Free interactive tool
Who Do I Call First?
Answer five short questions about your situation and get an ordered, personalized checklist for what to handle first — built for Missouri and Illinois estates and downsizing moves in Greater St. Louis and Metro East IL.
Question 1 of 5
What happened?
How This Tool Works
Your answers — what happened, whether there is a will, which state the house is in, whether it is occupied, and where you are — build an ordered list of what matters first. The order and the links change based on your answers; the underlying guidance is drawn from our First 30 Days as Executor guide and our probate and downsizing posts.
What This Tool Does Not Do
It does not give legal advice, does not know the specifics of your family's estate or the county your case is filed in, and does not replace a conversation with a probate attorney. Several steps in your plan exist specifically to point you to that conversation. Heritage Property Transitions is a referral and matching platform — we don't perform cleanout, hauling, or moving work ourselves, and this tool doesn't change that.
Questions about this tool
Does this tool replace legal advice?
No. It is a starting point built from what most families in Greater St. Louis and Metro East IL need to do first — it does not replace a licensed probate attorney, and several steps in your plan will tell you to confirm specifics with one.
What if I'm not sure whether there's a will?
Answer "I'm not sure" and the plan adjusts — it starts with locating the will and death certificates and treats authority as an open question for a probate attorney to confirm either way.
Does Missouri or Illinois change the plan much?
It changes two things: which court process applies and which of our probate guides gets linked. The order of operations — secure the house, confirm authority, inventory before anything is cleared — is the same in both states.
Is anything I answer here saved or sent anywhere?
No. The questions and the plan run entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere unless you choose to unlock a printable version, and then only your name, email, and role are collected along with the plan you built.
Ready to Move Forward?
Once your first-call plan reaches "get matched with a provider," a vetted local provider can move at your pace — free for families, realtors, and attorneys alike.
Get Matched With a Provider