§ 28-40-111 - Notice of appointment of personal representative. - Arkansas Statutes

28-40-111. Notice of appointment of personal representative.

(a) (1) (A) Promptly after the letters have been granted on the estate of a deceased person, the personal representative shall cause a notice of his or her appointment to be published stating the date of his or her appointment and requiring all persons having claims against the estate to exhibit them, properly verified to him or her, within six (6) months from the date of the first publication of the notice, or they shall be forever barred and precluded from any benefit in the estate.

(B) Claims for injury or death caused by the negligence of the decedent shall also be filed within six (6) months from the date of first publication of the notice, or they shall be forever barred and precluded any benefit in the estate.

(2) The notice shall state the mailing address of the personal representative.

(3) If a will of the decedent has been probated, the notice shall also state the date of admission of the will to probate and that a contest of the order of probate can be effected only by filing a petition within the time provided by law.

(4) (A) Within one (1) month after the first publication of the notice, a copy of the notice shall also be served upon each heir and devisee whose name and address are known and upon all unpaid creditors whose names, status as creditors, and addresses are known to or reasonably ascertainable by the personal representative, including the Department of Human Services if it is known or could reasonably be ascertained that the department has rendered services to the decedent, in accordance with 28-1-112(b)(1), 28-1-112(b)(2), or 28-1-112(b)(3).

(B) (i) Notice to the department shall be served upon the Office of Chief Counsel, Decedent's Estates, P.O. Box 1437, Little Rock, AR 72203.

(ii) A copy of the petition for probate of a will or administration of an estate and the decedent's social security number shall be attached to the notice served upon the department.

(C) (i) If, thereafter, the names and addresses of any such creditors are ascertained, a copy of the notice shall be promptly served upon them.

(ii) The burden of proof on any issue as to whether a creditor was known to or reasonably ascertainable by the personal representative shall be upon the creditor claiming entitlement to such actual notice.

(b) When a will is to be probated without an administration of the estate, the notice shall be published by the proponents of the will and shall state the mailing address of each of the one (1) or more proponents and the name and address of the attorney for the proponents.

(c) The notice shall be in substantially the following form:

"In the Circuit Court of ......................County, Arkansas

In the Matter of the Estate of ......................, Deceased. No.....................

Last known address .....................

Date of death .....................

(1) (To be used where no will.)

The undersigned was appointed administrator of the estate of the above decedent on the .... day of .........., 20....

(2) (To be used when a will is probated and a personal representative appointed.)

An instrument dated ....................was on the .....day of .........., 20....., admitted to probate as the last will of the above named decedent and the undersigned has been appointed executor (or administrator) thereunder. Contest of the probate of the will can be effected only by filing a petition within the time provided by law.

(3) (To be used when a will is probated but no personal representative appointed.)

An instrument dated ....................was on the .....day of .........., 20....., admitted to probate as the last will of the above named decedent. Contest of the probate of the will can be effected only by filing within the time provided by law a petition for an order revoking or modifying the order admitting the will to probate, and delivering a copy of such petition to the undersigned proponent(s) or the undersigned attorney for the proponent(s) at his (their) address hereunder shown.

(4) (To be used in cases where a personal representative is appointed.)

All persons having claims against the estate must exhibit them, duly verified, to the undersigned within six (6) months from the date of the first publication of this notice, or they shall be forever barred and precluded from any benefit in the estate.

This notice first published .........., 20....

.....................

(Administrator, Executor, Proponent, or Petitioner)

.....................

(Mail Address)"

(d) (1) Publication of the notice shall be as provided in 28-1-112(b)(4) unless the value of the estate to be administered upon does not exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), exclusive of homestead, in which event publication may be given by posting notice in the courthouse at a conspicuous place near a principal entrance for a period of three (3) weeks.

(2) In addition, the court may by general rule, or by special order in a particular case, require that notice shall be given by ordinary mail to all persons whose names and addresses appear in the petition.