Arkansas route screening

Arkansas small-estate eligibility

This page gives no dollar limit for this route.

Ark. Code Ann. § 28-41-101(a) fixes the small-estate value ceiling and the 45-day post-death waiting period, but subsection (a) has not been restated in any Arkansas Act the state publishes as searchable text (about 2001 onward), and the official Arkansas Code is published through the state's LexisNexis contract rather than as free government text. This site had not confirmed the current wording of subsection (a) as of August 9, 2026, so the ceiling is not stated; the fee subsection (b), the notice subsection (b)(2)(B) and the creditor sections are quoted from the enacted Acts. Check: Ark. Code Ann. § 28-41-101(a) via the LexisNexis-hosted Arkansas Code, or a post-2001 Arkansas Act amending § 28-41-101(a) at www.arkleg.state.ar.us Act search (none located 2001–2025).

Arkansas provides a small-estate affidavit under Ark. Code Ann. § 28-41-101.

Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Sources rechecked October 3, 2026. This page last revised October 17, 2026.

1. Where and when

StateArkansasFixed to this page. Open the navigator to compare another state.Date of deathRequired. Without it no waiting period can be tested and the route stays undecided.

2. What they left

Asset 1

DescriptionValue$Not entered. A blank amount is not counted as zero.Enforceable liens or mortgage$Not entered. Enter 0 if there is no lien.OwnershipThis is real property

Asset 2

DescriptionValue$Not entered. A blank amount is not counted as zero.Enforceable liens or mortgage$Not entered. Enter 0 if there is no lien.OwnershipThis is real propertyWill it be sold during administration?Some court charges are assessed on sale proceeds and exclude real property that is kept, so this changes the amount.

Ownership determines whether an asset usually enters probate. Choose “Not sure” when title or beneficiary status has not been confirmed.

Private by design: entries stay in this browser.

Your working estimate

Arkansas estate snapshot

Route check

More information is needed

Counted probate estate: not yet counted

A valid date of death is required before any waiting period can be tested.

Gross probate propertyNot yet counted

Court chargeMore information neededSmall-estate affidavit (§ 28-41-101)2 asset entries have no value entered. A blank amount is not treated as zero, so the charge cannot be computed.Court charges only, for the proceeding named beside each figure. That proceeding is not always the route screened above.

Scheduled executor compensationMore information needed2 asset entries have no value entered.Ark. Code Ann. § 28-48-108 fixes personal-representative compensation as a statutory percentage schedule on personal property. No Arkansas Act published as searchable text (2001–2025) amended or restated § 28-48-108 (no results in the full-text Act search at www.arkleg.state.ar.us), and the codified section is served only through the LexisNexis contract. The percentage schedule is therefore not reproduced here from memory.

This route check is general information, not legal advice. It does not test every eligibility condition, creditor issue, will provision, local fee, or asset-title fact.

The affidavit filing fee ($25.00, plus $5.00 per certified copy) and the three-month small-estate creditor bar are substantiated from enacted Acts (289/2011 and 526/2015). The dollar value ceiling and the statutory 45-day waiting period live in subsection (a), which was not reachable via any enacted Act and is otherwise only in the LexisNexis-contracted code; both are left unstated rather than guessed.

Where the limit comes from

Is this the limit that applies?

No dollar limit is given for this route. Why, and where the rule is set, are explained below.

Check the eligibility rule before relying on a dollar amount.The reason this page gives no single limit is explained below.

Why no figure is published: Ark. Code Ann. § 28-41-101(a) fixes the small-estate value ceiling and the 45-day post-death waiting period, but subsection (a) has not been restated in any Arkansas Act the state publishes as searchable text (about 2001 onward), and the official Arkansas Code is published through the state's LexisNexis contract rather than as free government text. This site had not confirmed the current wording of subsection (a) as of August 9, 2026, so the ceiling is not stated; the fee subsection (b), the notice subsection (b)(2)(B) and the creditor sections are quoted from the enacted Acts.

Where the rule is set: Ark. Code Ann. § 28-41-101(a) via the LexisNexis-hosted Arkansas Code, or a post-2001 Arkansas Act amending § 28-41-101(a) at www.arkleg.state.ar.us Act search (none located 2001–2025).

How the Arkansas screen is measured

Procedure	Affidavit for collection of small estate (Ark. Code Ann. § 28-41-101)
What counts	The probate estate within the statute’s scope, so solely owned real property can count
Value basis	Gross value less exempt property the worksheet cannot classify
Waiting period	Confirm the filing date with the Circuit Court (Probate Division)

The 45-day waiting period is stated in § 28-41-101(a), which — as above — is published only in the LexisNexis-hosted code and was never restated by an enacted Act published as text. Before submitting the paperwork, confirm whether a waiting period applies and which event starts it. Check: Ark. Code Ann. § 28-41-101(a).

The Arkansas caveats that can change this answer are listed once, on the Arkansas overview.

The official Arkansas path

Arkansas Judiciary — Forms and Publications — Arkansas Administrative Office of the Courts
Arkansas Circuit Courts (probate jurisdiction) — Arkansas Administrative Office of the Courts

What a small-estate screen can and cannot decide, and which assets never enter it, is explained once in small-estate affidavit or probate and what counts as a probate asset.

Controlling source

Session law

Act 289, § 1, 2011 Ark. Acts (Reg. Sess.) (amending Ark. Code Ann. § 28-41-101(b)(1)(B))

Arkansas Act 289 of 2011 (88th General Assembly, Regular Session) — amending Ark. Code § 28-41-101

The section’s own words

He or she shall make a charge of twenty-five dollars28 ($25.00) for filing the affidavit and three dollars ($3.00) five dollars29 ($5.00) for each certified copy.

What this means: An enacted session law, printed with deleted text struck through before the new text. It sets the small-estate affidavit filing fee under § 28-41-101(b)(1)(B) at $25.00 and raises the certified-copy fee from $3.00 to $5.00.

Arkansas General Assembly / Arkansas Bureau of Legislative Research · APPROVED: 03/15/2011 · Rechecked October 3, 2026

Sources rechecked October 3, 2026: Arkansas source list · how sources are checked · report a correction

Case details