Can I Get a Cash Advance on My Lawsuit in Missouri?

By Michael Shemtoub, trial attorney, Beverly Law. Updated November 2026.

Who and what the act covers

Under RSMo 436.552, a consumer is “a natural person who has a legal claim and resides or is domiciled in Missouri.” The act reaches contracts for less than $500,000. The money is for “personal needs or household expenses,” used at your sole discretion, and it may not be used for attorneys’ fees, legal filings, legal marketing, appeals or other litigation-related costs. A consumer legal funding contract is a “nonrecourse contractual transaction” in which the company buys “a contingent right to receive an amount of the potential proceeds of a settlement, judgment, award, or verdict.”

Section 436.554 limits these contracts to an “existing legal claim” in which you are represented by a lawyer. The company must send your lawyer written notice of the contract within three business days of the funding date.

How the amount owed is set

Section 436.558 says what you owe “shall be set as a predetermined amount based upon intervals of time from the funding date to the resolution date” and “shall not be determined as a percentage of the recovery from the legal claim.” It adds: “No consumer legal funding contract shall be valid if its terms exceed a period of forty-eight months,” and “No consumer legal funding contract shall be automatically renewed.”

Example only: picture a contract funded in January 2027 with a schedule that lists one amount for each six-month period. The schedule may not run past 48 months, so the last period ends in January 2031. If the case pays in month 32, you owe the figure printed for months 30 to 36, and that figure is the same whether the settlement is large or small. The contract decides the actual amounts, since Missouri does not cap them.

What the contract must say

The contract must be complete before you sign it, and you initial each page. It must contain a bold, boxed right to cancel “without penalty or further obligation within ten business days after the funding date,” by delivering the company’s uncashed check to its office in person or by mailing a cancellation notice with the funds by insured, certified or registered mail. You must also give your lawyer a nonrevocable written direction to notify the company when the claim resolves; once the company confirms the amount due in writing, your lawyer pays it from the proceeds within ten business days.

Section 436.560 requires, generally in at least 12-point bold type:

• on the front page, the funded amount, each one-time charge, the total you assign and a payment schedule with the amount due at the end of each six-month period;
• a statement that the company has no influence over your claim or settlement;
• a box in capital letters beginning “THE FUNDED AMOUNT AND AGREED-UPON CHARGES SHALL BE PAID ONLY FROM THE PROCEEDS OF YOUR LEGAL CLAIM,” stating you owe nothing without proceeds unless you or your lawyer violated a material term or you committed fraud against the company;
• a warning above the signature line not to sign an incomplete or unread contract, which also suggests a tax, public benefits or financial professional and states that your claim lawyer gave no such advice.

What funding companies may not do

Section 436.556 bars a company from paying or accepting referral fees with lawyers, law firms, medical providers, chiropractors or physical therapists; advertising materially false or misleading information; sending you to a particular lawyer or doctor for an initial funding (a bar referral service is allowed); failing to give your lawyer a copy of the signed contract promptly; and receiving any right to make decisions about your claim or settlement. It also cannot pay court costs, filing fees or attorney’s fees from the funding, or sell the contract to an outside third party. A company may not fund you if you already assigned part of your proceeds to another company unless it pays that company off or they agree on a lesser amount in writing; see can you get a second lawsuit advance.

Section 436.564 says a compliant contract is not “deemed a loan” or subject to loan laws. It also ranks the company’s claim on your settlement: “Only attorney’s liens related to the legal claim, Medicare, or other statutory liens” come ahead of it, and other liens take priority by normal operation of law. The company may not report you to a credit bureau if the proceeds are not enough to repay it. Our medical liens page and how a lawsuit advance is paid back show how that order plays out at settlement.

Your lawyer, and any lawyer who referred you, may not have a financial interest in the funding company (436.566). Communications between your lawyer and the company about the status or expected value of your claim are not discoverable by the other side, and the work-product doctrine and attorney-client privilege are not waived (436.568).

Licensing, enforcement and complaints

A company may not do this business in Missouri “unless it has first obtained a license from the division of finance” (436.570, as amended by House Bill 2423, effective August 28, 2026). It must file a bond of up to $50,000, and the division must examine each licensed company at least once every 24 months. The director may issue a cease-and-desist order backed by a civil penalty of up to $1,000 a day, order restitution, or revoke a license after a hearing. Separately, if a court finds a company “intentionally violated” the act in your contract, the contract “shall be voided,” and the act does not limit the Attorney General’s existing powers (436.562).

The Division of Finance takes complaints through its online complaint form or on paper. Its complaints page lists (573) 751-3242, finance@dof.mo.gov, and Truman State Office Building, Room 630, Jefferson City, MO 65102.

For context, Missouri’s general deadline for injury suits is in RSMo 516.120: “Within five years” for “any other injury to the person or rights of another, not arising on contract and not herein otherwise enumerated.” Other Missouri statutes set different periods for some claims, so confirm yours with a Missouri lawyer.

What to ask before you sign

• Is your company licensed by the Missouri Division of Finance?
• What will I owe at the end of each six-month period, through the last one?
• When does my 10-business-day cancellation window close?
• Have you sent my lawyer the notice and a copy of the contract?
• Which liens on my case will be paid before you?

The state law table compares Missouri with other states, and the lawsuit cash advance guide covers the basics.

Common questions

Related pages

Cash advance on a lawsuit · Laws by state · Injury law FAQs

Important: This page is general information, not legal or medical advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different; talk to a lawyer about yours. Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou. Last reviewed: November 7, 2026.