Arizona Small Estate Affidavit (2026): $200,000 Personal, $300,000 Real Property

Think of the Arizona small estate affidavit as two tools. One covers personal property up to $200,000. The other covers real property up to $300,000. Both count value after liens and encumbrances. The first goes to whoever holds the asset. The second is filed in the superior court, and a certified copy gets recorded.

Below, we go through A.R.S. 14-3971 and 14-3972 one subsection at a time. You’ll see how Arizona values a house, which assets stay outside the estate, and where each affidavit goes. This is general information, not legal advice.

The Arizona limits after HB 2116

HB 2116 is 2025 Session Law chapter 24. It changed one statute, A.R.S. 14-3971. The governor approved it March 31, 2025. The bill has one section and no separate transition clause. The Legislature’s General Effective Dates page lists September 26, 2025 for the 2025 first regular session. The 2026 session’s general effective date was September 12, 2026. We scanned that session’s chapters and found none that amend 14-3971 or 14-3972.

Both limits count value less liens and encumbrances. For the personal property affidavit, you value the property as of the date of death. There is one alternative. If a personal representative was appointed and has been discharged, or more than a year has passed since a closing statement was filed, the personal property is valued as of the date of the affidavit instead. The real property affidavit has the same two options.

One more rule sits outside both limits. An employer owing the decedent wages, salary or other pay must pay the surviving spouse up to $5,000 (§14-3971(A)). The spouse presents an affidavit, and the statute allows it at any time after the death. The affidavit states that the affiant is the surviving spouse, or is authorized to act for the spouse. It also states that no application or petition for a personal representative is pending or has been granted in this state. If one was granted, the personal representative has been discharged, or more than a year has passed since a closing statement was filed.

Who can use the affidavits

Start with personal property. Subsection B speaks of “a person claiming to be the successor of the decedent.” Who counts? A.R.S. 14-1201 defines successors: persons, other than creditors, who are entitled to property of a decedent under a will or under the title. It defines heirs too: the persons, including the surviving spouse and the state, entitled to the decedent’s property under the statutes of intestate succession. In the affidavit, the claiming successor states being entitled to payment or delivery of the property. Subsection B doesn’t mention a will.

Real property is stricter. The signers have to be entitled to it in one of three ways (§14-3971(E)(4)):

• by reason of the allowance in lieu of homestead, exempt property or family allowance;
• by intestate succession as the sole heir or heirs; or
• by devise under a valid last will of the decedent, the original of which is attached to the affidavit or has been probated.

Allowances are separate statutes. A surviving spouse’s homestead allowance is $18,000 under A.R.S. 14-2402. That statute makes it exempt from claims against the estate and gives it priority over them, except expenses of administration. The affidavit statute does not state those amounts.

Personal property: up to $200,000 after 30 days

Who has to hand things over? Thirty days after the death, any person indebted to the decedent, or having possession of tangible personal property or an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock or chose in action belonging to the decedent, must make payment or deliver it to the person claiming to be the successor. What triggers that duty? An affidavit made by or on behalf of the successor, stating that all of the following are true (§14-3971(B)):

1. Thirty days have elapsed since the death.
2. Either (a) no application or petition for a personal representative is pending and none has 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; or (b) the personal representative has been discharged or more than one year has elapsed since a closing statement was filed, and the same personal property does not exceed $200,000 as valued as of the date of the affidavit.
3. The claiming successor is entitled to payment or delivery of the property.
4. The funeral expenses and expenses of the last illness have been paid.

Two other holders are named. A transfer agent of any security must change the registered ownership on the books of a corporation from the decedent to the successor on presentation of the affidavit (subsection C). The Motor Vehicle Division must transfer title of a motor vehicle on presentation of the affidavit and on payment of the necessary fees (subsection D).

