Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: in Arkansas, dying without a will does not mean the state keeps the estate; it means Arkansas’s intestacy statute (Ark. Code Ann. § 28-9-214 (Tables of descents; combines the spouse’s share and the full no-spouse hierarchy in one section); § 28-9-213 (kindred of the half blood); §§ 28-11-301, 28-11-305, 28-11-307 (retained statutory dower/curtesy, which operates ALONGSIDE §28-9-214 whenever a spouse survives together with descendants, or a spouse survives with no descendants).) decides who gets it, and the surviving spouse usually does not take everything. The single most common misunderstanding on this page: a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship can cut the spouse’s share sharply below what most people assume.
What this guide covers
Who inherits from Arkansas residents who die without a will is set by statute, not custom: Ark. Code Ann. § 28-9-214 (Tables of descents; combines the spouse’s share and the full no-spouse hierarchy in one section); § 28-9-213 (kindred of the half blood); §§ 28-11-301, 28-11-305, 28-11-307 (retained statutory dower/curtesy, which operates ALONGSIDE §28-9-214 whenever a spouse survives together with descendants, or a spouse survives with no descendants). and the sections around it. It governs only the probate estate: what is left after retirement accounts and life insurance with a living named beneficiary, payable-on-death accounts, property in joint tenancy with survivorship, and anything already in a funded trust have already passed outside it. This page covers the spouse’s share, who inherits if there is no spouse, and the rules that can change the answer: half-blood relatives.
The spouse’s share
When the spouse takes everything: Under section 28-9-214(2), the surviving spouse takes the ENTIRE heritable estate only if BOTH: (a) the intestate is survived by no descendant, AND (b) the intestate and surviving spouse had been continuously married three (3) years or more immediately preceding the death. If married less than three years and there are no descendants, the spouse takes only 50% (section 28-9-214(2)), with the remainder passing to the decedent’s surviving parent(s) (section 28-9-214(4)).
When it is less than everything: Arkansas does not use a single UPC-style dollar-plus-fraction spouse-share statute. Two mechanisms interact: (A) NO DESCENDANTS survive: section 28-9-214(2), spouse takes the entire heritable estate if married 3+ years, or merely 50% if married under 3 years (with the other 50% passing under section 28-9-214(4) to the decedent’s parents). This 50%/100% split is triggered by MARRIAGE DURATION, not by whose relatives are involved. (B) DESCENDANTS survive: section 28-9-214(1) sends the heritable estate to the descendants FIRST, and the surviving spouse does not take any share of the ‘heritable estate’ under section 28-9-214 in this scenario at all. Instead, the spouse’s interest comes from Arkansas’s separately codified, common-law-derived dower/curtesy: a one-third (1/3) life estate in all real property the decedent held during the marriage (section 28-11-301(a)), plus one-third (1/3) of the personal estate outright (section 28-11-305), flat regardless of whether the surviving descendants are also the spouse’s own children (i.e., Arkansas has NO UPC-style blended-family reduction keyed to whose descendants they are; its differentiator is purely descendants-vs-no-descendants plus the 3-year marriage rule). When there are no descendants, dower/curtesy also applies independently under section 28-11-307: 1/2 of new-acquisition real estate in fee simple plus 1/2 of personalty absolutely, against collateral heirs, or a life estate in 1/2 of any ancestral real estate.
Second, if the intestate is survived by no descendant, to the intestate’s surviving spouse unless the intestate and the surviving spouse had been continuously married less than three (3) years next preceding the death of the intestate, in which event the surviving spouse will take merely fifty percent (50%) of the intestate’s heritable estate;
Source: Ark. Code Ann. § 28-9-214 (Tables of descents; combines the spouse’s share and the full no-spouse hierarchy in one section); § 28-9-213 (kindred of the half blood); §§ 28-11-301, 28-11-305, 28-11-307 (retained statutory dower/curtesy, which operates ALONGSIDE §28-9-214 whenever a spouse survives together with descendants, or a spouse survives with no descendants).
If a DIY will fits your situation in Arkansas
In Arkansas, a surviving spouse can end up sharing the estate with a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship under the default rules above; a will is what lets you decide that instead of the statute. LawDepot builds a state-specific last will and testament.
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Who inherits if there is no spouse
Section 28-9-214: (1) to children/descendants per capita or per stirpes; (2)-(4) spouse share as above; (5) if no descendant, to surviving parent(s) equally, else to siblings and their descendants; (6) if none, to grandparents, uncles, and aunts equally, paternal and maternal sides treated identically, with a predeceased uncle/aunt’s descendants taking by representation; (7) if none, to great-grandparents and great-uncles/great-aunts on the same equal-treatment basis; (8) if no heirs are found under (1)-(7), the estate passes per section 28-9-215.
Rules that change the outcome
Half-blood relatives: Full share. Section 28-9-213: ‘An intestate’s kinsmen of the half blood will inherit the intestate’s real or personal property to the same extent as if they were the intestate’s kinsmen of the whole blood.’
Sourcing note: Arkansas’s official statute host could not be reached this session; this row is sourced to independent verbatim-text mirrors instead of the state’s own site; see https://codes.findlaw.com/ar/title-28-wills-estates-and-fiduciary-relationships/ar-code-sect-28-9-214/.
What a will changes
A will does not just skip the statute above; it lets you choose who gets Arkansas property that the intestacy rules would send somewhere else: a spouse who would otherwise share the estate with a stepchild, a partner who is not married and inherits nothing under intestacy at all, or specific people the statute’s ladder never reaches. It also lets you name an executor rather than leaving the court to appoint one. What it does not change: assets that already pass outside probate: a will has no effect on a beneficiary designation, a payable-on-death account, or property held in joint tenancy.
General information drawn from state intestate-succession statutes, not legal advice. Who inherits without a will is STATE law and differs in every state; the spouse’s share, the order of inheritance, and how half-blood and community-property rules apply all change, and every figure here is sourced and dated. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice.