Executor Resignation and Removal Requirements in Arkansas

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Arkansas uses personal representative for an executor or administrator. The circuit court administering the estate controls removal, resignation, accounts, special administration, successor appointment, and discharge.

An interested person can force a show-cause order

Under Ark. Code Ann. § 28-48-105(a)(2), the court may order show cause on its own motion. On the petition of an interested person, it shall order the representative to appear and show cause why removal should not occur.

The Probate Code's definition in § 28-1-102(a)(11) reaches an heir, devisee, spouse, creditor, another person with a property right, estate interest, or claim, and a fiduciary. The filing right is not a ruling that any disputed claimant actually fits the definition.

General removal remains discretionary

Section 28-48-105(a)(1) says the court may remove when the representative:

• becomes mentally incompetent, disqualified, unsuitable, or incapable of discharging the trust;
• mismanages the estate;
• fails a duty imposed by law or a lawful court order; or
• stops being an Arkansas resident without maintaining the required service agent.

The current qualification rules in § 28-48-101(b) identify an under-18 person, a person of unsound mind, an unpardoned felon, an unauthorized fiduciary corporation, a court-found unsuitable person, and a nonresident without the required agent. Even when a ground is shown, § 28-48-105 does not say removal is automatic or mandatory.

Bond and acceptance defaults use mandatory language

Two routes are different. Under § 28-48-202, failure to provide a court-required bond—or, when no bond is required, failure to file written acceptance within the court-set time—requires another appointment. Issued letters shall be revoked.

Under § 28-48-203, a surety may serve at least 20 days' withdrawal notice and immediately file a copy with the court. Unless an approved new bond is filed before noon on the termination date, the representative is removed ipso facto and a successor is appointed.

The surety is not released immediately from every risk. Liability continues until an approved new bond, a qualified successor who has taken over the assets, or approval of the principal's final settlement, as the statute specifies.

Resignation requires an account and court acceptance

Arkansas does not supply a standalone resignation-letter statute. Instead, § 28-52-103(a)(3) requires a verified administration account upon the representative's application to resign and before the court accepts the resignation. Section 28-48-107(a) confirms that the transition occurs when the resignation is accepted by the court.

The statutes state no fixed advance notice period, beneficiary-consent rule, resignation-specific hearing interval, or acceptance findings. Filing an application without the required account does not complete the statutory sequence.

The show-cause statute states no interim suspension

Section 28-48-105 directs an appearance and show cause but supplies no fixed service method, notice interval, response deadline, burden formula, automatic suspension, or prehearing restriction of powers.

The court has a separate protective option. For good cause under § 28-48-103, it may appoint a special administrator after a general representative is already serving, with or without removal. Appointment may be without notice or on notice the court directs and may be limited by time, property, or particular acts. The special administrator reports as ordered and accounts when authority ends.

Departure triggers a verified account

Under § 28-52-103, both revocation of letters and an application to resign require a verified account. If an account is late, the clerk issues a citation requiring filing within 30 days and show cause against attachment. The court may use attachment or other process and assess neglect-caused costs.

The clerk publishes the account filing during the first week of the following month. The account cannot be acted on for 60 days, and interested persons may file specific written objections before the hearing.

Approval relieves the representative and surety only for the accounting period, subject to appeal and the court's order-vacatur power. Final discharge comes later, after satisfactory evidence that court-directed distribution occurred.

Compensation can be reduced or denied

Arkansas ties compensation to performance. Under § 28-48-108(c), the court may deny or reduce compensation when, after citation, the representative fails to file a satisfactory account or perform another substantial office duty.

The departure statutes set no separate turnover deadline for a resigning or removed representative. § 28-52-101(c)(3) nevertheless makes the representative chargeable for loss caused by neglect or unreasonable delay in paying over money or delivering estate property.

A successor is mandatory only when administration needs one

On an interested person's motion or petition, § 28-48-107(a) permits a replacement after death, removal, or court-accepted resignation. If the departing fiduciary was the sole or last surviving representative and the administration is unfinished, the court shall appoint another.

The successor receives the predecessor's rights and powers except a will power clearly personal to the named executor. If another joint representative remains, § 28-48-104(b) permits that person to exercise the powers after the other appointment ends unless the will clearly provides otherwise.

Section 28-48-107 does not restate original appointment priority, require new creditor notice, or reset creditor periods.

Appeal treatment depends on the removal ground

An ordinary order granting or denying removal is appealable under the general probate-appeal rule. An appeal stays other circuit-court proceedings unless the court finds that no interested person will be prejudiced and orders specified proceedings to continue.

There is no appeal from removal for failure to give a new bond or render a court-required account. Nor is the appointment of a special administrator appealable. Arkansas supplies no special temporary-on-appeal successor or removal-reinstatement rule.

What trips people up

• “Shall order show cause” does not mean “shall remove.” The general grounds still use discretionary removal language.
• Resignation is not just a letter. It requires an application, a verified account before acceptance, and court acceptance.
• Surety withdrawal has a noon deadline. Without a new approved bond, the statute makes removal automatic at the stated termination time.
• Not every removal order is appealable. Bond- and account-default removals are expressly excluded.

Common questions

Can the court act without an interested-person petition?

Yes. Section 28-48-105 lets the court issue the show-cause order on its own motion. A qualifying interested person's petition makes issuance of that order mandatory.

Does a representative lose compensation automatically on removal?

No. The statute instead gives the court discretion to deny or reduce compensation after a cited failure to account or perform another substantial duty.

Must every vacancy receive a successor?

No. Appointment is mandatory when the departed representative was the sole or last survivor and administration is not complete. A remaining joint representative may continue under § 28-48-104(b).

Statutes and sources

• Ark. Code Ann. §§ 28-48-103 to -108 — special administration, removal, termination, succession, and compensation. Arkansas Judiciary Probate Benchbook and OCAR Title 28 transformation (accessed August 28, 2026).
• Ark. Code Ann. §§ 28-48-202, -203, -208 and 28-52-101 to -109 — mandatory bond routes, surety roles, accounts, notice, liability, and objections. OCAR Title 28 transformation (accessed August 28, 2026).
• Ark. Code Ann. § 28-1-116 and § 28-53-118 — appeal, stay, and final discharge. Official 2003 Act 1185 and official 1999 Act 122 (accessed August 28, 2026).