Publication
Newspaper pricing is commercial rather than a statewide fee.
Arizona court costs
Arizona probate filing cost: $149
Opening a probate case costs $149. The personal-property affidavit route does not require a court filing.
$149 is the amount the statute states. Sources reviewed August 7, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.
What the statute charges
Every line below is computed from the statutory schedule quoted at the end of this page. These are court charges only. They are not an estimate of the total cost of settling an estate.
Application for informal probate or informal appointment
| Charge | $25,000 estate | $100,000 estate | $400,000 estate | $1,000,000 estate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial case filing fee | $149 | $149 | $149 | $149 |
| Total from this schedule | $149 | $149 | $149 | $149 |
Not included in this total
- County-specific surcharges
- Certified copies
- Publication of notice
Section 12-284 states the initial case filing fee. Superior courts collect additional surcharges that this section does not enumerate, so confirm the total with the clerk.
Source: A.R.S. § 12-284, Arizona State Legislature. Edition/currentness: Publisher edition or effective date not stated. Verified September 15, 2026.
What the $149 is made of
Arizona’s $149 figure is a single statutory charge, not a total assembled from parts. It is shown here with its own provision named, and with the neighbouring charges the Arizona schedule prices separately — the ones a filer is most likely to add to it by mistake, or to be quoted alongside it.
- $149Informal probate application, Superior Court fee schedule
Added together, these come to $149 — the figure this page headlines. If any component changed in the source, the sum would no longer match, and the build withholds the total rather than publishing a number whose parts no longer add up.
Charges the $149 figure leaves out
These amounts appear in or beside the same Arizona schedule, so a reader can easily mistake one for part of the fee. Each is held out of the figure above for the specific reason given, which is the difference between an honest total and an inflated one.
A fee for a different filing
- Other initial-case filings carrying the same flat $149 fee
- Arizona charges a single flat $149 initial-case filing fee; the eight other schedule lines (annulment, dissolution/legal separation, formal testacy, supervised administration/appoint guardian, appoint conservator, opposing petition, single-estate application under 14-3938, and unspecified domestic-relations cases) are different initial filings that carry the identical flat fee and are not additional charges on the informal-probate application this product prices.
Costs no statute prices
These are the costs executors most often meet after the filing fee. None of them has a statewide statutory amount, so this site does not estimate them.
Bond
Premiums depend on the bond amount, the estate, and the applicant.
Copies and local charges
Certified copies, recording, inventory, accounting, and county surcharges are billed separately.
Professional fees
Attorney, accountant, and appraiser fees are negotiated or court-reviewed.
State-specific limits
- This calculator evaluates the personal-property route only.
- Funeral and last-illness expenses must be paid for that route.
- A separate wage affidavit lets a surviving spouse collect up to $5,000 of unpaid compensation immediately, with no waiting period.
Use this as a starting point.
This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Probate law varies by state and county and changes over time. Verify the current rule with the court or a licensed attorney in the relevant state.
How to verify the amount for this case
Name the proceeding before asking for a total. A small-estate affidavit, an application for letters, formal administration, a later inventory or account, and a certified copy can each carry a different charge. Asking only “what does probate cost?” invites an answer for the wrong filing.
- Identify the county where the proceeding will be filed.
- Identify the exact route or petition you expect to use.
- State the value basis the schedule uses; it is not always the gross estate value.
- Ask the clerk to separate the opening fee, mandatory surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
- Record the schedule date or rule cited.
- Record whether payment is due at filing.
Keep that clerk quote with the estate record and compare it with the itemised statutory lines above. For the broader budget, use the probate cost-line guide; court filing is only one category.
What the Arizona superior court clerk charges to open a probate
Arizona puts its clerk-of-court charges in statute rather than in a court order. A.R.S. § 12-284(A) classifies the fees, and three probate entry points sit together in Class C at $149.00 each: "Petition in formal testacy or appointment proceeding," "Application for informal probate or informal appointment," and "Petition for supervised administration."
That is the price of the door, not the price of the case. Choosing the informal route over a formal testacy petition does not change what the clerk collects at filing; the saving from informal administration is in hearings, notice practice and elapsed time, not in this line.
Class B in the same section charges $100.00 for "Filing answer, notice of appearance under section 12-907 or initial appearance," and the same $100.00 for additional defendants. A contested Arizona probate therefore adds clerk fees for each appearing party, on top of the opening fee.