Vehicles have their own page at MVD, titled “Vehicle Title Transfer after Owner’s Death (Non-Probate Transfer).” It describes a Non-Probate Affidavit (form 32-6901) and a Title & Registration Application (form 96-0236). The page lists four conditions:

• the decedent’s personal property, including vehicles, does not exceed $200,000;
• the estate is not under the jurisdiction of a probate court;
• at least 30 days have passed since the death; and
• all owners listed on the title are deceased.

A co-owner who is still living changes things. The page says the non-probate affidavit may not be needed in that case, and the OR, AND/OR or AND wording on the title decides how to proceed. Form 32-6901 (revision R04/25) runs one page, with a signature line and a date line for the affiant. All of that comes from MVD, not from the statute. The statute doesn’t require a notary. Ask each holder what it needs. The form’s text begins “I being first duly sworn, on oath, depose and say”; ask MVD how it wants the affidavit signed.

Real property: up to $300,000 after six months

The statute titles this the affidavit of succession to real property. You can file not sooner than six months after the death. Who files? A person or persons claiming as successor to the decedent’s interest in real property, including any debt secured by a lien on real property. The affidavit goes in the court in the county where the decedent was domiciled at death. If the decedent was not domiciled in Arizona, it goes in any county where the decedent had real property. In Title 14, “court” means the superior court (A.R.S. 14-1201).

The affidavit describes the real property and the decedent’s interest in it. It also acknowledges that any false statement may subject the signers to penalties relating to perjury and subornation of perjury. And it states that all of the following are true and material (§14-3971(E)):

1. The value test comes in two versions. Under (a), no application or petition for a personal representative is pending and none has been appointed in any jurisdiction, and the value of all real property in the decedent’s estate located in this state, less liens and encumbrances against the real property, does not exceed $300,000 as valued at the date of death. Under (b), the personal representative has been discharged or more than one year has elapsed since a closing statement was filed, and the value of all real property in the estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $300,000 as valued as of the date of the affidavit.
2. Six months have elapsed since the death. A certified copy of the death certificate, attached to the affidavit, shows it.
3. The funeral expenses, expenses of the last illness and all unsecured debts of the decedent have been paid.
4. The signers are entitled to the real property in one of three ways: by reason of the allowance in lieu of homestead, exempt property or family allowance; by intestate succession as the sole heir or heirs; or by devise under a valid last will, whose original is attached or has been probated.
5. No other person has a right to the interest of the decedent in the described property.
6. No federal estate tax is due on the decedent’s estate.

Filing and recording. The normal filing fee applies unless the court waives it under A.R.S. 12-301 or 12-302 (§14-3971(F)). No amount appears in the statute. The Arizona Judicial Branch says each court level has its own filing fee schedule and individual courts might have additional local fees. The clerk of the superior court can tell you the current total. Next the registrar checks that the affidavit is complete and issues a certified copy without attachments. That copy shall be recorded in the office of the recorder in the county where the real property is located.

How Arizona measures value

For real property, you start with the full cash value shown on the assessment rolls for the year the decedent died (§14-3971(E)(1)(a)). The alternative works differently. If the personal representative was discharged or a closing statement is more than a year old, the rolls for the year the affidavit is given are used. Liens and encumbrances against the real property then come off the total.

A debt secured by a lien on real property that the decedent held as the lender is treated differently. It is valued at the unpaid principal balance due on the debt at the date of death, or on the date of the affidavit under the alternative. A mortgage the decedent owed is a different case. It is a lien against the real property, and the statute subtracts liens and encumbrances.

Arizona’s property tax chapter defines “full cash value” as the value determined as prescribed by statute. If no statutory method is prescribed, it is synonymous with market value, and it cannot be greater than market value (A.R.S. 42-11001). Ask the county assessor’s office where the roll figure for the year of death appears. For personal property the statute uses the value as of a stated date (the death or the affidavit), not the assessor’s rolls.

What stays outside the estate

Both tests count property in the decedent’s estate. Some transfers happen by their own terms. That is why the way an asset is titled matters as much as the dollar amounts.

