Ark. Code Ann. § 28-24-101 (2026)

Research References

U. Ark. Little Rock L.J.

Brantley and Effland, Inheritance, The Share of the Surviving Spouse, and Wills: Arkansas Law and the Uniform Probate Code Compared, 3 U. Ark. Little Rock L.J. 361.

Legislative Survey, Decedents' Estates, 4 U. Ark. Little Rock L.J. 591.

Case Notes

Applicability.

This section does not control a purported agreement to make a will made before 1981. Jones v. Abraham, 58 Ark. App. 17, 946 S.W.2d 711 (1997).

Breach of Contract Not to Revoke.

Section 23-32-1005 [23-32-207] does not preclude the establishment of a constructive trust when a contract not to revoke a will has been properly established and the money in a survivorship account has been transferred in violation of such a contract. Avance v. Richards, 331 Ark. 32, 959 S.W.2d 396 (1998).

Breach of Contract to Devise.

In suit for specific performance of oral contract to leave property to plaintiff, plaintiff's remedy is not against estate, but against devisees of the property, and a court of equity is the proper forum for a suit for specific performance. Morton v. Yell, 239 Ark. 195, 388 S.W.2d 88 (1965).

Constructive Trust.

A constructive trust may be imposed despite the statute of frauds, because implied trusts, such as constructive trusts or resulting trusts, are specifically exempted from its application. Cole v. Rivers, 43 Ark. App. 123, 861 S.W.2d 551 (1993).

Creation of Revocable Will.

Wife had the power to amend her will and trust after the husband's death as the parties had not intended for the trust to be irrevocable, thereby negating the argument that reciprocal wills were created. Cason v. Lambert, 2015 Ark. App. 41, 454 S.W.3d 250 (2015).

Evidence.

Contract to make a will not shown where the 1976 wills permitted discretionary disposition of personal property, did not contain words like “agreement to make mutual wills” or “agreeing that the survivor leaves his property to the heirs listed,” and the other evidence presented was not clear, cogent, and convincing of the existence of such a contract. Avance v. Richards, 331 Ark. 32, 959 S.W.2d 396 (1998).

The chancellor's decision that there was no valid contract to make the appellant a beneficiary of the decedent's will was not clearly erroneous, notwithstanding testimony that after the decedent made the appellant the beneficiary of his will in October 1996, she agreed to keep house for him, cook his meals and take care of him, since neither that 1996 will nor the 1997 will at issue contained a statement of the material provisions of a contract between the decedent and the appellant and neither will contained an express reference to a contract between them. Hodges v. Cannon, 68 Ark. App. 170, 5 S.W.3d 89 (1999).

Circuit court did not clearly err in finding that there was no contractual agreement between a husband and wife to make their trusts irrevocable where there was no writing to that effect, both husband and wife reserved the right to amend, modify, or revoke the trusts in whole or in part at any time, and the only evidence supporting the contention that the husband executed an irrevocable trust came from witnesses related to the wife. Holmes v. Potter, 2017 Ark. App. 378, 523 S.W.3d 397 (2017).

Writing Signed by Decedent.

The grant of a summary judgment against heirs was proper where settlement agreement was a valid, enforceable contract which the decedent's guardian had the authority to enter into on her behalf. Hardie v. Estate of Davis, 312 Ark. 189, 848 S.W.2d 417 (1993).

Cited: Morris v. Cullipher, 299 Ark. 204, 772 S.W.2d 313 (1989); Mabry v. McAfee, 301 Ark. 268, 783 S.W.2d 356 (1990).