Arkansas Probate and Intestate Succession: What Happens Without a Will (2026)

Arkansas probate cases are heard by the Circuit Court's Probate Division in the decedent's home county, and Arkansas is one of a few states, along with Ohio and Kentucky, that still recognizes dower and curtesy, an old spousal property right layered onto ordinary intestate succession.

Information last verified on 2026-07-16. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

How Probate Works in Arkansas

Arkansas has no standalone probate court. Since a 2002 restructuring of the state's court system, every Circuit Court has five subject-matter divisions, including a Probate Division, and probate cases in Arkansas are captioned "Circuit Court ... Probate Division." A petition is filed in the Circuit Court, Probate Division of the county where the decedent lived, and a judge, not a clerk or registrar, appoints the personal representative and issues letters testamentary or letters of administration.

Arkansas is not a Uniform Probate Code informal/formal state the way Colorado or Arizona is. There is no clerk-only track that skips a judge's involvement entirely. Instead, Arkansas's simplified alternative to full administration comes from two sources: the small estate affidavit process discussed below, and the "distribution without administration" provisions found in Title 28, Subtitle 4, Chapter 41 of the Arkansas Code, which let heirs collect certain assets without opening a full estate when the statutory conditions are met.

In a full administration, the personal representative inventories and values the estate's assets, publishes notice to creditors, pays valid debts and taxes from estate funds, and then distributes what remains to the heirs or beneficiaries before filing a final accounting with the court.

Arkansas's creditor claims process, set out in Ark. Code Ann. section 28-50-101, is one of the practical factors that determines how quickly an Arkansas estate can close. Notice to creditors must be published once a week for 2 consecutive weeks, and claims generally must be presented within 6 months of that first publication or they are barred, a longer window than some neighboring states use. A known creditor who is served with direct notice within 30 days of the nonclaim period's expiration gets an additional 30 days to file a claim. Even without actual notice to a creditor, claims are absolutely barred 2 years after the first publication, and if letters were never issued or notice never published at all, the outer bar is 5 years from the date of death. In practice, a full Arkansas administration commonly runs several months to well over a year depending on the estate's complexity, bounded at the low end by that 6-month claims period.

Intestate Succession in Arkansas: Who Inherits Without a Will

Arkansas's intestate succession framework is set out in the Table of Descents at Ark. Code Ann. section 28-9-214, part of the Arkansas Inheritance Code of 1969, together with a separate set of dower and curtesy statutes at Title 28, Subtitle 2, Chapter 11 of the Arkansas Code. Unlike many states, Arkansas's rule does not depend on whether the decedent's children are also the surviving spouse's children. The key variables are instead whether the decedent left any surviving descendants at all, and, if not, how long the couple was married.

If the decedent leaves surviving children or other descendants, the surviving spouse receives a life estate, called dower for a widow or curtesy for a widower, in one-third of the decedent's real property under Ark. Code Ann. section 28-11-301 and following, plus one-third of the personal property outright. The descendants take the remaining two-thirds of the personal property outright, and they hold the remainder interest in the real property, meaning they will own it outright once the surviving spouse's life estate ends, subject to that life estate in the meantime. Multiple children or descendants split their combined share among themselves.

If the decedent leaves no surviving descendants, the analysis changes. Under Ark. Code Ann. section 28-11-307, the surviving spouse's interest in the decedent's real property depends on whether it is a new acquisition or an ancestral estate. For real property that is a new acquisition, not ancestral, the surviving spouse takes fee simple ownership, meaning outright ownership rather than a mere life estate, in one-half of it as against collateral heirs, or one-third as against creditors. For an ancestral estate, the surviving spouse takes only a life estate, in one-half of it as against collateral heirs, or one-third as against creditors. Under the Table of Descents at Ark. Code Ann. section 28-9-214, if the couple was married 3 or more continuous years, the surviving spouse takes the entire intestate estate. If the couple was married less than 3 years, the surviving spouse takes only 50 percent, and the remaining balance passes to the decedent's next of kin, typically parents or siblings.

