Arkansas Small Estate Affidavit

Arkansas small estate rules at a glance

Can you use it?

You can generally use the Arkansas shortcut when all of these are true:

• The probate estate is $100,000 or less (not counting the homestead and the allowances for a spouse or minor children).
• Timing: 45 days after the death.
• No one has been appointed, or applied to be appointed, executor or administrator.
• Real estate: yes. Publish notice within 30 days after filing the affidavit and record a deed in the county where the land is.

Other Arkansas rules

• No petition for a personal representative can be pending or granted.
• When real estate is included, the distributee publishes a notice and records a deed in the county where the property is.

How to use the Arkansas affidavit

1. Add up the probate estate. List what the person owned in their name alone, with no beneficiary or surviving joint owner, at its value on the date of death.
2. Check the timing. 45 days after the death.
3. Get the paperwork. Use Official Probate Form 23, Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate by Distributee.
4. Sign it under oath, usually before a notary, listing each person entitled to the property and their share.
5. File it. Filed with the probate clerk of the circuit court. Once the court accepts it, banks and other holders release the property.
6. Pay debts and distribute. Pay the funeral and valid debts, then distribute under the will or Arkansas's intestacy law. If you take more than your share, the other heirs and creditors can come after you for it.

The person's final income tax return is still due by April 15 of the year after the death. See the final tax returns guide, and Form 1310 to claim a refund without an executor.

A car has its own paperwork at the revenue office: see how to transfer a car title after death in Arkansas (Form 10-306).

If the estate is over the limit

Then the estate goes through probate: the court appoints an executor, who gets letters testamentary (or letters of administration when there is no will) and settles the estate. Arkansas's court and forms are in the probate forms by state table. In Arkansas, creditors have this long to claim: 6 months after the notice to creditors is first published. See how long probate takes in Arkansas.

Use the probate cost calculator to estimate the court, attorney and executor fees.

Arkansas taxes on a small estate

Arkansas has no estate or inheritance tax, so a small estate owes no state death tax. See Arkansas estate tax for the rules heirs still meet, such as income tax on an inherited IRA.

Small estate affidavits in other states

Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · District of Columbia · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming

Or compare them all in the 50-state table.

Related guides

• Letters testamentary: how executors get them, by state
• What is probate? How it works, step by step
• How long does probate take? Timeline by state
• Probate cost calculator: fees by state
• Probate court forms by state
• Transfer a car title after death, by state
• Executor checklist: what to do when someone dies
• Form 1310: claiming a deceased person's tax refund