Arkansas

Ark. Code §28-25-102: a will is not invalidated by attestation by an interested witness, but an interested witness who is not joined by two qualified disinterested witnesses forfeits so much of the disposition to that witness as in the aggregate exceeds what the witness would have taken in intestacy. A witness is interested only if the will gives that witness a beneficial interest by way of devise.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THE PRINCIPAL (Plain-English notice prepared by Will.com; Arkansas does not codify a mandatory pre-form warning to the principal at Ark. Code §28-68-301.) As the "principal," you are giving the person whom you choose (your "agent") authority to spend your money and sell or dispose of your property during your lifetime without telling you. You do not lose your authority to act even though you have given your agent similar authority. When your agent exercises this authority, your agent must act according to any instructions you have provided or, where there are no specific instructions, in your best interest. The "Agent Acknowledgment and Certification of Duties" page at the end of this document sets out your agent's responsibilities, and your agent signs it. This Power of Attorney does not authorize your agent to make healthcare decisions for you. Have this Power of Attorney acknowledged before a notary public. Arkansas law does not condition the validity of a Power of Attorney on acknowledgment (Ark. Code §28-68-105), but three consequences follow from it. Your signature is presumed to be genuine when you acknowledge it before a notary public (Ark. Code §28-68-105). A person who accepts an acknowledged Power of Attorney in good faith may rely on it as genuine, valid, and still in effect (Ark. Code §28-68-119). And a Power of Attorney used to convey or affect real estate must be acknowledged or proved before it can be recorded with the circuit clerk (Ark. Code §18-12-501). As a matter of practice, Arkansas banks, brokerages, title companies, and recorders commonly refuse to honor a Power of Attorney that has not been acknowledged, so do not sign this Power of Attorney without completing the notary acknowledgment. This document is not the Arkansas statutory form power of attorney set out at Ark. Code §28-68-301, and the acceptance deadlines and attorney's-fee remedy that Ark. Code §28-68-120 provides against a person who refuses an acknowledged STATUTORY FORM power of attorney do not apply to it; §28-68-119 does. Your agent's authority comes from this Power of Attorney itself; if you have chosen to make it effective only when you become incapacitated, the Article on its effective date says when that authority begins. Unless this Power of Attorney provides otherwise, a person accepts appointment as your agent by exercising authority or performing duties as an agent, or by any other assertion or conduct indicating acceptance (Ark. Code §28-68-113). Arkansas law does not condition your agent's authority on a separate written acceptance, and the Agent Acknowledgment page at the end of this document is included as evidence of acceptance rather than as a legal precondition. Your agent should still sign it. You can request information from your agent at any time. If you are not satisfied with the way your agent is performing his or her duties, you should revoke this Power of Attorney immediately and notify your agent in writing of the revocation. Your agent must then immediately stop acting on your behalf. This Power of Attorney is governed by Arkansas's Uniform Power of Attorney Act, Ark. Code §§28-68-101 through 28-68-406. Your agent's authority will continue if you become incapacitated unless this document expressly states otherwise (Ark. Code §28-68-104). If your spouse is your agent, that authority terminates automatically when an action for divorce, annulment, or legal separation is filed unless this document states otherwise (Ark. Code §28-68-110). Termination of an agent's authority or of the Power of Attorney itself is not effective as to the agent or any other person who, without actual knowledge of the termination, acts in good faith under the Power of Attorney. If there is anything about this document that you do not understand, you should ask a lawyer to explain it to you.

Under Ark. Code §20-6-103(c)(2), each witness must be a competent adult who is not the agent, and at least one of the two witnesses must be a person who is not related to the principal by blood, marriage, or adoption and who would not be entitled to any portion of the principal's estate upon the principal's death under any will or codicil made by the principal existing at the time of execution or by operation of law. Ark. Code §20-6-103(c)(3) requires a witnessed advance directive to contain an attestation clause that the witnesses comply with that subsection; the declaration each witness signs and the ADDITIONAL STATEMENT OF WITNESSES on the directive are that attestation. This document also asks that neither witness be the alternate agent, which is its own recommendation rather than a requirement of the Act.