Dower and curtesy are old common-law-derived rights that Arkansas, unlike most states, never fully abolished, and they take priority over creditors' claims, will beneficiaries, and other intestate heirs. This dower-and-curtesy layer on top of the Table of Descents is genuinely one of the more complex areas of Arkansas probate law, and readers dealing with a real estate involving both a surviving spouse and real property should confirm the current interaction of these statutes with a probate attorney rather than relying on a general summary.

If there is no surviving spouse and no surviving descendants, the estate passes to the decedent's parents equally, or to the sole surviving parent if only one survives. If neither parent survives, siblings share the estate equally, with half-siblings inheriting alongside full siblings, and the children of a predeceased sibling taking that sibling's share per stirpes. If no siblings survive, the estate passes to more distant relatives, including grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, under the Table of Descents, continuing down through great-grandparents and their descendants if necessary. An estate escheats to the state only if no qualifying heir can be found at all, which is rare in practice.

One way to make sure your property goes to the people you actually choose, rather than following Arkansas's intestate succession order, is to have a valid will in place. recordinglaw.com's free Arkansas Last Will and Testament Generator can help you create one, with no account required.

Small Estate and Simplified Probate in Arkansas

Arkansas's primary simplified option is the small estate affidavit process under Ark. Code Ann. section 28-41-101. An estate qualifies if its total value, minus any encumbrances and excluding the homestead and statutory allowances set aside for a surviving spouse or minor children, does not exceed $100,000. At least 45 days must have passed since the date of death, no petition to appoint a personal representative can be pending or already granted, the affidavit must state under oath that there are no unpaid claims or demands against the decedent or the estate, and the affidavit must confirm that no unreimbursed Medicaid or other Arkansas Department of Human Services benefits are owed by the estate.

Notably, Arkansas's small estate affidavit is broader than many states' versions because it can include real property, not just personal property such as bank accounts and vehicles. The filing fee is $25, and certified copies of the affidavit, which heirs typically need to present to banks, the county assessor, or other institutions, cost $5 each. Because this process uses a sworn affidavit rather than a full court petition, it can move considerably faster than a full administration.

Arkansas Does Not Have an Estate or Inheritance Tax

Arkansas has no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax. Arkansas's state estate tax was repealed by Act 645 of 2003, effective for the estates of people who died after January 1, 2005. That leaves only the federal estate tax as a possible tax exposure for an Arkansas estate, and the federal estate tax applies only above the $15,000,000 per-person basic exclusion amount for 2026, confirmed directly on IRS.gov. Married couples can combine exemptions through portability for a combined shelter of up to $30,000,000. For the large majority of Arkansas estates, neither the federal estate tax nor any state-level death tax applies.

Do You Need a Probate Attorney?

Many straightforward, uncontested Arkansas estates, especially those that qualify for the small estate affidavit, can be handled without hiring a probate attorney. An attorney is worth engaging when a will contest or dispute among heirs is likely, when the estate includes a business interest, when the family is blended in a way that intestate succession does not cleanly address, or when dower and curtesy rights interact with real property in a way that is not obvious from a general summary. Because Arkansas's dower and curtesy statutes are genuinely one of the more complex corners of state probate law, that last scenario is worth flagging specifically for Arkansas estates involving a surviving spouse and real property held by the decedent.

It is also worth remembering that a will does not let an Arkansas estate skip the Circuit Court, Probate Division entirely; a will still generally needs to be admitted to probate before it controls distribution. What a valid will accomplishes instead is replacing the Table of Descents and the dower and curtesy defaults with the decedent's own choices about who inherits, which is a meaningful and distinct benefit from avoiding probate itself.

For a broader look at how probate works across the country, see Probate by State.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about probate and intestate succession in Arkansas as of the verification date above. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is not a substitute for advice from a probate attorney licensed in Arkansas, particularly where dower or curtesy rights, a contested estate, a business interest, or a blended family are involved. Figures, thresholds, and program details change; verify current details directly with the Arkansas Judiciary or the Arkansas Code before relying on any figure here.

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Last updated: 2026-07-16. Figures and statutes cited reflect their in-force version as of 2026-07-16.

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