Arkansas Estate Planning Resources
In-depth guides covering Arkansas probate laws, trust requirements, and estate planning strategies.
In-depth guides covering Arkansas probate laws, trust requirements, and estate planning strategies.
Prepare the Arkansas small estate affidavit for estates up to $100,000, plus presentation letters for each holder. Ark. Code Ann. § 28-41-101.
Step 1 of 7
The Arkansas affidavit identifies the claiming successor and the basis of entitlement.
The decedent's state. Only states where this tool prepares the affidavit are listed; other states' pages explain their procedure.
The successor signing the affidavit.
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Arkansas publishes Form 23 Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate by Distributee (print form); the affidavit this tool prepares is drafted to the same statutory requirements, per Ark. Code Ann. § 28-41-101(a)(1)(D)(i)-(iv).
$100,000, per Ark. Code Ann. § 28-41-101. This tool checks the entered estate value against the limit and does not prepare an affidavit for an estate over it.
45 days after the death (Ark. Code Ann. § 28-41-101). The affidavit states that the waiting period has elapsed, so it cannot be signed earlier.
The distributee(s) of the estate — one or more of the distributees file the affidavit, and the distributees may then collect and distribute the assets of the estate without the appointment of a personal representative. Form 23 identifies the takers as the surviving spouse, heirs, or devisees under the decedent's will. Ark. Code Ann. § 28-41-101(a)(1), (a)(1)(D).
Filed with the probate clerk of the circuit court of the county of proper venue for administration. The clerk certifies copies of the filed affidavit (Form 23's Certificate of Clerk attests it is a true copy, that the affidavit remains on file, and that no petition for appointment of a personal representative has been filed); the distributee collects by furnishing the clerk-certified copy to any person owing money, having custody of property, or acting as registrar or transfer agent of any evidence of interest, indebtedness, property, or right of the decedent.
Real property is INCLUDED in the Arkansas procedure: it counts toward the value ceiling, and the affidavit must carry a legal description and valuation of any real property including the homestead (§ 28-41-101(a)(1)(D)(ii)). If the collected estate contains real property, the distributee shall publish a claims notice within 30 days after the affidavit is filed, and claims are barred 3 months after the first publication (§ 28-41-101(b)(2)). Form 23's Reporter's Note additionally states the distributee of real estate files a deed in the county where the real property is located (citing § 28-41-102(d)). Ark. Code Ann. §§ 28-41-101(a)(1)(C)-(D), (b)(2), 28-41-102.
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