Probate & Trust Administration

Arkansas probate and trust administration can be challenging to navigate alone. Our experienced Arkansas attorneys can help you or a loved one during the probate and trust administration process.

Mark Twain once said, “You don’t know a man until you divide an estate with him.” Unfortunately, the probate process has not gotten much better in the past 100 years. The average probate lasts 7-14 months, and we have seen our fair share of families destroyed through probate.

What is the Arkansas Probate Process?

Probate is a court-supervised process to distribute assets to beneficiaries after your or a loved one’s death. Any assets owned in your name or made payable to your estate will go through probate.

The most common reasons to begin Arkansas probate are to:

• follow the instructions of a Last Will;
• administer an estate without a Last Will;
• resolve title issues on the property;
• access and collect accounts without a beneficiary; and
• pay the final debts (credit cards, taxes, etc.) of the decedent.

Ensuring that your assets’ ownership aligns with your estate planning goals is vital to avoid probate. Suppose you own assets in the name of your trust or other contracts (life insurance, annuity, retirement account) or as joint tenants with the right of survivorship. In that case, those assets will bypass the probate process in Arkansas.

Understanding Arkansas Trust Administration

If you have implemented a trust-based plan in Arkansas, McClelland Law Firm, P.A. can provide various levels of trust administration services. Our trust administration lawyers can help navigate a loved one through trust administration while adhering to your instructions outlined in the estate plan.

Our Searcy County law firm can assist your trusted appointees such as successor trustees and executors in understanding their duties and guiding them in decisions.

Some duties include:

• gathering, protecting, and managing assets;
• file all appropriate tax returns;
• pay legitimate bills;
• create sub-trusts;
• collect death benefits;
• dissolve trusts; consider disclaimers; or
• distribute assets to beneficiaries’ sub-trusts.

When working with an Arkansas estate planning attorney at McClelland Law Firm, P.A., rest assured that your loved ones are not alone. We are there for them to make sure your instructions and the law are correctly followed. Our goal is to provide your loved ones with legal guidance, peace of mind, and support when handling the trust administration process.

Work with an Experienced Arkansas Probate and Trust Administration Attorney

Our Arkansas law firm’s policy is to avoid probate if possible. We have an expert paralegal dedicated to probate to make sure your case keeps moving forward. Each case has around 40 action items to be completed during the case. It is essential to know that there can be significant differences between judges in a circuit, significantly affecting your case. However, judges are not assigned until after filing your case.

McClelland Law Firm, P.A. is here to help you and your loved ones understand probate and trust administration, estate planning, Medicaid planning, crisis planning, guardianship, and elder law. Our Benton, Sherwood, and Searcy law offices welcome you to contact us and learn how we can help meet your estate planning legal matters in Searcy County and surrounding Arkansas areas.