§ 28-11-307 - Dower or curtesy when no children. - Arkansas Statutes

28-11-307. Dower or curtesy when no children.

(a) (1) If a person dies leaving a surviving spouse and no children, the surviving spouse shall be endowed in fee simple of one-half (1/2) of the real estate of which the deceased person died seized when the estate is a new acquisition and not an ancestral estate and of one-half (1/2) of the personal estate, absolutely, and in his or her own right, as against collateral heirs.

(2) However, as against creditors, the surviving spouse shall be invested with one-third (1/3) of the real estate in fee simple if a new acquisition, and not ancestral, and of one-third (1/3) of the personal property absolutely.

(b) If the real estate of the deceased person is an ancestral estate, the surviving spouse shall be endowed in a life estate of one-half (1/2) of the estate as against collateral heirs and one-third (1/3) as against creditors.