust's net income is the unitrust amount.
Filing an accounting with the Missouri court
Under section 456.2-201, a trust is not subject to continuing judicial supervision unless the court orders it. The court acts when an interested person invokes its jurisdiction.
Estates are different. Under section 473.540, unless the court orders otherwise, every personal representative files a statement of accounts with proper vouchers for settlement on each anniversary of the date of letters until administration is complete, and at other times the court directs. The final settlement is due on the first court day after six months and ten days from the first publication of notice of letters, or as soon after as administration is complete. Where the will or all the heirs and devisees authorize it under section 473.780, the personal representative may instead administer the estate independently.
When a Missouri accounting is contested
Section 456.10-1005, as amended effective August 28, 2025, bars a proceeding for breach of trust more than one year after the later of two dates: the date the beneficiary was sent a report that adequately disclosed the potential claim, and the date the trustee told the beneficiary how long they had to bring a proceeding on it. A report discloses adequately if it gives enough information that the beneficiary knows of the claim or should have inquired into it.
Otherwise, the outer limit is five years from the first of the trustee's removal, resignation or death, the event ending the beneficiary's interest, or the event ending the trust.
Because the one-year period runs from the later of the two dates, a Missouri report that discloses a claim but does not state the deadline leaves the period unstarted until the trustee gives that notice.
How T.E.A. Fiduciary helps
We prepare Missouri annual trust reports built to section 456.8-813 and to the disclosure that starts the section 456.10-1005 one-year period, and annual and final settlements for personal representatives under section 473.540. We work alongside your attorney and your tax preparer; we do not prepare tax returns.
This page provides general information about Missouri fiduciary accounting requirements and is not legal or tax advice. Statutes and court rules change. Verify the current text before relying on any of it, and consult counsel on questions of legal interpretation.
More: the uniform framework · all state pages · our services
Primary source: Revised Statutes of Missouri, Chapters 456, 469 and 473, Missouri Revisor of Statutes.
Written by Christina Gutman, C.P.A. — Founder and Principal of T.E.A. Fiduciary. Christina is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant by the State of California and has specialized exclusively in fiduciary accounting for over a decade, preparing trust, estate, and conservatorship accountings for law firms, professional fiduciaries, trust companies, family offices, and individual trustees nationwide. She has also served as a forensic consultant in contested accounting matters. More about Christina
