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Arizona source record

Every source behind the Arizona guide

3 primary records, quoted verbatim and checked against 10 named presence or absence conditions that must pass against the live government text. Open the record, read the words the publishing body actually used, and confirm the current rule for yourself.

Last full re-fetch September 15, 2026

What each source establishes

The Arizona guide rests on the source-backed rules this site can verify for the state: which simplified procedure exists and what it limits, what the court charges, how the person administering the estate may be paid, and any statutory creditor-deadline gaps the related guide names rather than guesses through.Every published rule below is quoted in the publisher’s own words rather than summarised.

Simplified-procedure rule

A.R.S. § 14-3971

Arizona State Legislature · Publisher states no currentness signal; manual session review required · Verified August 7, 2026

1. Thirty days have elapsed since the death of the decedent. 2. Either: (a) An application or petition for the appointment of a personal representative is not pending and a personal representative has not been appointed in any jurisdiction and the value of all personal property in the decedent's estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $200,000 as valued as of the date of death.

What was published from this source

  • smallEstate.threshold = 200000
  • smallEstate.waitingDays = 30
  • eligibilitySummary mentions a separate $300,000 real-property route after six months

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • 30-day wait for personal property
  • $200,000 personal-property ceiling, measured less liens and encumbrances
  • six-month wait for real property
  • $300,000 real-property ceiling

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Court cost rule

A.R.S. § 12-284

Arizona State Legislature · Publisher states no currentness signal; manual session review required · Verified August 7, 2026

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

What was published from this source

  • filingFee.amount = 149 (initial case filing fee for informal probate or appointment)

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • $149 informal probate application fee
  • $149 formal testacy petition fee
  • clerk of the superior court fee authority

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Executor compensation rule

A.R.S. § 14-3719

Arizona State Legislature · Publisher states no currentness signal; manual session review required · Verified August 7, 2026

A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for his services.

What was published from this source

  • executorCompensation.kind = reasonable

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • section identity is 14-3719 compensation
  • reasonable compensation standard
  • personal representative subject

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Statutes read in full for Arizona

These are the Arizona provisions read end to end on the enacting state’s own site, rather than summarised from a secondary source. The middle column is what reading each one actually established for Arizona — not a restatement of the topic — and the last column records the date the wording was read, so a later amendment can be spotted by comparing dates.

CitationWhat reading it establishedRead on
A.R.S. § 12-284What the Arizona superior court clerk charges to open a probate — court and filing cost note2026-09-17
A.R.S. §§ 14-3801, 14-3803Arizona’s outer deadline is two years plus whatever is left of the notice period — creditor deadline note2026-09-17
A.R.S. § 14-3971Arizona does not have one small-estate threshold; it has three different affidavits — small estate route note2026-09-17
A.R.S. §§ 14-3719, 14-3721Arizona lets the people a representative hired ask the court to cut their own fees — representative pay note2026-09-17

Arizona source decision map

How the Arizona records fit together

The source record is most useful when each citation has a job. This map links the Arizona procedure, cost, compensation, and deadline records to the decision each one can and cannot answer.

QuestionRecorded Arizona answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Affidavit for collection of personal propertyConfirm 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?$200,000Use 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.

Decision boundary

What the Arizona source set does not silently decide

The Arizona records establish the rules listed above, but they do not turn a source citation into advice about title, family priority, tax filing, contested proceedings, or the exact clerk practice in every county. Those questions stay with the official court or a qualified adviser. The useful next step is to match the question to the citation rather than treating the longest quote as the answer to every estate problem.

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 amountComparison to the Arizona ceilingWhat it does not decide
$150,000Below $200,000Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties
$250,000Above $200,000Whether another statutory route or court process applies

Next evidence to collect

Open the quoted record for the row you rely on and check the publisher's current text before filing.

  1. Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
  2. Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
  3. Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
  4. Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.

Official material

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

What Arizona courts publish

The statutes on this page state the rule. These are the documents the court itself publishes. Every link is probed before release, and any link that stops resolving fails the build rather than staying on the page.

Limits on court material

  • 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.

Checking these Arizona records against the publishers

Every citation above links to the body that publishes it, and every quoted sentence is reproduced exactly, so a text search on the publisher’s own page should land on it. Where the publisher’s current wording differs from what is recorded here, the publisher governs and this page is wrong; naming the citation and the language you see maps the difference onto a specific condition rather than a general complaint. The full procedure, including how a source qualifies in the first place and what disqualifies one, is set out once on the methodology page instead of being restated on each of the254 state records.

These records cover the cost and route questions this site answers for Arizona. They do not cover intestate succession shares, spousal and family allowances, creditor priority, tax filing obligations, real-property transfer mechanics, or contested proceedings. Where an answer would require one of those, the site says so rather than estimating.

Return to the Arizona estate guide ·All 254 records ·Dataset overview and citation ·How sources are selected