Because the schedule is statutory, it moves when the legislature moves it, not when a county decides to change it. The figures above are the ones printed in the section as read on the date recorded below.
Source: A.R.S. § 12-284, read from the enacting state’s own published code on 2026-09-17. Quoted wording is the statute’s; the surrounding explanation is this site’s reading of it and is not legal advice.
Arizona filing-cost map
Separate the Arizona filing charge from the estate budget
The Arizona filing record prices a proceeding, not every cost of settling an estate. This map connects the published amount or schedule to its value basis and identifies the local items that still need a clerk or court schedule.
| Question | Recorded Arizona answer | Carry into the case |
|---|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Affidavit for collection of personal property | Confirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route. |
| What property and basis count? | personal probate property only; net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. | Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately. |
| What is the amount screen? | $200,000 | Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut. |
| What is the time or deadline record? | 30 days after death; No deadline is recorded here: The creditor-notice and claim-bar deadlines have not been verified to this site's primary-source standard, so no number is published. | Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number. |
| What does the cost record establish? | $149 is the recorded statewide amount. | Ask the Superior Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings. |
| What does compensation use? | Arizona uses a reasonable-compensation standard rather than a fixed percentage. The relevant base is the estate accounting. | Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate. |
Filing record
What the Arizona cost record can answer
Application for informal probate or informal appointment
Basis: estate-value. Status: operative. Section 12-284 states the initial case filing fee. Superior courts collect additional surcharges that this section does not enumerate, so confirm the total with the clerk.
- Initial case filing fee $149
Case-file context
Keep the Arizona answer with its neighboring conditions
A route answer is easier to use when the facts that can change it stay in the same record. These are the reviewed Arizona descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.
Route context
Arizona has separate affidavit procedures for personal and real property, with different limits and waiting periods.
The personal-property route uses a $200,000 ceiling after 30 days, measured after liens and encumbrances. A separate real-property affidavit uses a $300,000 ceiling after six months.
Compensation context
Arizona uses a reasonable-compensation standard rather than a fixed percentage.
Arizona uses a reasonable-compensation standard rather than a fixed percentage. The relevant base is the estate accounting.
Deadline context
No deadline is recorded here: The creditor-notice and claim-bar deadlines have not been verified to this site's primary-source standard, so no number is published.
- This calculator evaluates the personal-property route only.
- Funeral and last-illness expenses must be paid for that route.
- A separate wage affidavit lets a surviving spouse collect up to $5,000 of unpaid compensation immediately, with no waiting period.
Court-material note: Arizona publishes no single statewide small-estate affidavit form. Superior court clerks in each county publish their own affidavit packets built on A.R.S. § 14-3971. County surcharges are added to the statutory filing fee, so the published statewide schedule is the figure to confirm locally.
Arithmetic illustration
See the Arizona amount screen without mistaking it for a result
The recorded Arizona ceiling is $200,000, and it is tested against personal probate property only, on a basis this site records as net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. Counted that way, $150,000 sits below the Arizona figure and $250,000 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what Arizona counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.
| Illustrative counted amount | Comparison to the Arizona ceiling | What it does not decide |
|---|---|---|
| $150,000 | Below $200,000 | Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties |
| $250,000 | Above $200,000 | Whether another statutory route or court process applies |
Next evidence to collect
Name the proceeding and ask for mandatory surcharges, copies, publication, and later filings separately.
- Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
- Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
- Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
- Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.
Official material
- Arizona court filing feesArizona Judicial Branch
- Arizona Self-Service CenterArizona Judicial Branch
Arizona publishes no single statewide small-estate affidavit form. Superior court clerks in each county publish their own affidavit packets built on A.R.S. § 14-3971.
County surcharges are added to the statutory filing fee, so the published statewide schedule is the figure to confirm locally.
Source trail
Records used by this Arizona map
- A.R.S. § 14-3971Arizona Revised Statutes, Small Estates; reviewed August 7, 2026
- A.R.S. § 12-284Arizona Revised Statutes, Superior Court Fees; reviewed August 7, 2026
- A.R.S. § 14-3719Arizona Revised Statutes, Personal Representative Compensation; reviewed August 7, 2026
Filing-cost source
Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.
A.R.S. § 12-284
Reviewed source note: C Initial case filing fee Filing petition for annulment $ 149.00 Filing for dissolution/legal separation petition 149.00 Petition in formal testacy or appointment proceeding 149.00 Application for informal probate or informal appointment 149.00