Probate Assets. Probate assets are generally any of the following assets that were owned by the decedent individually and not owned jointly with another person including:
- Real property titled solely in the deceased individual’s name (land, house, etc.);
- Cars, trucks, boats, and basically anything with a title;
- Any personal property such as jewelry, furniture, appliances, other household items;
- Any interest in a partnership, corporation, or a limited liability company;
- Any individually owned money or bank accounts with no payable-on-death (POD) or transfer-on-death (TOD) designation; and
- Some life insurance policies, brokerage accounts, or retirement accounts with no beneficiary designation.
Generally, if real property owned by the deceased person was also owned jointly with another person with joint rights of survivorship or as husband and wife, then that real property is generally not included in probate and is not a probate asset.
Also, any bank or brokerage accounts held jointly or with a POD, TOD, or beneficiary designation, any property held in a trust, any life insurance with a beneficiary designation, and any retirement accounts with a beneficiary designation are generally not included in the probate and are not probate assets.
- Personal Representative – the Personal Representative is the general term for any person appointed to administer an estate. The term “Personal Representative” includes an Administrator, an Executor, and an Executrix.
- Administrator or Administratrix – the Administrator (if a male) or Administratrix (if a female) is the person appointed by the Court to administer an estate if there is not a Will.
- Executor or Executrix – the Executor (if a male) or Executrix (if a female) is the person appointed by the Court to administer an estate if there is a Will in place.
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration – the Letters Testamentary are the letters issued by the Court and the Clerk’s office formally appointing the Executor or Executrix if there is a Will in place. The Letters of Administration are the letters issued by the Court and the Clerk’s office formally appointing the Administrator or Administratrix if there is not a Will.
- Last Will and Testament – also known as a “Will,” this is the formal legal document that contemplates the distribution of the decedent’s assets upon the death of the decedent. The Will must be signed by the decedent, it must be witnessed by two persons, and it must contain testamentary language contemplating the allocation of assets upon the person’s passing.
- Testate and Intestate – the term “Testate” simply means that the decedent passed away with a Will. The term “Intestate” simply means that the decedent passed away without a Will.
- Testator and Testatrix – the term “Testator” (when the person is a male) or “Testatrix” (when the person is a female) are terms to reference the person who passed away with a Will.
- Arkansas Laws of Intestacy or Inheritance – the Arkansas laws of intestacy can generally be found at Ark. Code Ann. §28-9-201, et al., and these laws dictate who is to receive what division of property or assets of the decedent if there was not a Will in place or if an existing Will has been declared invalid. One important statue is Ark. Code Ann. §28-9-214 which provides the “table of descents” and it outlines the how the heritable estate of an intestate decedent (a person who died without a Will).
- Trust – a Trust is an estate planning instrument that can serve a myriad of functions including the bypass and avoidance of probate, protecting assets for a minor child, protecting assets for a disabled or incapacitated individual, achieving Medicaid eligibility, protecting assets from creditors, and other less common purposes. There are several different types of Trusts but the two most common are a revocable trust and an irrevocable trust.
- Trustee – the Trustee is the person who is assigned or appointed to administer the Trust.
The information provided herein is for informative purposes only, it is not a complete description of Arkansas law, it is written for ease of understanding, and it does not constitute legal advice. You should seek specific legal advice for your particular case.
Located in Batesville, Melbourne, and Heber Springs, Arkansas, and serving all of Arkansas, Reeves Law Firm stands ready to handle any civil, estate, family law, guardianship, personal injury, probate, or any other litigation matters that may arise.
Reeves Law Firm primarily serves Independence County (Batesville), Jackson County (Newport), Sharp County (Ash Flat, Highland, Cherokee Village), Lawrence County (Walnut Ridge), Cleburne County (Heber Springs, Greers Ferry, Fairfield Bay), Izard County (Melbourne), Stone County (Mountain View), White County (Searcy), and Baxter County (Mountain Home).
Give us a call in Batesville, Arkansas, at (870) 793-0021
Give us a call in Heber Springs, Arkansas, at (501) 302-8383
Give us a call in Melbourne, Arkansas, at (870) 291-9374
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