My Parent Died in Arizona. What Do I Do Now?

1. Look for a Will or Trust

Start by determining whether your parent left estate planning documents.

Look for an original will, trust, amendments to the trust, beneficiary deeds, powers of attorney, and other estate planning documents.

A will and a trust work differently after death. A will may identify who should inherit property and nominate someone to serve as personal representative, but a will does not necessarily avoid probate.

A properly funded trust may allow the successor trustee to administer assets held in the trust without probate.

Sometimes families find both a will and a trust. That is not unusual. The important question is what each document does and which assets are actually governed by it.

2. Don't Assume That Being Named in the Will Gives You Immediate Authority

Suppose your father's will says: “I nominate my daughter to serve as personal representative of my estate.”

That nomination is important, but it does not necessarily mean the daughter can immediately walk into a bank, withdraw money from an account titled solely in her father's name, or sell his house.

When probate is required, the court appointment establishes the personal representative's legal authority to administer probate assets.

Arizona law gives priority for appointment first to a person given priority under a probated will, followed by other categories of people specified by statute.

Until you know what authority you actually have, be cautious about transferring or distributing estate property.

3. Make a List of Your Parent's Assets

You do not need perfect information at the beginning. Start with what you know.

The list might include a house, condominium, land, or other real estate; checking and savings accounts; investment and brokerage accounts; retirement accounts; life insurance; vehicles; business interests; valuable personal property; safe-deposit boxes; and money owed to your parent.

For each significant asset, try to determine how it is titled and whether a beneficiary is named. That information can be more important than the value of the asset when determining whether probate is necessary.

4. Find Out How the House Is Titled

For many Arizona families, the house is the largest asset and the reason they eventually discover that legal assistance is needed.

If the home was owned by a trust, passed through a valid beneficiary deed, or was held in a form of ownership that provides survivorship rights, probate may not be necessary to transfer that property.

But if your parent owned the house individually, additional legal steps may be required. Do not assume that a will automatically transfers title to the house.

If you are unsure, obtain the deed and determine exactly how ownership is listed.

5. Identify Accounts With Beneficiaries

Some assets can pass directly to a beneficiary without probate.

Examples may include life insurance, retirement accounts, payable-on-death accounts, transfer-on-death accounts, and other assets with valid beneficiary designations.

Contact the appropriate financial institution or company and ask what documentation it requires after the owner's death. Do not assume that every account must become part of the probate estate.

6. Don't Start Giving Away Property Yet

It can be tempting to begin dividing personal belongings immediately.

One child takes Dad's tools. Another takes the furniture. Someone wants the car. Family members may believe everyone agrees about what should happen.

But before significant estate property is distributed, it is important to determine who has legal authority over the property and whether the estate has obligations that must be addressed.

The personal representative of an Arizona estate has legal responsibilities associated with administering estate property. Moving too quickly can create unnecessary disputes and problems later.

7. What About the Bills and Creditors?

One of the first concerns adult children often have is whether they are personally responsible for their parent's debts.

Generally, your parent's debts do not become your debts simply because you are their child. The debts of the deceased person are obligations of the estate, not the children.

That means you ordinarily should not start paying your parent's credit cards, medical bills, loans, or other debts out of your own pocket merely because a creditor sends a bill or asks for payment.

There can be exceptions when another person has an independent legal obligation—for example, because that person jointly incurred or guaranteed a particular debt. But being someone's son or daughter, by itself, does not make you personally responsible for the parent's debts.

Not All Estate Debts Have the Same Priority

Another important reason not to start paying bills immediately is that Arizona law establishes a priority for paying claims against an estate.

If an estate does not have enough money to pay every valid claim in full, the personal representative cannot simply pay whichever creditor asks first.

Arizona law generally gives priority in the following order:

1. Costs and expenses of administering the estate. 2. Reasonable funeral expenses. 3. Debts and taxes that have preference under federal law. 4. Reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses from the decedent's last illness, including compensation for people who provided care. 5. Debts and taxes that have preference under Arizona law. 6. All other claims.

