When a loved one passes away and you and the family are contemplating how to start taking care of the estate, there are certain things that you SHOULD NOT do without first opening probate and obtaining permission from the Court through your attorney. Upon the passing of a loved one, you should never sell, auction, give away, trade, donate, or otherwise transfer ANY personal property items (even junk) belonging to the decedent without the Court’s written permission. This is a violation of Arkansas law which could subject you to penalties, fines, and court reprimand. Here, I am not talking about putting valuable assets into a secure location as described in the previous section. I am talking about taking assets and giving it to other family members, friends, Goodwill, or keeping it for yourself. Also, you should not remove any items from the estate without properly keeping a thorough written record and inventory of every item removed even if you consider it to be “junk” and you should only remove items to be kept in a secure, identified location like a storage unit. The reason being that if you sell, give away, or throw away something that you consider to be “junk” or an unwanted or low value item, another party could then content that you have misappropriated assets regardless of value or contend that your opinion that it was “junk” was incorrect and that it had significant value. This can cause legal issues with the Court whereby you could be required to reimburse the estate for the value of the items removed.
The information provided herein is for informative purposes only, it is not a complete description of Arkansas law, it is written for ease of understanding, and it does not constitute legal advice. You should seek specific legal advice for your particular case.
