Arkansas Estate Accounting: An Executor's Guide

The two documents Arkansas expects

Arkansas probate runs through the circuit court's probate division, since probate merged into the circuit courts under Amendment 80. Two documents carry the numbers: Form 17, Inventory of Decedent's Estate, a sworn snapshot of what the decedent owned on the day of death, and Form 20, Accounting by Personal Representative, the charge-and-discharge account that serves as first, annual, and final account alike.

Both come from Administrative Order No. 12, which supplies the caption and affidavit block the forms print only as placeholders. On Form 20 that affidavit is not optional: Ark. Code Ann. § 28-52-103, Verified account of administration, says a personal representative must file a verified account.

Arkansas probate deadlines, and the statute behind each

Inventory (§ 28-49-110): generally due within 2 months after your appointment, carrying your appraisal of date-of-death fair market values, unless all competent distributees, and the guardians of the estates of any incompetent distributees, have filed written waivers of inventory and the court finds no need for filing; confirm the exact due date and whether a waiver applies with your attorney. Notice (§ 28-40-111): the notice of appointment generally must be published promptly after letters are granted, and copies typically must then be served on known unpaid creditors within 1 month after first publication. Each heir and devisee whose name and address are known generally must be served with a copy of the published notice within that same month (§ 28-40-111(a)(4)).

Claims (§ 28-50-101): claims generally are barred unless presented to you or filed with the court within 6 months after first publication, so calendar that date before paying junior claims or distributing. Accounts (§ 28-52-103): unless the court directs otherwise, a verified account is generally due annually during administration, and a final account typically accompanies the petition for final settlement; confirm the schedule your circuit court expects for the first annual account with your attorney. Those creditor clocks run from first publication rather than from your appointment, so confirm the operative date with your attorney.

The Arkansas Form 17 inventory: what belongs on it

Form 17 opens with real estate, split into Homestead and Other real estate, then takes personal property in three subsections (Household Goods and Personal Effects, Other Tangible Personal Property, Intangible Personal Property) under one combined subtotal. Values are your own appraisement of fair market value as of the date of death (§ 28-49-110(a)(1)); no court-appointed appraiser is involved in the inventory itself.

Parts of it only you can supply. Mark the homestead. Give real property its legal description, since a street address is not one. Put any mortgage or lien in the encumbrance column and reduce the Net Value to match. Leave off survivorship joint property and beneficiary-designated benefits unless they are payable to the estate, the rule stated in Form 17's Reporter's Notes. An asset found later goes on a supplemental inventory or into the next accounting (§ 28-49-110(b)).

The Form 20 account: six numbered paragraphs that have to tie

The opening recital names you, your fiduciary role, the period covered, and the occasion for filing, one of the five in § 28-52-103(a): final settlement, revoked letters, resignation, the annual account, or the court's direction. Paragraph 1, Charges to accountant, opens with the inventory value on a first account, or the previous account's balance on a later one, then property received, income, and gains. Paragraph 2 is credits other than payments to distributees: disbursements and losses on sales. Paragraph 3 is credits for money paid or assets delivered to distributees. Every line is dated.

SUMMARY OF ACCOUNT runs five lines: charges, credits as per paragraph 2, credits as per paragraph 3, Total Credits, and Balance remaining in hands of accountant. Paragraph 4 describes that balance at inventory value or cost, paragraph 5 lists changes in the form of assets that do not affect it, and paragraph 6 lists outstanding liabilities you know of (§ 28-52-104(a)). Only you can fill the county, case number, fiduciary role, occasion, and the fee you request in the closing THEREFORE clause. The vouchers sentence is a sworn representation, so gather cancelled checks and receipts for every paragraph 2 and 3 item before filing (§ 28-52-104(a)(2)). Interested persons then have until the sixtieth day after filing to object, or are forever barred (§ 28-52-106).

What Arkansas pays an executor

Ark. Code Ann. § 28-48-108 sets the fee schedule on the personal property that passed through your hands and was fully administered: 10% of the first $1,000, 5% of $1,000 to $5,000, and 3% above $5,000. Real estate is excluded, though courts can award separate reasonable compensation for substantial real-property work. It is a maximum, not a guarantee: the court may reduce or deny fees where accounts are not filed or duties are not satisfactorily performed.

How an Arkansas estate closes

Arkansas is not a UPC state, so there is no sworn-closing-statement shortcut. Let the 6-month claims window expire, pay allowed claims, the family's statutory allowances, and administration expenses, then file the verified final account with a petition for final settlement and distribution (§§ 28-52-103, 28-52-105). The order of final distribution is entered only after at least 60 days have run from that filing, unless notice and hearing were waived (§ 28-53-104). Distribute as it directs, file a signed receipt from each distributee (cancelled checks or title-transfer copies also count), and ask for the order discharging you and your surety (§ 28-53-118).

Where ExecutorLedger fits

ExecutorLedger keeps the books an Arkansas executor accounting needs and builds both documents from them: an inventory shaped like Form 17 and an account shaped like Form 20, six numbered paragraphs and Summary of Account, ready to transcribe onto the official forms. Recording is free for as long as the estate takes, every document previews free with your real numbers, and $149 once per estate lifts the watermark. These are court-style documents, not court forms, and the estate's attorney still reads the account first.

Questions Arkansas executors ask