Arizona Probate and Intestate Succession: What Happens Without a Will (2026)

Arizona probate cases are filed in the Superior Court of the county where the deceased lived, most often the Probate Division of the Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County. Arizona is one of nine community-property states, which changes how a surviving spouse inherits without a will.

Information last verified on 2026-07-16. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

How Probate Works in Arizona

Arizona has no standalone probate court. Probate matters are a case type within the Superior Court's general jurisdiction in each county, most visibly the Probate Division calendar of the Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County, the state's largest. Arizona adopted the Uniform Probate Code, codified at Arizona Revised Statutes Title 14, and A.R.S. § 14-3301 et seq. sets out three tracks. Informal probate goes to the court's registrar rather than a judge, requires no hearing, and is used for uncontested estates admitting a will or appointing a personal representative; only specific people can file it, including a surviving spouse, adult child, parent, sibling, other heir, or a personal representative nominated in the will. Formal probate requires a judge to preside over a scheduled hearing and applies when a will's validity is disputed or when personal representative priority is contested. Supervised administration generally runs like an informal case day to day, but a judge must approve certain significant acts, such as selling estate property or making distributions.

Arizona also has a distinct summary administrative procedure under A.R.S. § 14-3973, separate from the small estate affidavit described below. If the entire estate's value, after subtracting liens and encumbrances, does not exceed the sum of the homestead allowance, exempt property, family allowance, administration costs, funeral expenses, and last-illness medical expenses, the personal representative can skip the creditor notice process entirely, immediately disburse the estate, and then file a closing statement. This procedure still goes through the court and requires a personal representative to be appointed, unlike the pure affidavit process, but it is faster than full administration. The rough eligibility floor runs under approximately $37,000, based on the homestead allowance of $18,000, exempt property of $7,000, and a family allowance of up to $12,000, though there is no fixed statutory ceiling since it depends on the estate's actual expense totals.

Arizona law also sets a floor on timing. Under A.R.S. §§ 14-3801 and 14-3803, the personal representative must publish notice to creditors once a week for three successive weeks; creditors who only receive that published notice must present a claim within 4 months of the first publication or lose it permanently, while creditors who receive actual mailed notice get the later of 4 months from publication or 60 days from mailing. If no notice is ever published, the outer limit is 2 years from the date of death. In practice, an uncontested informal probate in Arizona commonly runs 6 to 12 months, bounded below by the 4-month creditor window, while a contested or formal case commonly takes 1 to 2 years or longer. Contesting the will runs on a separate and much longer clock than the creditor window: under A.R.S. § 14-3108(3), a proceeding to contest an informally probated will may be commenced within the later of 12 months from the informal probate or 2 years from the decedent's death. If you believe an informally probated will is invalid, have an Arizona probate lawyer look at a contest in a free case evaluation before that period runs out (attorney advertising).

Intestate Succession in Arizona: Who Inherits Without a Will

Arizona's status as a community-property state fundamentally changes how intestate succession works compared with most other states, so understanding the mechanics matters more here than almost anywhere else.

Under A.R.S. § 14-2102, if the decedent leaves no surviving descendant, or if every surviving descendant is also a descendant of the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse takes the entire intestate estate, both all of the decedent's separate property and all of the decedent's one-half interest in the community property. That second half already legally belonged to the surviving spouse before the death, so the spouse ends up owning the whole of the couple's community property plus any separate property.

The result changes sharply if the decedent leaves one or more surviving descendants who are not also descendants of the surviving spouse, most commonly children from a prior relationship. In that case, the surviving spouse takes only one-half of the decedent's separate property and receives no interest at all in the decedent's one-half of the community property. That half of the community property instead passes to the decedent's descendants under A.R.S. § 14-2103, alongside the separate-property half the spouse does not receive.

There is one notable exception. If a couple held real property specifically titled as "community property with right of survivorship" under A.R.S. § 33-431, the surviving spouse automatically takes that specific property regardless of whether the decedent had children from another relationship, because survivorship-titled property passes outside of intestacy and outside of probate entirely, directly to the surviving joint owner.

When there is no surviving spouse, or for whatever share does not pass to the spouse, A.R.S. § 14-2103 sets the order: descendants inherit first, by representation; if none survive, the decedent's parents inherit equally, or all of it to a surviving parent alone; if no parent survives, the estate goes to the descendants of the parents, meaning siblings and, by representation, a deceased sibling's children; and if none of those survive, the estate splits evenly between the paternal grandparents and their descendants on one side and the maternal grandparents and their descendants on the other.

One way to make sure your property goes to the people you actually choose, rather than following Arizona's intestate succession order, is to have a valid will in place. recordinglaw.com's free Arizona Last Will and Testament Generator can help you create one, with no account required.

