When a person dies in Arizona without a will, state intestacy law decides who inherits, and a court-supervised probate process transfers whatever the deceased owned in their name alone. Probate in Arizona without a will follows a fixed family hierarchy: the surviving spouse comes first, then children, then parents, then siblings, and outward from there. Assets with a named beneficiary or a surviving co-owner skip the court entirely, and smaller estates can be handled with an affidavit instead of a full case. Start to finish, a typical intestate probate runs six to twelve months.
Who Inherits Under Arizona Intestacy
Arizona’s rules turn on which family members are alive at the death and whether the deceased was married. A surviving spouse receives everything if the couple had no children together and the deceased left no children from anyone else, or if all the deceased’s children are also children of that surviving spouse.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 14-2102 – Intestate Share of Surviving Spouse
Because Arizona is a community property state, most assets acquired during the marriage are already owned equally by both spouses.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-211 – Property Acquired During Marriage as Community Property The surviving spouse’s half of community property was never the deceased’s to pass on, so it stays with the spouse automatically regardless of intestacy.
The picture shifts when the deceased left children from a different relationship. In that case, the surviving spouse takes half of the deceased’s separate property and none of the deceased’s half of the community property. The rest passes to the children.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 14-2102 – Intestate Share of Surviving Spouse Blended families are often surprised by this result, which can leave a surviving spouse co-owning the home with stepchildren.
If there is no surviving spouse, the estate moves through a strict order:
- Children, or the descendants of any child who died first
- Parents, in equal shares
- Siblings and their descendants
- Grandparents or their descendants, split between the paternal and maternal sides
That priority is set by statute.3Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 14-2103 – Heirs Other Than Surviving Spouse, Share in Estate If no qualifying relative exists at any level, the estate escheats to the state of Arizona.4Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 14-2105 – Unclaimed Estate, Passage to State
The 120-Hour Survival Rule
An heir must outlive the deceased by at least 120 hours, or five days, to inherit under intestacy. If an heir dies within that window, the law treats them as having died first, and their share passes to the next person in line.5Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 14-2104 – Requirement of Survival by 120 Hours The rule keeps the same assets from cycling through probate twice in quick succession. The only exception is when applying it would send the whole estate to the state because no other heirs exist.
Assets That Never Enter Probate
Before assuming a case has to be filed, it helps to identify what will transfer outside the court entirely. These assets pass directly to a named beneficiary or surviving co-owner whether or not there was a will:
- Real estate covered by a recorded beneficiary deed, which must be recorded before the owner dies to work6Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 33-405 – Beneficiary Deeds
- Community property held with an express right of survivorship in the deed or transfer document7Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 33-431 – Grants and Devises to Two or More Persons
- Any asset held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, which usually requires only a death certificate and an affidavit to retitle
- Retirement accounts and life insurance with a valid beneficiary designation; a blank or outdated designation can pull the asset back into the probate estate
- Bank accounts with a payable-on-death (POD) designation and brokerage accounts with a transfer-on-death (TOD) designation
Only assets held solely in the deceased’s name, with no beneficiary and no survivorship feature, actually need probate. Once the non-probate assets are set aside, the probate estate is often much smaller than families first expect, and sometimes small enough for the shortcut below.
Small-Estate Affidavit Instead of Probate
Arizona lets heirs collect property by affidavit, without opening a probate case, when the estate is under statutory limits.
For personal property such as bank accounts, vehicles, and investment accounts, the affidavit is available when the total value, minus debts and liens, does not exceed $200,000. It cannot be used until at least 30 days after the date of death.8Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 14-3971 – Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit, Affidavit of Succession to Real Property
For real estate, the affidavit is available when the total value of Arizona real property in the estate, minus liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $300,000. Value is measured by the county assessor’s full cash value rather than a private appraisal, and heirs must wait at least six months after the death before filing.8Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 14-3971 – Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit, Affidavit of Succession to Real Property
These thresholds catch a lot of estates, especially when a surviving spouse already owns half the community property outright and a mortgage keeps home equity under the real property cap. If either limit is exceeded, the full probate process applies.
Who Runs the Estate
The court appoints a personal representative, sometimes called an administrator, to handle an intestate estate. Arizona sets a priority order for who gets appointed. The surviving spouse ranks highest, followed by other heirs. If no family member steps forward, the Department of Veterans’ Services has priority for veterans’ estates, any creditor can apply 45 days after the death, and the public fiduciary is the last resort.9Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 14-3203 – Priority Among Persons Seeking Appointment as Personal Representative Someone with equal or higher priority can block a lower-priority applicant by filing their own application or nominating another person.
Arizona requires the personal representative to post a bond, which acts as insurance protecting heirs against mismanagement, unless all heirs waive it in writing. Bond is also waived when the estate qualifies for summary procedures and the surviving spouse is the applicant, and financial institutions and the public fiduciary are exempt.10Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 14-3603 – Bond Required, Exceptions Even after a waiver, any interested person can later ask the court to impose a bond if they believe estate assets are at risk.
How the Probate Case Runs
Opening the Case
The process starts with a certified death certificate from the Arizona Department of Health Services Bureau of Vital Records.11Arizona Department of Health Services. Bureau of Vital Records The applicant then files an Application for Informal Appointment of Personal Representative with the Probate Registrar in the Superior Court of the county where the deceased lived or owned property.12Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 14-3301 – Informal Probate or Appointment Proceedings, Application, Contents The application identifies the deceased, the heirs, and the estimated value of the estate, and either includes bond waivers or asks the court to set a bond.
The filing fee is $191.13Arizona Courts. Superior Court Filing Fees Once the registrar accepts the application, the court issues Letters of Appointment, the document that gives the personal representative legal authority to access bank accounts, manage property, and act on the estate’s behalf.14New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Rules of Probate Procedure, Rule 39 – Issuing and Recording Letters of Appointment
Inventory
Within 90 days of appointment, the personal representative must prepare a detailed inventory of everything the deceased owned at death, listing fair market value as of the date of death, community or separate character, and any liens.15Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 14-3706 – Duty of Personal Representative, Inventory The inventory anchors every later accounting.
Creditor Notice
The representative must publish a notice to creditors once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. Unknown creditors then have four months from first publication to file claims. Known creditors must also be mailed individual notice, and they have the later of four months from publication or 60 days from mailing.16Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 14-3801 – Notice to Creditors Missed deadlines permanently bar the claim. The representative reviews each claim and pays or rejects it from estate funds. If the estate cannot cover every valid debt, Arizona law dictates which creditors get paid first, and heirs may receive nothing.
Distribution
After the creditor claims period closes and valid debts are paid, the representative distributes what remains to the heirs in the statutory shares described above. Signed receipts from each heir document the distribution and protect the representative when the case is closed.
Taxes the Representative Must Handle
The personal representative files the deceased’s final federal income tax return (Form 1040) for the year of death, using the same rules and deadline that would have applied to the deceased.17Internal Revenue Service. File the Final Income Tax Returns of a Deceased Person If the estate itself earns more than $600 in gross income during administration, from interest, rent, or asset sales, the representative also files Form 1041.18Internal Revenue Service. File an Estate Tax Income Tax Return
Federal estate tax applies only to estates exceeding $15,000,000 in 2026, a threshold set by legislation signed in July 2025.19Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax Arizona has no separate state estate or inheritance tax, so most families owe no estate tax. Income tax obligations are the more common trap: a missed final 1040 or an overlooked 1041 for rental income during administration can generate penalties that come out of the estate or, if the representative was careless, out of their own pocket.