Legal Question in Constitutional Law in Arkansas

Re: a will

If the truck is already your rightful property, stolen or not, it won't matter what the will says. The truck won't be part of his estate.

I'm not sure what she's suing you for. What is the $5000 for? Is that over and above the truck?

The will would have to go into probate in whatever county he was living in and/or had his property. There it would be decided who got what.

Did your son have any children? The will may or may not be valid. I would first get a look at it. If the will is not valid, she may not be entitled to anything. AR has laws of intestacy, meaning it gives the order of who receives what. Some of it even takes precedent over a will, especially with children.

I would be glad to try to help further with this, but I need some more information.

Re: a will

I'm sorry to hear about your loss.

Your son's will applies only to property he owned at the time of his death, which is called his estate. If he sold you the truck before he died then the truck is your property and is not part of his estate. Even if it is part of the estate, unless the estate has already been probated your daughter-in-law probably cannot sue for ther truck in her own name, even if she somehow is entitled to it under the will.

This answer assumes that you had paid the entire agreed price for the truck. If you were making payments over time then the rights to any outstanding payments were also part of the estate and you would have to continue paying as if your son had not died. If you failed to make such payments then the estate would have the same rights to enforce the contract as your son would have had.

One final note: in many states a case like this one would have to be brought in probate court, where the entire estate would be handled. It may not be proper for your daughter-in-law to bring this case in small claims court, especially if a probate cas has already begun. If she is the administratrix of the estate then she can sue in that capacity in other courts but probably cannot sue in her own name. You may want to consult with a local probate lawyer to get more information about this issue.

Good luck.