Settling an estate in Arizona
An executor in Arizona has to work through the Superior Court and a long list of tasks that have nothing to do with the court. This page sets out what Arizona law actually requires at each step, with the section it comes from and the date we last read it.
- Probate court
- Superior Court
- Small-estate shortcut
- Two separate caps, and both must be met: personal property up to $200,000, real property up to $300,000. The caps do not add together — meeting one and not the other is not enough.
- Creditor claim period
- 4 months
- Typical timeline
- 6–18 months
- State death tax
- None — no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax
- Community property
- Yes — this changes the answer, so characterise each asset before dividing anything.
Immediate
Obtain certified death certificates
Arizona sets eligibility by rule rather than in the statute, so who exactly qualifies is not something you can read off the law — but one part is worth knowing. Under A.R.S. § 36-324 a local registrar, a deputy local registrar or the state registrar issues certified copies to any person determined eligible under the rules, and separately and expressly to a licensed funeral director or their designee, on written or in-person request, delivered by mail or in person. That is why in Arizona the funeral home is very often the fastest route to certified copies — ask them first. Note also that the certified copy excludes the portion of the certificate containing medical information, so if you need cause of death for an insurance claim, say so when ordering. Two practical notes. The funeral director usually orders the first batch as part of their service, so ask them how many they have already requested before you order more — families routinely pay twice. And order more than you think: banks, insurers and transfer agents often keep the copy you give them rather than returning it. Confirm the current fee on the state’s own page at the moment you order, because fees change without notice.
A.R.S. § 36-324·last read 2026-08-18
Locate the will (or confirm there is none)
In Arizona the custodian’s duty does not start on its own — it starts when someone asks. Under A.R.S. § 14-2516, after the death and on request of an interested person, whoever has custody of the will must deliver it with reasonable promptness to a person able to secure its probate, or if none is known, to an appropriate court. There is no fixed number of days and no automatic trigger, so if a relative or a lawyer is holding the will and nothing is happening, the first step is to make a written request. A person who wilfully fails to deliver is liable to anyone aggrieved for the damages caused, and a person who refuses after a court has ordered delivery is subject to penalty for Contempt of Court. If you are an heir and you believe someone is sitting on the will, check whether the clock is even running: in several states the custodian’s duty is triggered only when an interested person asks, so until you ask, nothing is late. Put the request in writing and keep a dated copy — it is what turns a delay into a breach of duty.
A.R.S. § 14-2516·last read 2026-08-18
Short-term
Claim the family allowances you are entitled to
Arizona reverses the usual rule, and that is the thing to check before counting on the money. Under A.R.S. § 14-2402 a surviving spouse takes a homestead allowance of $18,000, or where there is no spouse the minor and dependent children share that figure between them. It is exempt from and has priority over every claim against the estate except the expenses of administration. But subsection C makes it chargeable against any benefit or share passing to the same person by the will, by a nonprobate transfer under § 14-6101, or by intestate succession, unless the will provides otherwise. So in Arizona it normally comes out of the inheritance rather than on top of it, which is the opposite of Virginia and the District. Two things do stack. Section 14-2403 gives a further $7,000, over and above any security interest, in household furniture, automobiles, furnishings, appliances and personal effects, expressly in addition to the homestead allowance. And § 14-2404 allows a reasonable sum for maintenance during administration, which cannot run beyond one year if the estate is inadequate to discharge allowed claims.
A.R.S. §§ 14-2402, 14-2403, 14-2404·last read 2026-08-20
Notify beneficiaries and keep them informed
Arizona gives you thirty days from appointment, and the list of who must be told is wider than people assume. Under A.R.S. § 14-3705 every personal representative except a special administrator must give information of the appointment to the heirs and devisees — and that includes the devisees named in any will mentioned in the application, even where you were appointed on the assumption there was no will. Delivery is by first-class mail to each person whose address is reasonably available to you. Two exceptions worth knowing: you need not notify anyone already given notice of a formal proceeding, and you need not notify someone a court has already adjudicated to have no interest in the estate. Getting this wrong rarely costs money directly — it stalls the case. An estate that cannot show notice was properly given can be held open, and the appointment itself can be reopened, so keep proof of what you sent, to whom, and on what date.