• Bank accounts. On the death of a party, sums in a multiple party account belong to the surviving party or parties. With a pay on death designation, sums belong to the surviving beneficiary or beneficiaries after the last party dies (A.R.S. 14-6212(A) and (B)). Other accounts work differently. A single party account without a pay on death designation, or a multiple party account without right of survivorship, is not affected by the death of a party, and the decedent’s share is transferred as part of the estate (14-6212(C)).
• Beneficiary deeds. A deed that conveys real property to a designated grantee beneficiary and expressly states that it is effective on the owner’s death transfers the interest effective on the owner’s death. It is valid only if executed and recorded before the death (A.R.S. 33-405).
• Survivorship. A grant to two or more people can vest the estate in the survivor when it is expressly declared a joint tenancy with right of survivorship (33-431(B)). A grant to a husband and wife can vest the estate in the surviving spouse when it is expressly declared an estate in community property with right of survivorship (33-431(C)).
• Beneficiary designations. A nonprobate transfer provision in an insurance policy, retirement plan, account agreement, trust or similar instrument is nontestamentary (A.R.S. 14-6101(A)). That section does not limit the rights of creditors under other laws of this state (14-6101(C)).

In our reading, an asset that passes this way to a named person is not part of the personal or real property “in the decedent’s estate” that the limits test. The institution holding it can say how it will treat the asset.

How to use the Arizona affidavits, step by step

1. Order certified copies of the death certificate. The real property affidavit has to attach one.
2. Sort assets into personal property, Arizona real property, and assets that pass by account terms, deed or beneficiary designation.
3. Value what is left. Personal property is valued less liens and encumbrances. Real property uses the full cash value on the assessment rolls, less liens and encumbrances.
4. Check the debts. The personal property affidavit states that funeral and last-illness expenses are paid. The real property affidavit adds all unsecured debts.
5. After 30 days, sign the personal property affidavit and present it to each holder, and to MVD for vehicles on MVD’s forms. The statute names no notary, so ask each holder what it requires.
6. After six months, file the real property affidavit in the superior court with the certified death certificate and the original will if there is one, unless the will has been probated. Pay the normal filing fee unless the court waives it.
7. Get the registrar’s certified copy and see that it is recorded with the county recorder where the property sits.

A worked example under the new limits

A Tucson widower dies in March 2026. His will leaves everything to his two adult children. His house has a full cash value of $310,000 on the assessment rolls, and a $40,000 mortgage is still owing. Add a $120,000 brokerage account, $18,000 in checking and a $15,000 car. Everything is in his name alone. For this example, assume his funeral and last-illness expenses and all his unsecured debts are paid, nobody has applied for a personal representative, and nothing else is in the estate.

• Personal property: $120,000 + $18,000 + $15,000 = $153,000, with no liens on those assets in this example. That is under $200,000. After 30 days, the children can present the personal property affidavit to the brokerage and the bank. The car goes to MVD with the affidavit and the MVD forms and fees.
• Real property: $310,000 minus the $40,000 mortgage leaves $270,000. That is under $300,000. After six months, the children can file the real property affidavit. They attach the certified death certificate and the original will, or show that the will has been probated. Then the registrar issues the certified copy without attachments, and it is recorded.

The old figures of $75,000 and $100,000 are lower than $153,000 and $270,000, so neither part of this estate would have fit them.

After you sign: what the statute says

A person who pays, delivers, transfers or issues personal property on an affidavit is discharged and released to the same extent as if that person dealt with a personal representative. That person does not have to see to the application of the property or inquire into the truth of any statement in the affidavit (A.R.S. 14-3972(A)). MVD is released the same way when it issues a title on an affidavit (14-3972(B)).

