How Probate Works in Arkansas

File a petition for probate of the will and appointment of a personal representative (or for appointment of an administrator) in the probate division of circuit court. After letters are issued, publish notice of the appointment and notice to creditors, and within one month after first publication mail a copy to each known heir and devisee and each known unpaid creditor, including the Department of Human Services if it provided services. File an inventory with appraised values within two months after qualifying (unless waived). Pay allowed claims, file accountings, and distribute the estate under court order.

Besides the small estate affidavit, Arkansas allows a will to be probated without appointing a personal representative (the proponents publish the notice to creditors), and allows any heir, distributee or personal representative to petition the circuit court to determine the heirs and their shares in an estate or property, after published and mailed notice. The written inventory can be waived by all competent distributees unless the court requires it.

Claims must be presented to the personal representative or filed with the court within six months after the first publication of the notice to creditors, or they are barred. A creditor who receives actual notice within 30 days before the deadline gets 30 extra days. Claims of known or reasonably ascertainable creditors are barred two years after first publication even without actual notice, and claims are generally barred five years after death if no letters were issued and notice published in that time.

Priority for appointment: the executor named in the will; then the surviving spouse or the spouse's nominee (if the petition is filed within 30 days after death); then heirs or beneficiaries or their nominee; then any other qualified person. A person cannot serve if under 18, of unsound mind, an unpardoned felon, an unauthorized corporation, or found unsuitable by the court. A nonresident can serve only after appointing an agent for service of process (the court clerk or an approved county resident). The court may require a bond and must consider one if an interested person demands it in writing.

If the value of everything the decedent owned at death, less debts secured against it and excluding the homestead and the statutory allowances for a surviving spouse or minor children, is $100,000 or less, one or more distributees can file an Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate with the probate clerk of the circuit court once 45 days have passed since the death and no petition to appoint a personal representative is pending or granted. The affidavit must state there are no unpaid claims (or that any Department of Human Services benefits were repaid), list and value the property, and list the distributees. Holders of property release it on a clerk-certified copy, without a court order. Real estate can be included; if it is, the distributee must publish notice of the death and the filing within 30 days, and creditors then have three months from first publication to present claims. Clerk fee: $25 to file and $5 per certified copy.

Probate is handled by the probate division of the circuit court (Arkansas circuit courts have five subject-matter divisions: criminal, civil, probate, domestic relations and juvenile). The Arkansas courts' public case portal, Search ARCourts (caseinfonew.arcourts.gov), shows parties, judges, filings, future events and judgments for courts using the Contexte case management system; coverage varies by court, some information is not public under Administrative Order 19, and questions about a specific case go to the court where it was filed.