Informal Probate in Arizona: How It Works
Most Arizona probates are “informal” — a term that surprises families who expect courtrooms and hearings. Informal probate, governed by A.R.S. §14-3301 and the sections that follow, is an administrative process run through the probate registrar of the Superior Court. When no one objects, the personal representative is appointed without a hearing, administers the estate largely outside the courthouse, and closes it with a sworn statement rather than a judge’s order. It is the standard path for uncontested estates, and understanding how it runs removes much of the anxiety from the word “probate.”
What “informal” actually means
Informal probate means the application is reviewed and granted by the probate registrar — a court officer — rather than litigated before a judge. If the application is complete, the will (if there is one) appears valid on its face, and the applicant has priority to serve, the registrar admits the will to probate and appoints the personal representative. No hearing is held, and in a typical case nobody involved ever appears in a courtroom.
The trade-off is that informal probate resolves nothing that is disputed. The registrar’s acceptance of a will is not a final adjudication of its validity; an interested person who objects can demand formal proceedings before a judge. Informal probate works precisely because most estates have nothing to fight about — it is the default lane, with the formal process held in reserve.
Who can file, and who gets appointed
The application is filed in the Superior Court of the county where the deceased person was domiciled, generally along with the original will. Arizona law sets an order of priority for who may serve as personal representative (A.R.S. §14-3203): the person nominated in the will comes first, followed by the surviving spouse (with preference if they are a devisee), other devisees, other heirs, and — after a waiting period — creditors. A person with lower priority generally needs renunciations from those ahead of them or must ask for formal proceedings.
The applicant must also wait at least 120 hours (five days) after the death before appointment, and the application must include the statutorily required statements about the will, the heirs, and the applicant’s priority. Once appointed, the personal representative receives letters — certified proof of authority that banks, brokerages, and title companies will ask to see.
What happens after appointment
The personal representative’s first statutory clock is notice: information about the appointment must be sent to the heirs and devisees within thirty days. The second is the inventory: within ninety days, the personal representative must inventory the estate’s assets at date-of-death values (A.R.S. §14-3706). Publishing notice to creditors opens the four-month window in which unknown creditors must present claims or be barred.
Administration itself — collecting assets, maintaining property, selling what needs to be sold, paying valid claims in the statutory priority order, and filing any required tax returns — happens without court supervision. The personal representative acts under fiduciary duties rather than under judicial oversight, which is what keeps the informal process fast and inexpensive relative to supervised administration.
Informal versus formal probate
Formal probate is the judge-supervised version, used when something needs deciding: a will contest, uncertainty about heirs, competing applications to serve as personal representative, or a will that cannot be produced in its original form. Formal proceedings begin with a petition and notice to interested persons, and disputed issues are resolved by court order. An estate can also move between lanes — an informal probate can be converted to formal proceedings if a dispute erupts mid-administration.
For families deciding where to start, the practical rule is: if everyone is cooperative and the will is unquestioned, informal probate is almost always the right entry point — it is faster, cheaper, and can be upgraded if needed. Starting formal makes sense only when a real dispute is already visible. Either way, the estate ends in the same place: claims resolved, property distributed, and the personal representative discharged.
Attorney review pending. This page is published as general legal information and has not yet been reviewed by a licensed Arizona attorney.
Important
- This is general legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship.
- Estate-planning rules and dollar thresholds change; confirm current Arizona law for your situation.
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