§ 2-6-207 — Proof; lost or destroyed will; court may restrain personal representatives pending disposition

(a) Whenever any will is lost or destroyed, the district
court shall take proof of the execution and validity thereof to
establish the same. All the testimony shall be reduced to
writing and signed by the witnesses.
(b) No will shall be proved as a lost or destroyed will
unless it is proved to have been in existence at the time of
death of the testator, or is shown to have been fraudulently
destroyed in the lifetime of the testator, nor unless its
provisions are clearly and distinctly proved by at least two (2)
credible witnesses.
(c) When a lost will is established, the provisions
thereof shall be distinctly stated and certified by the judge,
under his hand and the seal of the court, and the certificate
shall be filed and recorded as other wills are filed and
recorded, and letters testamentary or of administration with the
will annexed, shall be issued thereon in the same manner as upon
wills produced and duly proved.
(d) If before or during the pendency of an application to
prove a lost or destroyed will, letters of administration are
granted on the estate of the testator or letters testamentary of
any previous will of the testator are granted, the court may
restrain the personal representatives so appointed from any acts
or proceedings which would be injurious to the legatees or
devisees claiming under the lost or destroyed will.