If you have been nominated in someone's Will to be the Personal Representative, also known as the Executor or Executrix, you need to know your duties.  You will need to work with an Estate Attorney to accomplish the following:

1. You will have to take possession of and protect the real and personal property, excepting the homestead and real estate specifically given by the will.


2. Keep real estate and personal property properly insured.


3. Receive the rents and payments due and collect interest, dividends and other income.


4. Make proper demand for and collect all the debts, claims and notes due.


5. Assist in determining the names, ages, residences and degree of relationship of all possible heirs.


6. Litigate or settle any pending lawsuits in which the deceased had an interest.


7. Keep the property of the estate in good repair.


8. Keep surplus funds invested.


9. Obey and perform all the orders of the court.


10. Determine and pay federal and state estate taxes and federal and state income taxes.


11. Pay the valid claims of creditors and, if necessary, sell the estate property to do so.


12. Distribute the remaining assets to the proper heirs.

If you have been nominated in someone's Will to be the Personal Representative or executor of estate, please call me and I will be glad to assist you.

Generally, an interested person may contest the probate of a will, or any part of the
will by:
(1) stating in writing the grounds for objection; and
(2) filing the objection in the court;

The objection must be filed within one of the following time periods:
(1) if the ground is discovery of another will, the objection must be
filed before the final distribution has been ordered and within the
time pursuant to A.C.A. § 28-40-103; or
(2) if the contest is on any other ground, then the objection must be
filed either:
(a) at or before the time of hearing on the petition for probate,
if that person has been given notice other than by
publication; or
(b) within 3 months after the date of the first publication of the
notice of the notice of the admission of the will to probate;
or
(c) within 3 months after the first publication of notice of the
probate or within 45 days after a copy of the notice was
served upon him whichever is later; or
(d) within 3 years after the admission of the will to probate if
not barred by any of the above provisions.
Ark. Code Ann. § 28-40-113 (Repl. 2004); Seymour v. Biehslich, 371 Ark. 359, 266 S.W.3d 722 (2007)(trial court did not err in finding that appellant contested the will, even though she claimed she did not, thus triggering a no-contest clause in the will); West v. Williams, 355 Ark. 148 (2003); Judkins v. Hoover, 351 Ark. 552 (2003)(Subsection “b” 9/09 I-24 did not apply when court considered a challenge to decedent’s will after a hearing at which it orally announced its decision to admit the will to probate because no written order had been filed); Barrera v. Vanpelt, 332 Ark. 482 (1998)(defining interested persons); Wells v. Estate of Wells, 325 Ark. 16 (1996)(party contesting validity of will has burden of proving by a preponderance that the testator lacked mental capacity or acted under undue influence); Pickens & Ashman v. Black, 316 Ark. 499 (1994); Hardie v. Estate of Davis, 312 Ark 189 (1993)(defining interested persons); Spicer v. Spicer, 55 Ark. App. 267 (1996).

If contest is of a foreign will admitted into Arkansas probate, the same
time frame applies as to a resident, or 45 days after the court order of the
domiciliary state setting aside the probate within that State.

If you have a questions about a loved one's Will or you would like an opinion about the operation of your own Will, please contact me.  Remember an intial consultation is free.

Article 2, § 22 of the Arkansas Constitution of 1874 provides as follows:

The right of property is before and higher than any constitutional sanction; and private property shall not be taken, appropriated or damaged for public use, without just compensation therefore. It has been stated that the "power of the Legislature to delegate to a public agency power of condemnation of private property for public use is supreme." Fulton Ferry & Bridge Co. v. Blackwood, 173 Ark. 645, 659, 293 S.W. 2 (1927). See also, Yates v. Sturgis, 311 Ark. 618, 846 S.W.2d 633 (1993). It has also been held, however, that "statutes that relate to the power of eminent domain should be strictly construed in favor of the landowner." Pfeifer v. City of Little Rock, 346 Ark. 449, 57 S.W.3d 714 (2001), citing Columbia County Rural Development Authority v. Hudgens, 283 Ark. 415, 678 S.W.2d 324 (1984). The general power of municipalities to exercise eminent domain is set out at A.C.A. § 18-15-301, originally adopted in 1875. It provides in pertinent part as follows:

(a)(1) The right and power of eminent domain is conferred upon municipal corporations to enter upon, take, and condemn private property for the construction of wharves, levees, parks, squares, market places, or other lawful purposes.

A.C.A. § 18-15-301(a)(1) (Repl. 2003). Although the words "other lawful purposes" may appear expansive, the Arkansas Supreme Court has stated that it has not given a "broad and liberal construction to this section," [City of Little Rock v. Raines, 241 Ark. 1071, 411 S.W.2d 486 (1967) (citing City of Osceola v. Whistle, 241 Ark. 604, 110 S.W.2d 393 (1966))] and that "this clause cannot . . . be extended beyond the municipal purposes provided for in the Act of March 9, 1875 of which the clause is a part." 241 Ark. at 1082.

If you are facing a taking of your property through eminent domain, it is imperative that you act quickly to learn and secure your rights as a landowner, because the right of property does have its limitations, even in the U.S.A.