Chapter 12 : Probate Proceedings

• Library: Standards for Examination of Real Estate Titles in Arkansas (2021 Ed.)

CHAPTER 12: PROBATE PROCEEDINGS

Standard 12.1 Intestate Succession

1. If a decedent dies intestate, title to real property vests immediately in the heirs at law subject to the personal representative's right to sell, mortgage, lease or exchange it for payment of claims or other purposes, and also subject to homestead and dower rights and any provisions of the probate court for handling the assets of the estate.¹⁵⁴
2. When an administration has not been closed, conveyances from the heirs at law may be accepted where the administration was commenced prior to 1949, and there is a satisfactory showing that all debts of the decedent have been paid or that there is ample personal property to discharge such debts.
3. Heirship of the decedent may be established by order of the court during administration proceedings. If there are no probate proceedings respecting the decedent, affidavits may be acceptable.¹⁵⁵

Standard 12.2 Probate of Wills

1. If a decedent dies testate, title to real property vests immediately in the devisees, subject to the personal representative's right to sell, mortgage, lease or exchange it for payment of claims or other purposes, and also subject to homestead and dower rights and any provisions of the probate court for handling the assets of the estate.¹⁵⁶
2. Because real property may be an asset of the estate, the devisees of same cannot be assured of their respective share(s) of the decedent's estate until such time as the court enters an order distributing it.¹⁵⁷
3. Even after a will has been admitted to probate or after letters of administration have been granted, a competing petition for the probate of a different purported will of the decedent may be filed for probate. The court will then rule upon the competing interests to determine the appropriate will for administration or whether the decedent died intestate.
4. Beginning May 30, 1949, the will of an Arkansas resident that has not been admitted to probate within five years from the date of the death of the decedent cannot be admitted to probate. Any such will may be disregarded by the examiner.¹⁵⁸
5. Prior to June 12, 1963, the wills of non-residents were subject to the same statute of limitations as residents. Beginning June 12, 1963, the will of a non-resident may be admitted to probate in Arkansas, without regard to the five-year statute of limitations, by filing an authenticated copy of the will along with the order admitting it to probate in another appropriate jurisdiction. The authenticated will and order shall be accompanied by a petition seeking its probate in Arkansas, and it shall be entitled to probate if it appears that the will was executed and proved in the manner required by the law of the place of its execution or by the law of Arkansas.¹⁵⁹
6. Where the real property being examined is not located in the same county judicial district as the county judicial district of the probate court having charge of the estate, and the devisees are not identical to the heirs at law, the examiner should require that certified copies of all instruments affecting title be recorded in the office of the recorder in the county judicial district where the real property is situated.¹⁶⁰ This provision

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