Title 28 — — Appendix Administrative Order Number 12 — Official Probate Forms

(a) The administration of the estate of a decedent from the filing of the petition for probate and administration or for administration until the order of final distribution and the discharge of the last personal representative shall be considered as one (1) proceeding for purpos…

(a) The venue for the probate of a will and for administration shall be:(1) In the county in this state where the decedent resided at the time of his or her death;(2) If the decedent did not reside in this state, then in the county wherein is situated the greater part, in value, …

(a) No will shall be admitted to probate and no administration shall be granted unless application is made to the court for admission to probate within five (5) years from the death of the decedent, subject only to the exceptions stated in this section. (b) This section shall not…

(a) No will shall be effectual for the purpose of proving title to or the right to the possession of any real or personal property disposed of by the will until it has been admitted to probate. (b) Except as provided in § 28-41-101, to be effective to prove the transfer of any pr…

(a) After the death of a testator, the person having custody of his or her will shall deliver it to the court which has jurisdiction of the estate or to the executor named in the will. (b) (1) Upon the written motion of an interested person, the clerk shall issue a citation again…

(a) Prior to the probate of the will and granting of letters testamentary, a person nominated in the will to be executor may take such steps as are reasonably necessary in the management and preservation of the property and rights of the decedent and, subject to the prior rights …

(a) An interested person may petition the court of the proper county:(1) For the admission of the will to probate, although it may not be in his or her possession or may be lost, destroyed, or outside the state;(2) For the appointment of executor if one is nominated in the will;(…

(a) (1) If an interested person desires to be notified before a will is admitted to probate or before a general personal representative is appointed, he or she may file with the clerk a demand for notice.(2) A demand for notice is not effective unless it contains a statement of t…

Upon filing the petition for probate or for the appointment of a general personal representative, if no demand for notice has been filed as provided in § 28-40-108, and if such a petition is not opposed by an interested person, the court in its discretion may hear it immediately …

(a) If the petition for probate or for the appointment of a general personal representative is opposed, or if a demand for notice has been filed under the provisions of § 28-40-108, the court shall, and in all other cases the court may, fix a time and place for a hearing on the p…

(a) (1) (A) Promptly after the letters have been granted on the estate of a deceased person, the personal representative shall cause a notice of his or her appointment to be published stating the date of his or her appointment and requiring all persons having claims against the e…

If there is good cause to believe that the person whose estate is to be administered is not dead, the court, upon petition of an interested person accompanied by an affidavit giving sufficient detail to establish a reasonable possibility that the person whose estate to be adminis…

(a) An interested person may contest the probate of a will, or any part thereof, by stating in writing the grounds of his or her objection and filing them in the court. (b) No will can be contested unless the grounds of objection are filed within the periods hereinafter provided:…

(a) (1) If a statement for grounds for objection to admitting the will to probate is filed before it has been admitted and the notice provided for in § 28-40-110 has been given, no further notice is necessary unless ordered by the court.(2) If the notice provided for in § 28-40-1…

(a) If, prior to the filing of an objection to the probate of a will, real or personal property or any security interest therein is acquired for value by a purchaser from, or a lender to, the personal representative of the estate or a distributee or devisee of the property by the…

(a) If, after a petition for the probate of a will or for the appointment of a general personal representative has been filed and before that petition has been heard, a petition for the probate of a will of the decedent not theretofore presented for probate is filed, the court sh…

(a) An attested will shall be proved as follows:(1) By the testimony of at least two (2) attesting witnesses, if living at known addresses within the continental United States and capable of testifying; or(2) (A) If only one (1) or neither of the attesting witnesses is living at …

(a) If the probate of a will is not contested, the testimony of the required witnesses may be taken by affidavit, unless the court shall direct otherwise. (b) If the will is contested, or on motion of an interested person made prior to admission of the will to probate, the will s…

(a) On a petition for the probate of a will, if the court finds that the testator is dead, that the instrument offered for probate was executed in all respects according to law when the testator was competent to do so and acting without undue influence, fraud, or restraint, that …

(a) When a will of a nonresident of this state, relative to property within this state, has been admitted to probate in another appropriate jurisdiction, an authenticated copy thereof, accompanied by an authenticated copy of the order admitting the will to probate, may be filed f…

(1) An order admitting a will to probate or for the appointment of a personal representative, if not contested or appealed from, shall be final, subject to the following exceptions:(1) It may be reopened at any time prior to the order of final distribution for the purpose of admi…

(a) When proved as provided in this subchapter, every will, if in the custody of the court, shall have endorsed thereon or annexed thereto a certificate by the clerk that the will has been probated. (b) If for any reason a will is not in the custody of the court, the court shall …

The personal representative shall cause a certified copy of the will, with a certificate of probate annexed thereto, to be recorded in the office of the recorder in each county in this state other than the county of probate in which real property of the decedent is situated, the …

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Arkansas Ante-Mortem Probate Act of 1979”.

(a) Any person who executes a will disposing of all or part of an estate located in Arkansas may institute an action in the circuit court of the appropriate county of this state for a declaratory judgment establishing the validity of the will. (b) All beneficiaries named in the w…

(a) If the court finds that the will was properly executed, that the testator had the requisite testamentary capacity and freedom from undue influence at the time of execution, and that the will is otherwise valid, it shall declare the will valid and order it placed on file with …

Whenever any will shall be lost, or destroyed by accident or design, the circuit court shall have the same power to take proof of the execution of the will and to establish the same, as in cases of lost deeds.

(1) No will of any testator shall be allowed to be proved as a lost or destroyed will unless:(1) The provisions are clearly and distinctly proved by at least two (2) witnesses, a correct copy or draft being deemed equivalent to one (1) witness; and(2) The will is:(A) Proved to ha…

(a) Upon a lost or destroyed will's being established by the decree of a competent court, the decree shall be recorded by the probate clerk of the circuit court before which the will might have been proved if it had not been lost or destroyed. (b) Letters testamentary or of admin…

If, before or during the pendency of an application to prove a lost or destroyed will, letters of administration are granted on the estate of the testator, the court to which the application shall be made shall have authority to restrain the administrator so appointed from any ac…