What if a person who receives the affidavit refuses to pay, deliver, transfer or issue the property? It may be recovered, or its delivery compelled, in a proceeding brought for that purpose by or for the persons entitled to it. Whoever receives property this way is answerable and accountable to any personal representative of the estate or to any other person having a superior right (14-3972(A)). Successors also take subject to all charges incident to administration, including creditors’ claims and the allowances of the surviving spouse and dependent children (A.R.S. 14-3901). Subsection G of 14-3971 adds that the affidavit statute does not limit the rights of heirs and devisees under 14-3901.

The statute also protects people who deal with the successors later. Buyers and lenders are covered too. A purchaser of real property from the successors named in a certified copy of the affidavit, or a lender to them, gets the same protection as one dealing with a distributee who received a deed of distribution from a personal representative. Recording matters: the certified copy has to be recorded in the county where the property sits (14-3972(C), which cites 14-3910). The person who collects stays answerable. So keep a copy of every affidavit you sign and a record of what was paid.

Common mistakes in Arizona

• Using a sale price for the house. The statute uses the full cash value on the assessment rolls, less liens.
• Filing the real property affidavit too early. The statute says not sooner than six months after the death.
• Leaving unsecured debts unpaid. The real property affidavit requires that all unsecured debts have been paid, which goes beyond funeral and last-illness bills.
• Forgetting to record. The statute says the registrar’s certified copy shall be recorded in the county where the real property is located.
• Relying on old limits. A guide written before the amendment will show the old $75,000 and $100,000 figures.

AHCCCS estate recovery in Arizona

AHCCCS, the Arizona health care cost containment system administration (A.R.S. 36-2931), is Arizona’s Medicaid agency. It may file a claim against a member’s estate to recover paid assistance; A.R.S. 36-2935 has the director adopt rules for that and entitles AHCCCS to a lien on a member’s property.

The same section says a member’s personal representative must notify AHCCCS of the member’s estate or property within three months after the member’s death if the member was at least fifty-five years of age and AHCCCS has not already filed a statement of claim in the estate proceedings (36-2935(B)). That duty is addressed to a personal representative.

AHCCCS’s policy manual page, “A Estate Recovery Program Overview” (revised 12/06/2022), is a description from the agency, not the statute. It says estate recovery applies to a deceased person who received ALTCS nursing home or Home and Community Based Services benefits. The person had to be 55 or older when the benefits were received, and the benefits had to come on or after January 1, 1994. In the Arizona Administrative Code, ALTCS means the Arizona Long-term Care System, as authorized by A.R.S. 36-2932 (R9-28-101). The manual’s introduction says AHCCCS must file a claim against an ALTCS customer’s estate to recover its costs for providing Medicaid benefits.

The manual page says the claim is filed at the time of the customer’s death against all property subject to either a small estate affidavit or probate. It adds that a home solely owned by an ALTCS customer, owned jointly without right of survivorship, or owned jointly with right of survivorship when the joint owner is deceased is subject to a claim. The page’s glossary still describes small estate affidavits with an older dollar figure; the limits in this article come from A.R.S. 14-3971. Whether an asset counts toward the limits above is a separate question from whether AHCCCS can make a claim against it.

AHCCCS’s rules in the Arizona Administrative Code add two points (R9-28-911). A recovery against a member’s estate is made only after the death of the member’s surviving spouse, and only at a time when there is no surviving minor child under age 21 and no surviving child who receives Social Security benefits because the child is blind or disabled (R9-28-911(A)). Separately, a member’s representative may request an undue hardship exemption. The request is due within 30 days from receipt of the notification of the AHCCCS claim against the estate. A written statement describing the factual basis goes with it. The rule lists the situations in which AHCCCS shall waive a claim because of undue hardship. Ask AHCCCS whether one applies.

The pages we read do not explain the steps for a claim when property is collected by affidavit. Did the person receive long-term care benefits from AHCCCS? If that is possible, ask AHCCCS before you distribute property you collected.

