Executor and Personal-Representative Bond Requirements in Arkansas

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Bond is discretionary before letters and later

Under Ark. Code Ann. § 28-48-201, the Circuit Court may require a personal- representative bond before letters of administration or at any time while the estate remains pending. Arkansas therefore does not begin with a universal bond requirement.

If the court requires bond, the statute expressly permits an Arkansas- authorized corporate surety or another bond the court deems appropriate. The bond runs for interested parties' benefit. When two or more personal representatives serve, the court may require separate bonds or one joint bond.

The 2023 amendment removed the old waiver routes

Current § 28-48-206 lets the court increase, decrease, or dispense with bond for good cause after reviewing the file or on any interested party's request. That is the operative excusal route.

Act 326 repealed the former subsection that specifically allowed a will to request no bond. It also repealed the former competent-distributee written- waiver route and the related bank, trust-company, and nonresident- administrator provisions. A will clause or distributee agreement therefore should not be presented as a current statutory entitlement to no bond.

A written demand forces an order or prompt hearing

A person or entity asserting a claim against the estate, or having or claiming an estate interest, may file a written demand under § 28-48-201(b). The court must then either direct immediately that bond be secured or increased, or hold a hearing at the earliest reasonable date on whether bond is needed and, if so, its amount.

If the court takes the immediate-order route, the personal representative may request an immediate reconsideration hearing. Separately, § 28-48-206 permits any interested party to request a good-cause increase, decrease, or dispensation.

Current law has no fixed estate-value formula

Act 326 deleted the former rule tying the penalty to double the estimated property handled when personal sureties were used or the full estimated value with corporate surety. Current § 28-48-201 instead leaves the demand hearing to address the amount of any bond or increase, and § 28-48-206 permits later good-cause changes.

The current provisions state no property base, multiplier, minimum, maximum, restricted-deposit reduction, or automatic institutional-representative exemption for an ordinary domestic estate.

Approval and any personal-surety affidavits still matter

Under §§ 28-48-204 to -205, the statutory form conditions the obligation on faithful accounting. No bond is sufficient until the court examines and approves it, or the clerk approves it subject to court confirmation, with the approval endorsed on the bond.

If a bond executed by personal sureties is presented under a court-approved route, the sureties must submit affidavits showing that they collectively own Arkansas property subject to execution, above liabilities, equal to the bond. An unapproved bond must be replaced with satisfactory security within the time the court or clerk directs.

Nonresidence changes process-agent qualification, not bond amount

Under § 28-48-101, a nonresident natural person must appoint the clerk or an approved resident of the probate county to receive estate-related process and notice. Arkansas states no separate current bond amount or mandatory-bond rule merely because the representative is a nonresident.

A corporation not authorized to act as an Arkansas fiduciary is disqualified. That qualification rule is separate from § 28-48-201's permission to use an Arkansas-authorized corporate surety.

Required bond and approval precede letters

Under §§ 28-48-102 and -202, letters issue after any required bond is given and approved. If no bond is required, the representative instead files written acceptance before letters issue.

Failure within the court-fixed time to provide required bond—or to file acceptance when bond is not required—requires appointment of someone else. If letters have already issued, they are revoked.

What trips people up

• Arkansas's pre-2023 mandatory bond and fixed-amount rules are no longer current.
• A claimant's written demand does not always produce an immediate bond; the court may instead set the earliest-reasonable-date hearing.
• The repeal of § 28-48-203 also removed its former 20-day surety-withdrawal and automatic-removal procedure.

Common questions

Does a will saying “no bond” control?

No. Act 326 repealed the former will-specific dispensation subsection. The court now applies the general require-or-dispense and good-cause provisions.

Can a creditor require a bond?

A person or entity asserting an estate claim may file the written demand. The court must then issue an immediate bond or increase order or hold the statutory prompt hearing.

Is the bond still based on double the estate property?

No. Act 326 deleted that formula. Current law states no replacement statewide property multiplier.

Statutes and sources

• Ark. Code Ann. §§ 28-48-201 and -206; 2023 Ark. Acts 326 — current discretion, written demands, corepresentatives, repeal of § 28-48-203, and good-cause changes — https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2023R%2FPublic%2FACT326.pdf — accessed 2026-08-29.
• Ark. Code Ann. §§ 28-48-102, -202, -204, and -205 — letters, acceptance, replacement and revocation, form, approval, and personal-surety affidavits — https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-ar/transforms/ar/ocar/r78/gov.ar.code.title.28.html — accessed 2026-08-29.
• Ark. Code Ann. § 28-48-101; 2015 Ark. Acts 844 — nonresident process agent and corporate-fiduciary qualification — https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2015%2FPublic%2FACT844.pdf — accessed 2026-08-29.