Ark. Code Ann. § 28-9-203 (2026)
Intestate succession generally
- Any part of the estate of a decedent not effectively disposed of by his or her will shall pass to his or her heirs as prescribed in the following sections.
- In this connection, the terms “heir” and “heirs”, as used in this subchapter, are intended to designate the person or persons who succeed by inheritance to the ownership of real or personal property in respect to which a person dies intestate.
-
- Real estate passes immediately to the heirs upon the death of the intestate, subject to the right of the personal representative under the Probate Code to mortgage, lease, exchange, sell, or possess it for the payment of claims or legacies, the preservation or protection of the assets of the estate, the distribution of the estate, or any other purpose in the best interest of the estate.
- However, personalty will pass to the personal representative, if any, for distribution to the heirs unless otherwise disposed of as permitted by the Probate Code.
History. Acts 1969, No. 303, § 1; 1973, No. 33, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, § 61-131.
Publisher's Notes. The Probate Code, referred to in this section, is codified as set out in the note following § 28-1-101.
Research References
Ark. L. Rev.
Andrew L. Lawson, “Body” Building: Expanding Arkansas's Standard for Holographic Wills, 71 Ark. L. Rev. 917 (2019).
Case Notes
Disclaimer by Heirs.
Where the heirs of the intestate, who were the four children of the intestate who were alive at his death and the five children of a son who predeceased him, had executed disclaimers of interest in the estate with the purpose of having certain property pass to his widow as the surviving spouse, but the other 12 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren did not execute disclaimers, the property in question did not pass to the widow because under § 28-9-214 the estate would pass to the widow only if there were no surviving descendants. The disclaimers in this case resulted in the property in issue passing to the 12 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren who did not execute disclaimers and not to the widow as the surviving spouse. Hunt v. United States, 566 F. Supp. 356 (E.D. Ark. 1983).
Pretermitted Children.
If an owner of real property dies leaving a will which devises the property to his widow, but does not make mention of his children, the children are considered pretermitted heirs, and decedent is deemed to have died intestate as to them, so that the title to the property vests immediately in his heirs subject to appropriate provisions for administration under the Probate Code and subject to the widow's dower and homestead rights, if any. Farmers Coop. Ass'n v. Webb, 249 Ark. 277, 459 S.W.2d 815 (1970) (decision under prior law).
Putative Father.
Evidence that the child had lived in the home of the putative father for several months and that the putative father had listed the child as a dependent child on his income tax returns for three years, without other acknowledgment of paternity, without testimony of the child's mother, and without marriage of the mother and the putative father was insufficient to establish the child as an heir of the putative father. Bell v. Bell, 249 Ark. 959, 462 S.W.2d 837 (1971).
Widow.
A widow is not an heir within the meaning of the statute of descent and distribution. Johnson v. Supreme Lodge, 53 Ark. 255, 13 S.W. 794 (1890) (decision under prior law).
Cited: Lucas v. Handcock, 266 Ark. 142, 583 S.W.2d 491 (1979); Farris v. Farris, 287 Ark. 479, 700 S.W.2d 371 (1985); Sutton v. Milburn, 289 Ark. 421, 711 S.W.2d 808 (1986); Hartford Ins. Co. v. Brewer, 54 Ark. App. 1, 922 S.W.2d 360 (1996).