Arkansas Probate Cost 2026: Fees, Filing Fee, and the Small-Estate Route

Updated July 26, 2026. Quick answer: Arkansas sets probate compensation using a percentage schedule written into statute. The two numbers that decide what an estate actually pays are the fee basis and the small-estate threshold — and whether that threshold reaches real estate, which is where most published guidance goes wrong.

What probate costs in Arkansas

Arkansas probate fees in real dollars

Because Arkansas publishes an actual schedule, the fee can be computed rather than estimated. Applying Ark. Code §28-48-108 to the total market value:

Attorney fees for probate legal services, on total market value of real plus personal property. The court may adjust if excessive or insufficient, and parties may contract otherwise.

Run any figure, and compare against a second state, with the probate cost calculator.

What is the small estate limit in Arkansas?

$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.

Arkansas answers this, and the statute assumes real property is in scope. Ark. Code §28-41-101 provides that where an estate collected under the section contains real property, the distributee must publish notice of the death and of the affidavit’s filing within 30 days, so that claims can be presented. Note the $100,000 test is measured less encumbrances and excluding the homestead and statutory allowances, and 45 days must pass before filing.

Full thresholds for every state: small-estate limits by state.

If the estate is still being planned rather than settled, the usual way to keep a house out of probate entirely is a living trust, which carries its own upfront cost: whether a living trust is worth it in Arkansas.

Does a house have to go through probate in Arkansas?

Often not. Ark. Code §28-41-101 contemplates real property passing this way: where the estate collected by affidavit contains real property, the distributee must publish notice of the death and the filing within 30 days so creditors can present claims. The value test is $100,000 less encumbrances, measured excluding the homestead and statutory allowances, and 45 days must elapse after the death before the affidavit is filed. Miss the publication step and the claims window does not close, so this is a route with conditions rather than a shortcut. A fiduciary advisor can price the exposure alongside the rest of the estate picture. talk to someone about the whole estate picture. You can also run the numbers yourself first with the probate cost calculator — no email required.

How Arkansas compares to the other 50

Arkansas’s small-estate threshold of $100,000 ranks 7 of 50 jurisdictions with a stated figure, and sits well above the national median of $51,500. The range runs from $15,000 at the bottom to $400,000 at the top, so where an estate falls relative to the line matters far more than any national “average probate cost” figure. On fee model, Arkansas is one of 7 of 51 jurisdictions using the statutory-percentage approach.

Death taxes in Arkansas, separately

Arkansas levies neither an estate tax nor an inheritance tax, which is true of 34 jurisdictions. That is a different question from probate cost and is decided by different statutes, but families routinely conflate the two.

What this does not include

The figures above are the probate cost — the court and compensation side of settling an estate. They are separate from any state estate tax or inheritance tax, which are taxes on the transfer itself and are owed whether or not the estate goes through probate. Appraisal, bond premium, publication, and real-estate commissions if property is sold are additional and are not set by the fee statute.

Before you hire anyone

• Ask which statute the fee is charged under, and get the citation. In Arkansas the governing provisions are below.
• Ask whether the quoted fee is calculated on gross value or net of debts. Gross-value states charge on the full house value even if a mortgage covers most of it.
• Ask whether the personal representative is also claiming compensation, and on what basis.
• Ask in writing whether the estate qualifies for the small-estate route, and if a solely owned house is involved, whether that route reaches it.

Primary sources

• Ark. Code Ann. §28-48-108
• Ark. Code Ann. §28-41-101

Arkansas in the rest of the picture

Probate cost is one of four things Arkansas decides for a retiree and their heirs. The other three — income tax on withdrawals, estate tax, and inheritance tax — are priced separately:

• Every tax Arkansas charges a retiree: Arkansas retirement taxes

Compare and calculate

Probate cost by state compares all 51 jurisdictions side by side. The probate cost calculator prices a specific estate. If a move is on the table, retirement tax relocation prices probate alongside the three other taxes that change with residency.

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