Probate
Probate is the legal process in which your final affairs are wound up after your
death and your remaining assets are distributed to your beneficiaries. Arizona
uses the term “Personal Representative” for the person who is responsible for
managing your probate estate, but almost every other state calls that person the
“Executor”.
Following your death, the Personal Representative has many duties, but the
duties generally break down into three broad categories: (1) Collect your assets
that are subject to probate; (2) Pay any of your outstanding bills (including
estate or income taxes); and (3) Distribute any remaining assets to your
beneficiaries.
Probate proceedings are overseen by the court. Sometimes your Personal
Representative must appear before a judge to be appointed, but often the
appointment can be made without a court appearance by simply filing documents
with the probate registrar.
A typical probate must remain open for a minimum of four months. This is because
Arizona law provides any creditors four months to make a claim against your
estate after a Notice to Creditors is published in the newspaper. Realistically,
the Notice to Creditors is never published on the same day that the probate is
open and therefore the estate must be open for longer than four months. If you
have assets that are difficult to sell, the probate could be open for much
longer than four months.
It is typically more expensive and more time-consuming for your survivors to
probate your estate than administer a Revocable Living Trust Agreement. Probate
is more expensive because probate requires more attorney time, more fees to be
paid to the court and newspaper publisher, and because Arizona law requires a
Personal Representative to take particular steps as part of the probate of your
estate.
It is not always necessary to probate a decedent’s estate even if you don’t have
a Revocable Living Trust Agreement. A number of other arrangements also avoid
probate. Examples of these arrangements are properly-made life insurance or 401K
beneficiary designations, properly established payable on death accounts or
beneficiary deeds. We can advise you whether any of these options make sense for
you.
If you are going to be serving as Personal Representative for someone’s estate,
we can help guide you through the process. We will assist you by preparing the
documents that will grant you legal authority as Personal Representative, assist
you with the proper notifications that must be made, with the final distribution
of assets and related documentation, and with all of the other steps that
Arizona law requires you to take.