A.R.S. § 14-3705·last read 2026-08-18
Determine if probate is required
Arizona runs two separate affidavit routes with different limits, different waiting periods and different filing places — you may need both. Personal property: up to $200,000 (raised by HB 2116 effective 26 September 2025), 30 days after the death, and the affidavit is not filed with the court — you present it directly to the bank or broker with a certified death certificate. Real property: up to $300,000 net assessed value, at least six months after the death, filed with the Superior Court and then recorded with the county recorder. Do not assume one affidavit covers both.
Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 14-3971, 14-3972·last read 2026-08-19
Legal Process
File a petition with the probate court
In Arizona most estates never see a judge. Under A.R.S. § 14-3302 you apply for Informal Probate and the Registrar — not a judge, and with no hearing — issues a written statement of informal probate once the findings in § 14-3303 are made. There is one timing rule people trip on: at least 120 hours (five days) must have elapsed since the death before the registrar can act, so the very first days cannot be used. Two reassurances built into the statute: informal probate is conclusive as to everyone unless and until a formal testacy proceeding supersedes it, and no defect in the application or the procedure makes the probate void. Ask for the registrar, not for a hearing date. One practical point: the word your state uses for this office is not decoration — asking for the wrong one wastes a trip and a phone call. And where a registrar or clerk can grant it, no judge is involved and no hearing is set, so nothing in the system will prompt you: the case moves only when you file.
A.R.S. § 14-3302·last read 2026-08-18
Inventory all assets and debts
Arizona gives you ninety days and asks for something only community-property states need. Under A.R.S. § 14-3706 a personal representative must within 90 days of appointment prepare an inventory listing the property in reasonable detail. For each item it shows the fair market value at the date of death, any encumbrance, and whether the property is community or separate. The duty does not fall on a special administrator, or on a successor where it was already done. That last column is the Arizona-specific work and it drives who inherits what. Filing is optional: you may file the original with the court and send copies only to those who ask — but if you do not file it, you must deliver or mail a copy to every heir in an intestate estate, or to every devisee where a will was probated. Two things that apply everywhere. Values are as of the date of death, not today — a house that has risen since is still listed at what it was worth then. And the inventory is the document everything else is measured against: fees, bond, and every later distribution. It is also what beneficiaries most often challenge, so take the time to get it right rather than filing a rough figure you intend to fix later.
A.R.S. § 14-3706·last read 2026-08-18
Publish notice to creditors
Arizona makes publication mandatory and runs two clocks at once. Under A.R.S. § 14-3801 the personal representative shall, at the time of appointment, publish a notice once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, giving the appointment and your address and telling creditors to present claims within four months of the first publication or be forever barred. Separately you must give written notice by mail to all known creditors. A creditor who gets that letter has four months from the publication or sixty days from the mailing, whichever is later — so writing to a creditor late extends their time rather than shortening it. Send the letters early. Two things to hold on to. Publication is what starts the clock in most states, so an estate where nobody published can stay exposed to claims far longer than the family expects. And a known creditor usually has to be told directly — publication alone does not bind someone whose name and address you could reasonably have found.
A.R.S. § 14-3801·last read 2026-08-18
Administration
Identify and close digital accounts
Arizona has adopted the revised uniform act, and the practical rule is narrower than families expect. Under A.R.S. § 14-13107 the content of emails and messages is disclosed only if the deceased person consented to disclosure or a court directs it. Even then you must give the provider four things. A written request. A certified copy of the death certificate. A certified copy of the letters testamentary, a Small-estate Affidavit, or a court order. And a copy of the will, trust or power of attorney evidencing that consent — unless the person set their wishes using the provider’s own online tool. Note the small-estate affidavit: if you avoided probate under Arizona’s affidavit procedure you can still use it here, which is easy to miss. The rule to hold on to everywhere: without consent you generally get only the catalogue — who was contacted, when, and at what address — not what was actually said. “The executor can get into the accounts“ is not what these laws do. And if you are advising someone still living, the provider’s own online tool is where this should be set, because it beats the will.
A.R.S. § 14-13107·last read 2026-08-18
Financial Settlement
Pay valid debts and expenses
Arizona follows the Uniform Probate Code order exactly, and the order binds only where the assets are insufficient to pay everything — A.R.S. § 14-3805 opens with that condition. The ranking is. (1) Costs and expenses of administration. (2) Reasonable funeral expenses. (3) Debts and taxes with preference under federal law. (4) Reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness, including paying those who attended the person. (5) Debts and taxes with preference under Arizona law. (6) All other claims. Two rules people miss: there is no preference within a class, and a debt that is already due does not outrank one that is not yet due — so do not pay the shouting creditor first. Paying a lower-ranked debt before a higher-ranked one can leave you personally liable for the difference. So where the estate may not cover everything, stop before paying anything beyond the funeral and administration costs, and take advice.
