Arkansas Small Estate Affidavit

One way to avoid probate is to own property jointly with someone else. When you die with a right of surviorship, your share passes to the other owner automatically. What is on the deed or account controls and any statement in your will is ignored.

In Arkansas, you can use the small estate procedure if the total value of all personal property does not exceed the amount to which the surviving spouse and children are entitled to by law or the value of the property is $100,000 or less, not counting the homestead and the statutory allowance for the benefit of a

A small estate affidavit is a sworn written statement that authorizes someone to claim a decedent's assets outside of the formal probate process.

When you use a small estate affidavit , you have to pay the decedent's bills before paying money to anyone else. For example, the decedent might have owed money to a credit card company when they died. If you use the small estate affidavit, you must give money from the estate to pay the credit card company.

Every financial institution will have a different threshold as to the amount they will transfer without a Grant of Probate. To provide you some guidance, a balance of somewhere in the vicinity of $20,000.00 $50,000.00 will not require a Grant of Probate.

In Arkansas, the probate process is mandatory for any contested estate, if there are creditors (including a mortgage) and for any estate larger than $100,000. If a person provides written grounds for contest to the court, the will goes through the probate process.

If the total value of all the assets you leave behind is less than a certain amount, the people who inherit your personal property -- that's anything except real estate -- may be able to skip probate entirely. The exact amount depends on state law, and varies hugely.