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Ark. Code Ann. § 28-40-104

No will effectual until probated — Unprobated wills admitted as evidence

Applied in 10 court decisions — leading case Steward v. Statler (2007)

Most recently applied in Harts v. Damsky (December 2024)

Acts 1949, No. 140, § 65; 1981, No. 347, §§ 1, 2; A.S.A. 1947, §§ 62-2126 — 62-2126.2.

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Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) No will shall be effectual for the purpose of proving title to or the right to the possession of any real or personal property disposed of by the will until it has been admitted to probate.

(2) Except as provided in § 28-41-101, to be effective to prove the transfer of any property or to nominate an executor, a will must be declared to be valid by an order of probate by the circuit court, except that a duly executed and unrevoked will which has not been probated may be admitted as evidence of a devise if: No proceeding in circuit court concerning the succession or administration of the estate has occurred; and

(3) Either the devisee or his or her successors and assigns possessed the property devised in accordance with the provisions of the will, or the property devised was not possessed or claimed by anyone by virtue of the decedent's title during the time period for testacy proceedings.

(4) The provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of this section shall be supplemental to existing laws relating to the time limit for probate of wills, and the effect of unprobated wills, and shall not be construed to repeal § 28-40-103 and subsection (a) of this section or any other law not in direct conflict herewith.

Current official text: Arkansas General Assembly. Digitized from the UniCourt Code Improvement Commission public-domain capture. Reproduced from public-domain Arkansas statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.