# Inherited Mineral Rights in Arkansas: What Heirs Should Do (2026) > Inherited mineral rights in Arkansas? Whether you need probate, the affidavit and transfer on death routes, the dormant mineral rules, royalty payment law, unclaimed money, and the traps heirs hit. From a buyer who pays for the probate. Source: https://www.berlinroyalties.com/inherited-mineral-rights/arkansas/ Publisher: Berlin Royalties, a veteran-owned oil and gas mineral and royalty buyer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, buying for its own account since 2014. Call or text 918-984-1645. License: free to quote and cite with attribution to Berlin Royalties and a link to the source URL. Inherited Minerals ยท Arkansas ## Inherited mineral rights in Arkansas: what heirs should do You inherited an interest in Arkansas, or you are about to. Here is what the state actually requires to put it in your name, what can take it away if you do nothing, where the money goes when the operator cannot find you, and the order to do things in. Written by a mineral buyer who pays for the probate on a committed deal, so read it with that in mind. [Free Paperwork Review](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/shoebox/) [Text a Check Stub](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/text-your-check/) Updated November 2026. Written by [Stephen Clayman](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/stephen-clayman/), career landman and owner of Berlin Royalties. Statutes were checked against primary sources; this is general information from a buyer, not legal advice, and the state-specific details are the reason to call a Arkansas attorney, not a substitute for one. ## Do I have to probate inherited mineral rights in Arkansas? Not always. Arkansas lets an estate of $100,000 or less, including real property, pass by a small estate affidavit filed with the probate clerk 45 days after death, with newspaper publication. Larger estates need a probate. An Arkansas affidavit of heirship is evidence only and does not transfer title, and Arkansas has no dormant mineral act. ## How title to Arkansas minerals passes at death An affidavit of heirship can be recorded in the deed records, but it is presumptive evidence only and does not transfer title; title insurers often require a probate or a quiet title action behind it. The practical shortcut is the small estate under Ark. Code 28-41-101: an estate of $100,000 or less after homestead and allowances, filed with the probate clerk 45 days after death. Real property is included, with two weeks of newspaper publication required. Estates above that go through probate, and a nonresident decedent's Arkansas minerals go through an ancillary administration in the county where they sit. A beneficiary deed, below, avoids all of it for the next generation. ## Can a transfer on death deed cover Arkansas minerals? Yes. Arkansas calls it a beneficiary deed, Ark. Code 18-12-608. It must be recorded before death, and a revocation must be recorded before death to be effective. No mineral exclusion. ## Can my Arkansas mineral rights lapse if nobody uses them? No. A severed mineral interest in Arkansas is a perpetual corporeal interest that cannot be abandoned or lost by nonuse. The risk in Arkansas is the property tax, below, not a lapse statute. ## How Arkansas royalties must be paid, and what late payment costs the operator Ark. Code 15-74-601: a first purchaser pays within six months of first sale and then within 60 days after the month of sale, with 12 percent per year on late amounts. Under 15-74-604 a lease operator who fails to pay within 180 days after marketing owes 12 percent, and 15-74-602 adds 14 percent where proceeds are willfully withheld. Our [letter generator](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/letter-generator/?type=demand) writes the statutory demand, and the full state table is on [royalty payment laws by state](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/royalty-payment-laws/). ## Where the money goes when the operator cannot find the heirs Search [Arkansas Auditor of State unclaimed property](https://auditor.ar.gov) under the decedent's name and every spelling of it. Mineral proceeds are abandoned after three years. Arkansas requires holders to report mineral proceeds pay-to-current with the well name and the section, township and range, which makes an Arkansas claim unusually easy to match to a tract. Our [unclaimed royalties](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/unclaimed-royalties/) hub covers the search in every state we buy in, and we run it free whether or not you sell. ## Taxes on inherited Arkansas minerals Arkansas repealed its estate tax for deaths on or after January 1, 2005 and has no inheritance tax. Inherited minerals take a federal stepped-up basis. The arithmetic is on our [capital gains and depletion page](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/mineral-rights-capital-gains-tax/), and a [date-of-death appraisal](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/mineral-appraisals/) is what documents the basis. ## The Arkansas traps heirs actually hit - Producing minerals are assessed ad valorem at market value every January 1. An inherited interest nobody knows about accrues unpaid taxes, and unpaid taxes end in a tax sale. Check the county assessor before anything else. - In the Smackover counties, the brine and lithium rights may travel with the minerals or may have been severed separately, and the deed language decides. Guessing is how families sign away the second asset. - The small estate affidavit requires publication. Skipping it leaves a cloud that a buyer's examiner will find. ## What to do, in order - **Gather the paper.** A check stub, a 1099, a division order, or a deed. Any one is enough to start; our [shoebox review](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/shoebox/) inventories a box of it from photographs, free. - **Confirm what the decedent owned** in the county records of every Arkansas county involved. Our page on [finding out whether you own mineral rights](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/find-out-if-you-own-mineral-rights/) lists the free searches. - **Notify every operator** in writing with the death certificate and ask what is in suspense. The [letter generator](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/letter-generator/?type=death) writes it. - **Pick the title path above** with a Arkansas attorney. If you are selling to us, we coordinate it and pay for it. - **Establish the date-of-death value** before anyone sells. - **Search unclaimed property** in Arkansas and every other state the decedent owned in. - **Decide together.** One deed from the estate is cleaner than six from the heirs later; see [settling the estate](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/settle-the-estate/) and [selling your share](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/sell-your-share/). And read [when not to sell](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/when-not-to-sell/) first. The printable version of that list, with the title path for every state, is our [executor's checklist for mineral rights](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/executor-mineral-checklist/). ### Inherited Arkansas minerals and not sure what they are? Send a photo of whatever you have. We will tell you what the family owns, what it pays, whether any money is sitting in suspense or with the state, what the title needs, and what it is worth, in writing and with the reasoning shown. Free, and the answer is the same whether or not you sell. [Get a Free Valuation](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/free-valuation/) [Text a Check Stub](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/text-your-check/) Or call or text [918-984-1645](tel:9189841645) and ask for Stephen. ## Questions Arkansas heirs ask ### Does an Arkansas affidavit of heirship transfer mineral rights? No. It is recorded as evidence of who the heirs are, but it does not convey title. A small estate affidavit under Ark. Code 28-41-101, where the estate is $100,000 or less, or a probate, is what moves the interest. ### Can I lose Arkansas minerals by not using them? Not to a dormant mineral act; Arkansas has none. You can lose them to a tax sale if producing minerals are assessed and the taxes go unpaid. ### Do inherited Smackover minerals include the lithium? Sometimes. Brine rights follow the deed language, and the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission's 2.5 percent lithium royalty applies inside approved brine units. We read the instruments before anyone talks price. ## Related - [Sell Arkansas mineral rights](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/arkansas/), the state page, with the counties and formations - [Inherited mineral rights](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/inherited-mineral-rights/), the general guide, and [how to transfer inherited minerals](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/transfer-inherited-minerals/) - [The executor's checklist](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/executor-mineral-checklist/) and [settling the estate](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/settle-the-estate/) - [For attorneys, CPAs, and trust officers](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/professionals/) - [Who buys mineral rights in Arkansas](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/who-buys-mineral-rights/arkansas/) - [Unclaimed royalties](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/unclaimed-royalties/) and [royalty payment laws by state](https://www.berlinroyalties.com/royalty-payment-laws/)