Clear Money Guide
What this state guide covers
A quick view of the questions, practical details and source notes below.
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Updated August 3, 2026. Quick answer: Arkansas lets a small estate be settled with a sworn affidavit, usable 45 days after death, and it is filed with the court (or the office that holds probate authority). Real estate: yes.
The verdicts
| Instrument | a sworn affidavit |
|---|---|
| Wait after death | 45 days after death |
| Where it goes | filed with the court (or the office that holds probate authority) |
| Notarised? | Yes |
| Reaches real estate? | Yes |
| Authority | Ark. Code Ann. § 28-41-101 |
What the statute actually says
More than forty-five (45) days have elapsed since decedent’s death. … the distributee[s] of this estate shall be entitled to distribution… upon furnishing a copy of this Affidavit, certified by the clerk, to any person owing any money, having custody of any property…
— Ark. Code Ann. § 28-41-101
The dollar limit
$100,000 (less encumbrances, excluding homestead and statutory allowances) for collection of small estate by affidavit, Ark. Code §28-41-101; 45-day wait. Threshold from established secondary sources, not re-verified against current official code this session.
The form
There is an official free form. Form 23 — Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate by Distributee — published by the state, free to download. You should not pay anyone for this form.
The waiting period is the part that voids transfers
Using the instrument before its waiting period has run is the most common way one of these fails. A bank can refuse it, and a transfer made on a defective affidavit can be unwound — with the person who signed it personally exposed, because these are sworn statements made under penalty of perjury. Wait the full period and count from the date of death.
What could not be verified
The form’s jurat block is abbreviated to a bracketed ‘[Affidavit]’ placeholder in the extracted PDF text, so the precise notary/oath wording could not be quoted verbatim (inferred from ‘state on oath’ and the Clerk’s Certificate that the affidavit was ‘filed in this court’). Real property is explicitly addressed in Paragraph 5 and the Reporter’s Notes (publication of notice option).
When this route is the wrong one
- The estate is over the limit. Full administration applies, and using the small-estate route anyway does not make it valid.
- There is real estate and this route does not reach it. A house needs the instrument that can actually transfer title.
- Someone disputes it. These procedures assume agreement; a contested estate belongs in front of a judge.
- Debts exceed assets. Paying the wrong creditor first can make you personally liable.
Related: how the process works, step by step · affidavit versus summary administration.
General information drawn from state statutes and official court materials, not legal advice. Probate and small-estate procedure is STATE law and differs in every state; thresholds, waiting periods and forms change, and every figure here is sourced and dated. Using the wrong instrument, or using one before its waiting period has run, can make a transfer ineffective and can expose the person who signs the affidavit to personal liability. We are not a law firm and we sell no forms.
Whether the estate needs this affidavit at all is the prior question, and the answer is on when probate is required in Arkansas, which gives Arkansas’s qualifying value for the small-estate route and what that route does not reach.
Related: whether Arkansas requires the executor to post a bond.