Claims within the same class generally share proportionately when there is not enough money to pay that entire class, and a lower-priority class should not be paid until higher-priority claims have been addressed.

For example, paying an ordinary credit-card bill immediately could create a problem if the estate later turns out to have insufficient assets to pay higher-priority administration expenses, funeral expenses, taxes, or final medical expenses.

The Estate Has a Process for Dealing With Creditors

Arizona probate law also provides procedures for notifying creditors, presenting claims, determining whether claims should be allowed, and paying valid claims from estate assets.

Keep bills, statements, collection notices, funeral-related records, tax documents, medical bills, and other financial correspondence together.

Do not assume that every bill must be paid simply because it arrives, and do not assume that you personally owe the bill because you are the deceased person's child.

Before paying significant estate debts—or paying a parent's debts with your own money—determine who is legally responsible for the debt, whether the claim is valid, and where it falls in Arizona's priority system.

8. What If I Can't Find a Will?

An Arizona estate can still be administered when there is no will.

When a person dies without a valid will, Arizona's intestacy laws determine who is entitled to inherit probate property.

The absence of a will can affect who has priority to serve as personal representative and who ultimately receives the estate, but it does not prevent an estate from being administered.

Do not assume that property automatically belongs to whichever relative is physically closest or was helping your parent before death.

9. Determine Whether Probate Is Actually Necessary

After identifying the assets, we can begin answering the central question: Does this estate need probate?

Some estates require probate. Others can be handled primarily through beneficiary designations, trust administration, survivorship rights, beneficiary deeds, or other non-probate transfers.

Certain qualifying Arizona estates may also be eligible for simplified small-estate affidavit procedures rather than a traditional probate proceeding.

The answer depends on the particular assets and circumstances.

10. Who Should Be the Personal Representative?

If probate is required, someone may need to be appointed personal representative.

Arizona law establishes an order of priority for appointment. A person given priority under a probated will generally comes first. The statute then establishes additional priority among surviving spouses, devisees, heirs and others.

Family agreement can make the process easier. Disagreement over who should serve can make the proceeding significantly more complicated.

If two family members are already fighting about who should control the estate, obtain legal advice before either side begins taking unilateral action.

11. What If I Live Outside Arizona?

It is common for an adult child to live in another state while a deceased parent owned property in Arizona.

Living outside Arizona does not necessarily prevent you from addressing your parent's Arizona estate.

The first questions remain the same: what Arizona property did your parent own, how was it titled, what estate planning documents exist, and is an Arizona probate proceeding necessary?

An Arizona probate attorney can help determine what must be handled here and what may be accomplished without repeatedly traveling to Arizona.

12. When Should I Contact an Arizona Probate Attorney?

You do not need to wait until you have everything organized. In fact, an early conversation can prevent you from spending weeks gathering information that may not matter.

Consider getting legal advice when your parent owned Arizona real estate; you are unsure whether probate is required; you cannot locate a will or trust; the will and trust appear inconsistent; family members disagree about the estate; someone is already taking or controlling property; there are significant debts or creditor issues; you do not know who should serve as personal representative; your parent lived elsewhere but owned property in Arizona; or you simply do not know what you are supposed to do next.

Sometimes the answer is that a probate should be opened. Sometimes there is a simpler procedure. And sometimes probate is not necessary at all.

The point of the initial review is to figure that out before you take unnecessary steps.

Your Parent Died. You Don't Have to Know the Legal Process Yet.

If your mother or father has died and you are trying to determine what happens next, start with the information you have.

You can tell us: Who died? When did they die? Did they live in Arizona? Is there a will or trust? Did they own a house? What other significant assets do you know about? Is anyone in the family disagreeing about what should happen?

From there, we can help determine whether an Arizona probate is necessary and what your next step should be.

This page provides general information about Arizona law and is not legal advice. Probate requirements depend on the facts of the particular estate.