If the affidavits don’t fit your estate

If the estate is over the limits, or the debts cannot be paid first, the next step is a probate filing. Informal probate or appointment begins with a verified application directed to the registrar (A.R.S. 14-3301). Who may apply? Subsection A lists the surviving spouse, an adult child, a parent, a brother or sister, an heir, a person nominated in the will and, forty-five days after the death, any creditor, among others. It also covers a qualified person or a personal representative from the state of domicile when the decedent was a nonresident, the department of veterans’ services when the decedent was a veteran, and the public fiduciary when no one else is qualified and willing. Our probate cost estimator helps you plan the cost. Planning ahead? An owner can name a grantee under Arizona’s beneficiary deed statute (A.R.S. 33-405), and the grantee receives the property when the owner dies. For the general idea, see our transfer on death deed guide.

How Arizona compares

Where does Arizona sit? Its $200,000 ranks fourth, tied with Louisiana, among the 49 jurisdictions in our table with a numeric limit. Wyoming ($400,000) is highest. Oregon ($275,000) and California ($208,850 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025) come next. The median is $75,000. Seven jurisdictions in our table have a separate real-property procedure, Arizona among them: Arizona, California, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. California’s real property routes are its own, so they are not the same as Arizona’s $300,000 affidavit. See every state in our small estate affidavit limits by state table.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much can an Arizona small estate affidavit cover in 2026?

There are two. For personal property the limit is $200,000, and for real property it is $300,000. Both are measured less liens and encumbrances. The personal property affidavit is available 30 days after the death, and the real property affidavit not sooner than six months after the death.

Can I use an affidavit instead of probate for a house in Arizona?

Arizona’s real property affidavit exists for that. Not sooner than six months after the death, the successors file it in the superior court if the real property, less liens, does not exceed $300,000 at its full cash value on the assessment rolls. They also have to state that all unsecured debts are paid and that no one else has a right to the property. The registrar then issues a certified copy that is recorded. A buyer or lender who deals with the successors in that recorded copy gets the protection in A.R.S. 14-3972(C).

Do I file the personal property affidavit with a court?

Subsection B has no court filing. The affidavit is presented to the person who owes the decedent money or holds the property, to a transfer agent for securities, and to MVD for a vehicle title. Only the real property affidavit is filed in the court under subsection E.

Can I use the personal property affidavit if there is a will?

Subsection B asks that the person claiming be the successor and be entitled to the property, and it does not mention a will. Title 14 defines successors as persons other than creditors who are entitled under a will or under the title. Ask each holder what it wants to see.

How long do I have to wait in Arizona?

Thirty days after the death for the personal property affidavit. Not sooner than six months for the real property affidavit. A surviving spouse can present an affidavit to an employer at any time after the death, for unpaid pay of up to $5,000.

Do debts have to be paid first?

The personal property affidavit states that funeral expenses and expenses of the last illness have been paid. The real property affidavit goes further. It says funeral expenses, last-illness expenses and all unsecured debts have been paid.

Does the date of death change anything?

No cutoff appears in either text. Neither the bill nor the amended statute mentions a date-of-death cutoff. The amended text of A.R.S. 14-3971 uses $200,000 and $300,000. The 2025 session’s general effective date was September 26, 2025. For valuation, the statute uses the date of death, or the date of the affidavit under the discharged-representative alternative.

Does a surviving spouse get anything before the affidavits?

In one case, yes. On the spouse’s affidavit, an employer must pay a surviving spouse unpaid wages of up to $5,000. The homestead allowance is separate. It is $18,000 under A.R.S. 14-2402, with priority over claims against the estate except expenses of administration.

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ClearLegalTips is an independent publisher of plain-English legal guides, free document templates, and cost calculators for common U.S. legal tasks. Every article is reviewed by founder and editor Fatih Öztürk and fact-checked against official sources: statutes, court fee schedules, and government filing pages. Not a law firm; nothing here is legal advice.