A.R.S. § 14-3805·last read 2026-08-27
File required tax returns
Arizona has no estate tax and no inheritance tax, and the simplest evidence is that the chapter is no longer in the statute book at all. Title 42 of the Arizona Revised Statutes, headed Taxation, now runs from chapter 1 through chapter 17 — administration, taxpayer protection, luxury privilege tax, transaction privilege and excise taxes, local excise taxes, and then property tax and its valuation, appeals and levy chapters. There is no death tax chapter among them; the former estate tax provisions at A.R.S. § 42-4051 and following were repealed and removed. So nothing is owed to Arizona on a death, and there is no Arizona estate tax return. Arizona does tax income, so an estate that earns income while it is being administered will have an Arizona fiduciary return to file. Ask the Department of Revenue for the current form and threshold. None of that removes the federal returns: the deceased’s final income tax return, and Form 1041 for income the estate itself earns during administration. And it does not help with property in another state, which may carry that state’s own death tax and its own filing.
A.R.S. Title 42 (no death tax chapter)·last read 2026-08-25
Distribution
Distribute assets to heirs
Arizona is a community property state and that changes the answer completely, so work out which assets are community and which are separate before anything else. Under A.R.S. § 14-2102, if there are no children, or every child is also the surviving spouse’s, the spouse takes the entire intestate estate — both the separate property and the deceased’s half of the community property. But if one or more children are not the spouse’s, the spouse takes only one half of the separate property and no interest at all in the deceased’s half of the community property. That community half goes entirely to the children. It is a sharp cliff: one child from an earlier relationship can move a very large sum. Arizona also shuts out an absent parent, and it goes further than most by shutting out that parent’s relatives too. Under A.R.S. § 14-2114(C), inheritance from or through a child by either natural parent — OR BY THAT PARENT’S KINDRED — is precluded unless the parent openly treated the child as their natural child and did not refuse to support them. There is no time period to satisfy and no court finding required by the section itself: the test is open treatment plus not refusing support. Where a child dies without a spouse or descendants and the question is which side of the family takes, that clause can decide the whole estate. The same section settles who counts as a child in the first place. Under § 14-2114(A) a person is the child of their natural parents “regardless of their marital status”, so a child born outside marriage inherits on the same footing as any other. Under § 14-2114(B) an adopted person is the child of the adopting parents “and not of the natural parents” — with one exception aimed squarely at the second-marriage case above. Where the adopting parent is the spouse of a natural parent, the adoption “has no effect on the relationship between the child and that natural parent or on the right of the child or a descendant of the child to inherit from or through the other natural parent.” A stepparent adoption therefore adds a parent without cutting off either birth parent. A stepchild who was never adopted is a different matter: § 14-2103 never reaches stepchildren, and under § 14-2105 an estate with nobody qualified to claim it passes to the state rather than to them. These shares apply only where there is no valid will — a will overrides all of it. And do not distribute anything until the creditor period has run and the debts are settled: a representative who pays the family early can be personally liable for what is still owing.
A.R.S. §§ 14-2102, 14-2103, 14-2105, 14-2114·last read 2026-09-09
Close Estate
File a final accounting and close the estate
Arizona lets you close without a court hearing in most estates. Under A.R.S. § 14-3933, unless the court has ordered otherwise and unless the estate is in supervised administration, the personal representative may close by filing a Verified Statement no earlier than four months after the original appointment. The statement must say three things. That the time limit for creditors’ claims has expired. That the estate has been fully administered — claims paid or settled, administration expenses and death taxes dealt with, assets distributed to the people entitled. And that a copy has been sent to all distributees and to every creditor or claimant still known to be owed. If any claim is still undischarged you must say so and explain what arrangements were made. Closing is what ends your exposure, so do not simply stop when the money runs out — an estate left open leaves the representative personally on the hook. And filing a closing statement is not the same as being discharged. In several states the appointment only terminates some months later, if nobody objects. Keep the file, the receipts and the proof of what you sent until then.
A.R.S. § 14-3933·last read 2026-08-18
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EstateMate is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. Every note above cites the section it came from and the date it was last read, so you can check it yourself. Statutes change, and the right answer can turn on facts specific to your family — when something looks close to the line, talk to a Arizona probate attorney.