Arkansas law provides a legal process by which certain estates can be administered without the need for full on probate. This called the small estate administration process. However, to qualify to utilize the small estate administration process, that estate has to meet certain criteria as follows:
- The value of the estate must be less than $100,000 (not including the value of the decedent’s homestead);
- There are no unpaid debts or claims against the decedent or the estate;
- That 45 days have elapsed since the date of death;
- The estate cannot have an Administrator appointed and the estate cannot have had a petition filed to appoint an Administrator; and
- That DHS/Medicaid did not provide benefits to the deceased or that DHS/Medicaid is not filing a claim against the estate.
There are significant differences between a small estate administration and full-on probate. A small estate administration does not have the Court oversight that probate has. A small estate administration does not formally appoint a certain person as the specific Administrator. A small estate administration does not require the filing of an inventory, accounting, report of final distribution, or receipts of distributees. A small estate administration has a three-month statutory creditor claim period as opposed to the six-month statutory creditor claim period that probate requires.
Other than these main points, much of a small estate administration is similar to probate, it’s just less Court oversight, less filings, and a shorter window for creditor’s to file a claim during the shortened claim period.
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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