Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Arkansas

Re: sister passed away with no will

The general law of descedents estates in AR is the heir(s) to the estate are the spouse and children, then the parents, then the siblings.

To take care of the estate, you will need to identify all the assets and any debts or bills that she may have had.

You may need to open an estate to be able to distribute her assets. What she has and what she owes will help determine that. By opening an estate, I mean filing a document with the court requesting to open and asking the court to appoint a particular person as the administrator. You or your brother could be appointed, even though out off state, if no objection from anyone who could possibly be entitled to any of your sisters' assets.

Depending on the size of the estate (whether over or under $100,000.00 in value) the distribution could occur soon or it may take a few months.

This is a quick answer to your question. To handle this, you may want to consider retaining an attorney in AR. Most of what needs to be done can likely be done by your attorney. Most of what he or she will do can be done by mail.

Please let me know if you have any further questions or need any help with this.

Re: sister passed away with no will

You will have to use an Arkansas lawyer, as that is what law controls since that's where she resided when she passed away.

If nobody else has a claim or disputes the transfer of the assets to you two, it shouldn't be too hard, but there may be debts that have to be paid first before you have a claim to any assets. Try contacting the Arkansas State Bar for a referral to an estate planning/probate attorney for assistance, or see who from AR responds here.