Small Estate and Simplified Probate in Arizona

Arizona significantly raised its small estate affidavit thresholds effective September 26, 2025, under House Bill 2116, and A.R.S. § 14-3971 now sets two separate figures depending on the type of property. For thresholds, waiting periods and forms, see our guide to the Arizona small estate affidavit.

For personal property, the threshold is $200,000, up from the prior $75,000 limit, and the affidavit becomes available 30 days after death. The successor presents the sworn affidavit directly to the bank, transfer agent, or other institution holding the asset, which is legally required to release it. For real property, the threshold is $300,000 in equity, meaning value net of any liens or encumbrances, up from the prior $100,000 limit, and the affidavit is not available until at least 6 months after death and must be filed with the court rather than simply presented to a third party. Funeral expenses, last-illness expenses, and unsecured debts must be paid first, and the process additionally requires either that any appointed personal representative has been discharged or that at least one year has passed since a closing statement was filed, if administration occurred. Real property value for this purpose is based on the county assessor's full cash value, or the unpaid lien balance for encumbered property. If the clerk has no form for the affidavit you need, you can draft it in a word processor from these conditions; PDFelement is paid software that can convert that draft to PDF and edit it, though it does not make the sworn affidavit valid by itself.

These new, higher limits apply to any affidavit filed on or after September 26, 2025, regardless of when the decedent actually died, so an estate from an earlier death can still use the increased thresholds if the affidavit itself is filed after that date.

Does Arizona Have an Estate or Inheritance Tax?

Arizona has no state estate tax, permanently repealed in 2006 under Senate Bill 1170, and no state inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax can reach an Arizona estate, with a 2026 exemption of $15 million per person, or $30 million for a married couple, under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, taxed at 40 percent above that threshold. The federal annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per person for 2025 and 2026, a separate figure worth knowing for anyone doing lifetime estate planning rather than waiting for probate.

Do You Need a Probate Attorney?

Arizona's informal probate track and small estate affidavit are built to work without an attorney for straightforward, uncontested estates. A probate attorney is worth engaging when a will's validity is disputed or personal representative priority is contested, pushing the case into formal probate, when the estate includes a business interest, when the family is blended in a way that triggers Arizona's community-property carve-out for children from another relationship, or when the estate is large enough to raise a genuine federal estate tax question. Because Arizona's community-property intestate rules turn on exactly which descendants belong to which relationship, a blended family is a particularly common reason to get a specific answer rather than rely on the general rule.

For a look at how these same questions play out in other states, see Probate by State.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about probate and intestate succession in Arizona as of the verification date above. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is not a substitute for advice from a probate attorney licensed in Arizona, particularly for a contested estate, a business interest, a blended family, or an estate large enough to raise a federal estate tax question. Figures, thresholds, and program details change; verify current details directly with the Arizona Superior Court or the Arizona Legislature before relying on any figure here.

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Last updated: 2026-07-16. Figures and statutes cited reflect their in-force version as of 2026-07-16.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if you die without a will in Arizona?

You die intestate, and A.R.S. § 14-2102 decides who inherits. A surviving spouse takes the entire estate if all surviving children are shared with the spouse, but only half of the separate property, and none of the decedent's community property share, if any surviving child is from another relationship.

Does Arizona have an inheritance tax?

No. Arizona has no state inheritance tax and no state estate tax, which was repealed in 2006. Only the federal estate tax, with a $15 million per-person exemption in 2026, can apply.

What is Arizona's small estate threshold?

Under A.R.S. § 14-3971, as increased effective September 26, 2025, Arizona's affidavit covers personal property up to $200,000, available 30 days after death, and real property equity up to $300,000, available 6 months after death.

Is Arizona a community property state?

Yes. Arizona is one of nine community-property states. A surviving spouse already owns half of property acquired during the marriage, so intestate succession under A.R.S. § 14-2102 only decides what happens to the decedent's half of the community property plus separate property.

Does Arizona use informal probate?

Yes. Arizona adopted the Uniform Probate Code and offers informal probate through the court registrar for uncontested estates, alongside formal probate before a judge and supervised administration under A.R.S. § 14-3301 et seq.

How long does probate take in Arizona?

An uncontested informal probate commonly runs 6 to 12 months, bounded below by the 4-month creditor claims window under A.R.S. §§ 14-3801 and 14-3803. Contested or formal cases commonly take 1 to 2 years or longer.

What happens to community property if you die without a will in Arizona?

If all surviving children are also the surviving spouse's children, the spouse takes the decedent's entire half of the community property. If a child is from another relationship, that half instead passes to the decedent's descendants under A.R.S. § 14-2103.