Petition to Probate a Will Requirements in Arkansas

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Circuit Court and the venue hierarchy

Arkansas uses a Circuit Court probate proceeding. Ark. Code Ann. § 28-40-102 puts a resident estate in the county where the decedent resided. For a nonresident with Arkansas property, venue is the county holding the greater part of that property by value. If the decedent had neither Arkansas residence nor property but died in Arkansas, the death county controls. If none of those facts exists, a county where the personal representative may maintain a cause of action is the final fallback.

Competing county cases are stayed outside the county where proceedings first began while that court decides venue. A case begun in the wrong county may be transferred rather than dismissed, and the court may transfer before final distribution when another circuit court better serves the estate.

Any interested person may combine probate and appointment

Under Ark. Code Ann. § 28-40-107, any interested person may ask to admit the will, appoint its nominated executor, or both. The petitioner need not possess the will. If no nominee can serve, the same section permits a request for an administrator, but that is not the ordinary letters-testamentary route surveyed here.

The petition states the decedent's name, age, residence, death date, and death place. It identifies reasonably ascertainable heirs and devisees, including ages, relationships, and residence addresses. It separately estimates real and personal property. A nonresident petition describes Arkansas property county by county, and the last-resort venue route states its supporting facts.

The filing also identifies nominated executors. If appointment is requested, it names and gives the address of the proposed recipient of letters and states the relationship or other appointment basis.

An unfiled will changes what the petition must say

If the will is not already filed, Section 28-40-107(c)(6) requires its contents in the petition. The ordinary way is to attach a copy. If the will is lost, destroyed, or suppressed, the petition instead states its provisions so far as known, and Section 28-40-117(c) supplies a distinct evidentiary route. That exception should not be treated as permission to use a copy as though it were the ordinary filed will.

Section 28-40-103 generally requires submission of the will and grant of administration within five years after death. A statutory exception addresses a nonresident's will already admitted elsewhere. A later will may still be heard under Section 28-40-116, but not after final distribution is ordered or approved.

Notice depends on a demand or opposition

Arkansas does not make advance notice universal. Under Section 28-40-109, if no notice demand has been filed and no interested person opposes the petition, the court may hear it immediately or at another directed time and place without requiring notice.

A qualifying demand filed under Ark. Code Ann. §§ 28-40-108 to -110 prevents admission or a general appointment until statutory notice is given. If the petition is opposed or a demand exists, Section 28-40-110 requires the court to set a hearing; otherwise a hearing is discretionary. Hearing notice goes by a method allowed in Section 28-1-112 to each heir and devisee whose name and address are given. A demandant must receive a method other than publication.

Proof changes with the will and witness availability

An attested will ordinarily uses at least two attesting witnesses who are alive at known continental-U.S. addresses and capable of testifying. If two cannot be procured after reasonable diligence, Ark. Code Ann. § 28-40-117 allows at least two credible disinterested witnesses to prove the testator's handwriting and the other required circumstances, together with any attesting witness whose testimony remains procurable.

A holographic will uses at least three credible disinterested witnesses to prove the testator's handwriting and signature. A lost or destroyed will uses the separate equity-level proof stated in Section 28-40-117(c).

For an uncontested probate, Ark. Code Ann. § 28-25-106 permits an attesting witness's affidavit to have the same effect as testimony before the court. That provision addresses witness proof; it does not erase a notice demand or opposition.

Nominee priority, qualification, and current bond discretion

The will's nominated executor has first priority for domiciliary letters under Ark. Code Ann. § 28-48-101. Nomination does not override qualification. Disqualifications include being under 18, of unsound mind, an unpardoned felon, an unauthorized fiduciary corporation, or unsuitable in the court's judgment. A nonresident natural person must appoint the clerk or an approved county resident as Arkansas process agent.

Current bond law is discretionary. As amended by 2023 Ark. Acts 326, Section 28-48-201 lets the court require a bond before letters or later in the case. A claimant's or interested person's written demand requires the court either to order bond or an increase immediately, or promptly hold a hearing on whether and how much security is needed. Section 28-48-206 now lets the court increase, decrease, or dispense with bond for good cause after reviewing the file or on an interested party's request.

Act 326 repealed the former subsections that specially addressed a will's request for no bond. A no-bond clause therefore should not be presented as a current statutory entitlement to waiver.

What trips people up

• Interested-person standing is broader than nominee priority. Someone may be allowed to petition without being first in line for letters.
• A hearing and advance notice are conditional. No demand and no opposition permit an immediate no-notice hearing; either condition changes the route.
• A copy is not automatically the ordinary will. Section 28-40-107 uses a copy to state an unfiled will's contents, while a lost will needs separate proof.
• Five years is the probate limit. It runs from death, subject to the statute's narrow foreign-will exception.
• Arkansas changed bond law in 2023. The court may require bond, and the old special will-waiver subsections are gone.

Common questions

Must the petitioner be the will's nominated executor?

No. Any interested person may petition. The nominee's status matters because it gives first priority for letters, assuming the nominee is qualified.

Does every Arkansas probate petition require advance notice?

No. Without a filed notice demand or opposition, the court may hear the petition immediately without notice. Either a demand or opposition makes the hearing and notice route mandatory.

Does a will saying “no bond” guarantee that no bond is required?

No. Current law leaves bond to the court. The 2023 amendment repealed the old subsection that specifically authorized dispensation based on the will's terms.

Statutes and sources

• Ark. Code Ann. §§ 28-40-102, -103, -107 to -110, -116, and -117; § 28-25-106 — venue, timing, petition, notice, later wills, and proof. Official Arkansas Judiciary Probate Benchbook (accessed 2026-08-08).
• Ark. Code Ann. § 28-48-101 — priority and qualification, as amended. 2015 Arkansas Act 844 (accessed 2026-08-08).
• Ark. Code Ann. §§ 28-48-201 and -206 — current discretionary bond rules. 2023 Arkansas Act 326 (accessed 2026-08-08).