Settling Small Estates (AR)
In Arkansas, small estates can avoid probate by using a small estate affidavit, or via petition for no administration. Regardless of estate size, probate is not required if an estate contains only assets exempt from probate.
Collection of Small Estate by Distributee
If an Arkansas estate has an adjusted gross value <$100,000, you can use the small estate process to settle the estate with no court involvement.
Requirements
To use the small estate process, the following conditions must be true:
- The probate estate has an adjusted gross value <$100K
- At least 45 days have passed since the death
- No petition has already been made to the court to officially appoint a personal representative
In determining the gross value of the estate, you should value assets as of the date of death, and ignore any unsecured debts (but do subtract things like liens and mortgages). Do not include any homestead and statutory allowances, or any assets that would not normally go through probate, such as community property with right of survivorship, assets with named beneficiaries (e.g., 401Ks, life insurance policies), and other standard probate exclusions.
Process
To use the small estate process:
- Arrange for any estate debts to be paid
- Submit an Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate by Distributee to the court (attach a copy of the death certificate and the will if any)
- The court will certify your affidavit, which you can then use to obtain possession of estate assets
- If the estate contains real property (i.e., real estate), the court will require you to publish a notice of the decedent's death and the filing of the affidavit within 30 days after the affidavit has been filed, giving creditors 3 months to make any claims
- Settle the estate in the normal way (pay debts, distribute remaining assets)
See A.C.A. § 28-41-101.
No Administration
You can instead petition the court to settle the estate with no administration if it appears that the estate is worth less than the statutory amounts due to a surviving family.
Requirements
You can petition the court to settle the estate with no administration if there is a surviving spouse and/or minor children, and the estate is worth less than the dower or curtesy (the spouse's share of the estate) and any statutory family allowances.
In determining the value of the estate, you should value assets as of the date of death, and subtract any debts. Do not include any assets that would not normally go through probate, such as community property with right of survivorship, assets with named beneficiaries (e.g., 401Ks, life insurance policies), and other standard probate exclusions.
Process
To settle an estate via summary administration:
- Submit to the court a Petition for Summary Administration (see below)
- The court may require you to make certain notices
- Upon approval, the court will issue an order transferring estate assets to the proper recipients
- Use this order to collect estate assets, and settle the estate in the normal way (pay debts, make distributions)
Petition
There is no official state form for this petition, so
- State the name, residence, and date of death of the decedent
- State your interest (e.g., named in the will as personal representative, heir, etc.)
- State whether an application or petition for the appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction
- If the decedent died intestate, state that you diligently searched for and failed to find a will
- List the names, ages, and last-known addresses of the heirs and anyone named in the will
- List estate assets and debts, along with their values (consider attaching the EstateExec Inventory Report)
- Include a proposed disbursement plan (i.e., property and value each creditor and successor will receive)
- Request that the court issue an order settling the estate with no administration
Attach a copy of the death certificate and the will (if one exists).
See A.C.A. § 28-41-103.
Estate Settlement Considerations
Before paying any debts or making any distributions, be sure to account for any Family Entitlements in AR, which typically have priority over everything except expenses of the last illness, funeral charges, and any estate administrations expenses.
Even if the estate does not go through probate, you may still be entitled to Executor Compensation in AR, and this compensation also has priority over most estate debts.
Estate debts have priority over most distributions in turn, so before distributing assets you should resolve any estate debts. If the estate makes any distributions beyond amounts set aside for family entitlements, unpaid creditors have the right to sue the recipients for repayment using those excess distributions. Consequently, even if the settlement process does not require you to publish a Notice to Creditors, you may want to follow AR probate rules for finding estate debts, since doing so may limit the time creditors have to pursue repayment.
If estate solvency is uncertain, an executor should consider going through official probate for the increased creditor protection it offers. Alternately, such uncertainty can sometimes persuade creditors to forgive a portion of debts, since they will want to avoid legal expenses as well, and may prefer to get something rather than nothing.
See also Making Distributions.
Court
In Arkansas, estate probate is handled by the County Court in which the estate is located.
Additional Information
If your estate doesn't qualify for a small estate approach, or you're simply interested in exploring standard probate, take a look at Probate in AR.
And since probate is just the court-supervised subset of winding up a person's affairs after death, you'll probably want to check out our Complete Guide to Estate Settlement in AR.
Finally, in case you're interested, details about handling small estates in other states can be found here: