Free Arkansas Last Will and Testament

How to Sign Your Will in Arkansas

Sign the will at the end (or acknowledge your signature, or have another sign for you in your presence) and declare to the witnesses that it is your will. Two competent witnesses (18+) must then sign at your request and IN YOUR PRESENCE and in the presence of each other. To self-prove, each attesting witness signs an Ark. Code § 28-25-106 affidavit before a notary stating the facts they would testify to; the affidavit is written on or affixed to the will and, in an uncontested probate, is accepted in lieu of live testimony. Notarization of the will itself is not required. Arkansas also recognizes holographic wills (entirely handwritten and signed), proven by three disinterested handwriting witnesses.

Arkansas requires 2 witnesses: At least two attesting witnesses. The testator must sign at the end of the will (or acknowledge a prior signature, or have another sign at the testator's direction in the testator's presence) and must declare to the witnesses that the instrument is the testator's will. The witnesses must sign at the request and IN THE PRESENCE OF THE TESTATOR (Ark. Code § 28-25-103). Witnesses must be 18 or older and competent (§ 28-25-102). A beneficiary may witness, but an interested witness forfeits any beneficial interest exceeding what they would receive by intestacy unless there are two other disinterested witnesses (Ark. Code § 28-25-102(b)).. Your will does not need to be notarized to be valid.

Choose witnesses who are adults and who do not inherit under your will. A beneficiary should never witness your will. Then sign the self-proving affidavit (Ark. Code § 28-25-106) in front of a notary. That sworn statement lets the court accept your will without tracking down your witnesses later, which speeds up probate.

Can You Use a Handwritten (Holographic) Will in Arkansas?

Holographic wills are recognized: when the entire body of the will and the signature are written in the testator's own handwriting, the will may be established by the evidence of at least three credible disinterested witnesses to the testator's handwriting and signature, even though there are no attesting witnesses (Ark. Code § 28-25-104). Even so, a typed will signed in front of witnesses is far less likely to be challenged, because handwritten wills are easy to get wrong (unclear gifts, no date, no witnesses) and invite disputes.

Spousal and Family Protections in Arkansas

Can you disinherit your spouse? Cannot fully disinherit a spouse. Arkansas is a DOWER/CURTESY state (not a UPC elective-share state). A surviving spouse may renounce the will and 'take against the will,' receiving the spouse's dower or curtesy interest plus statutory allowances. If the decedent left descendants, the surviving spouse takes a one-third (1/3) LIFE ESTATE in the decedent's real property and one-third of personal property absolutely. If NO descendants and married 1+ year, the spouse takes one-half of real and personal property (subject to limits). Homestead and statutory allowances are additional.

Children born after your will: If at execution there is NO living child and the testator later has a child not provided for, or omits to mention/provide for a living child, the testator is deemed to have died intestate as to that child, who recovers from devisees in proportion to their shares. Applies to children living at execution as well as after-born — broader than the typical 'after-born only' UPC rule. Ark. Code § 28-39-407. This is why the generator has you name your children and states that any omission is intentional.

If a beneficiary dies before you: NARROWER than UPC. Protected class is limited to a CHILD (natural or adopted) or OTHER DESCENDANT of the TESTATOR who predeceases leaving a child/descendant. The property vests in the deceased devisee's surviving descendants as if the devisee had survived and died intestate. Does NOT extend to siblings/grandparent's line as the broad UPC version does. The generator's "per stirpes" option and survivorship clause work alongside this rule.

Survivorship, No-Contest, and Digital Assets

Survivorship: Arkansas has NOT adopted the 120-hour USDA rule for wills. The historic simultaneous-death rule requires only that a beneficiary survive the testator (any measurable interval); there is no statutory 120-hour default. The generator should BUILD IN an express survivorship clause (e.g., 30-day) since the state default does not supply 120 hours. The generator builds in a 30-to-60-day survivorship period regardless.

No-contest clauses: No-contest (in terrorem) clauses are generally valid and enforceable in Arkansas (no statute voiding them; case law), but courts strictly construe them against forfeiture and recognize an exception where the contest was brought in GOOD FAITH and upon probable cause. Treated as enforced-unless-probable-cause for the schema.

Digital assets: Arkansas has adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, so your executor can manage your online accounts and digital property — the generator includes a clause granting that authority.

Personal-property list: Arkansas does not give legal effect to a separate personal-property memorandum, so list any specific items in the will itself.

What Happens If You Die Without a Will in Arkansas?

Arkansas is unusual: a surviving spouse with children does NOT inherit a fee share. Instead the spouse takes only common-law dower or curtesy — a life estate in one-third of the real estate plus one-third of the personal property — while the children take everything else. The spouse takes the whole estate only when there are no descendants AND the couple was married at least three years (otherwise just 50%).

• Spouse, no children: No surviving descendants: if the couple was continuously married at least 3 years, the spouse takes the entire heritable estate; if married less than 3 years, the spouse takes only 50% and the rest passes to the decedent's heirs (parents/siblings).
• Spouse and shared children: Surviving children (joint): the descendants take the entire estate, subject only to the spouse's dower/curtesy — a life estate in one-third of the real property plus one-third of the personal property outright. Arkansas does NOT give the spouse an outright fee share when children survive. This is the big Arkansas gotcha.
• Spouse and a child from another relationship: Same result as joint children: the spouse takes only the dower/curtesy life estate in one-third of real property plus one-third of personalty; all of the decedent's descendants (including those from another relationship) share the rest. Arkansas does not reduce the spouse further for stepchildren because the spouse's share is already just dower/curtesy.
• Children, no spouse: No spouse: entire estate to the decedent's children and the descendants of each child, per the Table of Descents (per stirpes / by representation).
• No spouse or children: No spouse or descendants: to surviving parents; then to siblings and their descendants; then to grandparents; then to more remote next of kin, per the Table of Descents (Ark. Code 28-9-214).

Unmarried partners, friends, and stepchildren you have not adopted generally receive nothing under intestacy. A will is how you override these defaults. Source: Ark. Code §§ 28-9-206, 28-9-214 (Table of Descents); dower/curtesy §§ 28-11-301 to -307.

Updating, Revoking, and Storing Your Will

Review your will after any big life change — marriage, divorce, a birth, a death, or a move to a new state. To change it, either sign a new will that revokes the old one (the cleanest option, and what this generator produces) or add a witnessed "codicil." Do not cross things out on a signed will — handwritten edits can invalidate it. Store the signed original somewhere safe and tell your executor where it is; a will that cannot be found is presumed revoked.

Common mistakes to avoid: using a beneficiary as a witness; forgetting a residuary clause (so part of the estate passes by intestacy); leaving a young child a lump sum outright at 18 instead of in trust; not naming a backup executor or guardian; and never actually signing the document. The generator above is built to avoid each of these.

Disclaimer

This generator produces a general-purpose will for a straightforward estate and is not legal advice or a substitute for an attorney. Will and probate law changes; the Arkansas requirements here are current as of 2026-06-03. A will is only valid if signed and witnessed correctly. For a large, blended, or complex estate, tax planning, a special-needs beneficiary, or to disinherit close family, consult a Arkansas estate-planning attorney. RecordingLaw.com is not a law firm.

← Will makers for other states