Search Boone County Probate Records

Boone County Probate Division

Boone County does not have a separate surrogate court or orphans court. Probate records are matters of the Probate Division of the Circuit Court within Missouri's 13th Judicial Circuit. The Circuit Court Clerk is the records custodian for probate filings, and the clerk counter is the local point for copies, older records, and documents that are not available remotely through Case.net.

The probate office path should stay distinct from the Recorder of Deeds. Marriage licenses and recorded instruments are Recorder records. Probate filings, estate cases, guardianship filings, and conservatorship files are court records. A person who needs the full court file, a certified probate order, or a public terminal search should use the Circuit Court Clerk rather than the county Recorder.

The Public Administrator is included here because the research identifies that office as related to guardianship, conservatorship, and estate matters. That office may appear in probate work, but it is not the public case-copy counter. The Circuit Court Clerk remains the records custodian for Boone County probate filings.

Boone County Probate Terms

Probate records use terms that are easy to confuse with ordinary civil case words. The same court file can also shift roles over time, such as when a petitioner becomes an appointed fiduciary after the judge enters an order.

Testator

A person who made a will.

Executor

A person named in a will to carry out estate duties after court approval.

Intestate

A death without a valid will controlling estate distribution.

Guardian

A court-appointed person responsible for personal decisions for a minor or incapacitated adult.

Conservator

A court-appointed person responsible for money or property management for a protected person.

Personal representative

The fiduciary appointed to administer a decedent estate.

These definitions help with docket review. A Boone County probate record may list an applicant at filing, then later list a personal representative, guardian, or conservator after appointment. The title in the docket can also use an estate name or protected-person name rather than a simple plaintiff-versus-defendant style.

Search Boone County Probate Cases

Public Boone County probate records should be searched in Missouri Case.net first when a name, estate name, or case number is known. Case.net is the statewide judiciary portal for circuit court case information, and the research identifies it as the proper first step for civil, criminal, domestic, probate, traffic, and many municipal or circuit-division records. If the case is old, sealed, restricted, or missing a public document link, the next step is the Circuit Court Clerk.

Searches should be broad at first. Estates may appear under a decedent name, a protected-person name, a petitioner name, or a fiduciary name. Common surnames in a statewide portal can produce unrelated Missouri cases, so Boone County or 13th Judicial Circuit filtering is important when the portal offers a court or location field.

1. Open Case.net and choose the search mode that fits the known information.
2. Limit results to Boone County or the 13th Judicial Circuit when the portal allows it.
3. Use estate, decedent, petitioner, guardian, conservator, or case-number details to narrow the list.
4. Review docket entries and public document links, then contact the Circuit Court Clerk for copies or certified orders.

Boone County Probate Record Fields

Probate case files can be small or detailed. A small estate may have a narrow set of filings, while a supervised estate, guardianship, or conservatorship may generate repeated inventories, accountings, reports, objections, notices, and orders. The public Case.net view may show only part of the file, and some filings may require clerk review or a courthouse terminal.

For copy requests, the case number is the cleanest identifier. If the number is not known, the clerk may need the estate name, decedent or protected-person name, filing year, and case type. Guardianship and conservatorship files can have similar names across family members, so a date range and role information can reduce false matches.

Boone County Estate and Guardianship Records

Probate case types in Boone County commonly include decedent estates, wills, small estates, refusal of letters, independent administration, supervised administration, trusts connected to estates, guardianship of minors, guardianship of incapacitated adults, conservatorship for financial management, and settlements or accountings. A will may be only one document in the case, while the court record may also show who was appointed, what notices were filed, and how the matter closed.

Guardianship and conservatorship records call for more care than ordinary estate searches. The Public Administrator may be connected to guardianship, conservatorship, and estate matters. The research names Chimene Schwach as Boone County Public Administrator and lists the courthouse address, mailing address, phone, and email for that office. That office is related to probate work, but copy requests for court filings still route to the Circuit Court Clerk.

For Missouri juvenile confidentiality context, the manifest source points to the Missouri juvenile statute range.

That statute context is relevant because some Boone County probate-related matters involve minors or protected persons and are not searched like ordinary estate files.

Boone County Probate Workflow

A probate matter usually begins when an application or petition is filed through the Circuit Court Clerk. The court reviews the request, sets notices or hearings when required, and may appoint a personal representative, guardian, or conservator. After appointment, the fiduciary files inventory, accounting, creditor notices, and reports as required. Objections or contests are heard by the court, and final distribution or settlement closes the matter.

That workflow affects what a search result means. A newly opened Boone County estate may show only the petition and early notices. A matter that has been open longer may show orders, creditor deadlines, accountings, or final settlement events. If a needed filing is not visible online, the clerk can explain whether it is non-remote, restricted, sealed, or available by copy request.

No current Boone County probate filing fee schedule was found in the official pages reviewed. Because the research specifically warns not to cite a probate filing fee without a current Boone or Missouri Courts fee schedule, filing costs and certified probate copy costs should be confirmed directly with the Circuit Court Clerk before filing or ordering.

Restricted Boone County Probate Records

Missouri court access rules presume court records are open unless a statute, rule, or court order makes them confidential. Probate records do not all fall into one access category. Ordinary estate files may be public, but mental-health, incapacity, medical, minor, adoption-related, or sealed filings may be limited. Remote access can also be narrower than courthouse access because confidential data must be protected.

Missouri Sunshine Law and court-record rules also do not make private medical facts public just because they are mentioned in a probate case. Redaction can protect Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, medical details, minor names, protected addresses, and other personal data. That is why a public docket may confirm a Boone County probate case while withholding some images or filings.

For older historical marriage, probate, or county records, the Missouri Secretary of State County and Municipal Records Database may be useful. Active probate case copies, certified probate orders, and current court-file questions should still go through the Boone County Circuit Court Clerk. Note: A missing online probate record is not proof that no probate file exists.