by Richard C. Keyt, Arizona probate attorney · direct 480-664-7472 and email to rck@keytlaw.com.

Updated August 8, 2026 to reflect the new $300,000 and $200,000 limits that took effect September 26, 2025.

 

Question: I inherited Arizona real property. Can I get title to the land without going through an Arizona Superior Court probate?

What changed on September 26, 2025

For more than a decade Arizona's small estate limits sat at $75,000 for personal property and $100,000 for real property. Home values in Maricopa County blew past that ceiling years ago, which pushed thousands of simple, uncontested estates into a full probate nobody needed.

 

The Arizona Legislature fixed it. Governor Hobbs signed House Bill 2116 on March 31, 2025, amending A.R.S. § 14-3971. The new limits apply to affidavits filed on or after September 26, 2025, regardless of when the person died.

Arizona small estate affidavit limits under A.R.S. § 14-3971.

Type of property	Old limit	Limit today
Real property (land & buildings)	$100,000	$300,000
Personal property (everything else)	$75,000	$200,000

One caution: the statute contains no automatic inflation adjustment. The $300,000 and $200,000 figures are hard numbers that will stay frozen until the Legislature amends the statute again. Do not assume they creep upward each year.

Two different affidavits — don't mix them up

A.R.S. § 14-3971 actually creates two separate procedures. They have different dollar limits, different waiting periods, and completely different filing mechanics. Families routinely need both.

	Real property affidavit § 14-3971(E)	Personal property affidavit § 14-3971(B)
Covers	Houses, condos, vacant land, and debts secured by a lien on Arizona real property	Bank accounts, brokerage accounts, vehicles, jewelry, tools, personal effects
Net value cap	$300,000	$200,000
Waiting period	6 months after death	30 days after death
Where it goes	Filed with the Superior Court, then the certified copy is recorded with the county recorder	Handed directly to the bank, broker, transfer agent or MVD — no court filing
Court fee	Yes — the county's standard filing fee (waivable under A.R.S. §§ 12-301, 12-302)	None
What proves it worked	The recorded certified affidavit changes title in the county records	The institution releases the asset

The two caps are measured separately. An estate with a $280,000 house and $150,000 in bank accounts qualifies for both affidavits even though the combined estate is $430,000. There is no combined-total test.

The six statements the affidavit must contain

The affidavit must describe the real property and the decedent's interest in it, and swear that all six of the following are true and material. The signer also has to acknowledge that a false statement exposes them to perjury and subornation of perjury charges. This is a sworn court document, not a form to guess at.

1. Value. Either (a) no personal representative has been appointed and none is pending anywhere, and all of the decedent's Arizona real property, less liens and encumbrances, was worth $300,000 or less at the date of death; or (b) a personal representative was already discharged (or more than a year has passed since a closing statement was filed), and all of the decedent's real property wherever located, less liens, is worth $300,000 or less as of the date of the affidavit.
2. Six months have elapsed since the death, shown by a certified copy of the death certificate attached to the affidavit.
3. Funeral expenses, last-illness expenses, and all unsecured debts of the decedent have been paid.
4. The signer is entitled to the property — by 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 will, the original of which is attached to the affidavit or has already been probated.
5. No other person has a right to the decedent's interest in the described property.
6. No federal estate tax is due on the estate.

How to calculate the $300,000 — the number that trips people up

This is where most do-it-yourself affidavits go wrong, and it is also where most people give up too early.

You do not use market value

Forget Zillow. Forget your Realtor's comps. Forget the appraisal. The statute says the value of the decedent's interest "shall be determined from the full cash value of the property as shown on the assessment rolls for the year in which the decedent died."

 

That is the county assessor's full cash value (FCV) — a number you look up for free on the county assessor's website by parcel number or address. In Maricopa County the assessor's FCV is frequently well below what the home would actually sell for. That gap works in your favor.

You subtract liens at their date-of-death balance

From the FCV you subtract liens and encumbrances. For a debt secured by a lien on the real property, the value is the unpaid principal balance as of the date of death — the mortgage, the HELOC, the reverse mortgage balance, a recorded judgment lien, delinquent property taxes, an HOA lien.

You add up all Arizona real property, not just the house

The test is the net value of all real property in the decedent's estate located in Arizona. The house in Mesa plus the vacant lot in Kingman plus the timeshare interest all count toward the same $300,000. And the statute expressly includes a debt secured by a lien on real property — so if the decedent was the seller carrying back a note secured by a deed of trust, that note is in the calculation too.

What does not count

Property that already passes automatically is not part of the calculation, because it never becomes part of the probate estate:

• Real estate titled in a revocable living trust — the successor trustee simply signs a deed. No affidavit, no probate, no six-month wait.
• Real estate covered by a recorded Arizona beneficiary deed under A.R.S. § 33-405 — title passes on death by recording the death certificate.
• Real estate held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship or community property with right of survivorship — the survivor owns it outright.
• Real estate located outside Arizona (under the first alternative in the statute). Out-of-state land usually needs its own procedure in that state.

Three worked examples

Example 1 — Qualifies comfortably

Mom died in Scottsdale owning her home. The Maricopa County assessor's full cash value for the year of death was $465,000. The mortgage principal balance on the date of death was $212,000. She owned nothing else in Arizona.

 

$465,000 − $212,000 = $253,000 net. Under $300,000. The affidavit works, even though the house would list for well over half a million dollars.

Example 2 — Two parcels push it over

Dad died owning a paid-off house in Sun City with an FCV of $272,000 and five acres of raw land near Show Low with an FCV of $61,000. Nothing is mortgaged.

 

$272,000 + $61,000 = $333,000 net. Over the cap. This estate needs an informal probate. There is no partial affidavit — you cannot affidavit the house and probate the land.

Example 3 — The forgotten sibling

The numbers work perfectly — $180,000 net. But the decedent left no will and had three children, and only one of them wants to sign the affidavit.

 

Requirement 5 fails. Under intestate succession all three children are heirs, so all three must sign. If one refuses, or one cannot be located, or one is a minor, the affidavit route closes and probate opens.

The eight-step process

1. Wait six months. The clock starts on the date of death. There is no hardship exception, no shortcut, and no way to sell the property to a third party in the meantime with clean title.
2. Order certified death certificates. You need a certified copy to attach to the affidavit — a photocopy will not do. Order several; the recorder, title company and any lender will each want one.
3. Pull the assessor's full cash value for the year of death, for every parcel the decedent owned in Arizona.
4. Get date-of-death payoff figures from every lienholder and confirm there are no recorded judgment liens, tax liens or HOA liens you missed. A title search is cheap insurance here.
5. Pay the funeral bill, the last-illness bills and every unsecured debt. You are swearing under oath that this is done. Do it before signing, not after.
6. Prepare and sign the affidavit with the exact statutory legal description of the property, attaching the certified death certificate and the original will if the decedent left one that has not been probated.
7. File it with the Superior Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled at death — or, if the decedent lived outside Arizona, in any county where the property sits. Pay the standard filing fee (waivable if you qualify under A.R.S. §§ 12-301 or 12-302). The probate registrar reviews the affidavit for completeness and issues a certified copy without the attachments.
8. Record the certified copy with the county recorder in the county where the real property is located. That recording is the event that changes title on the official records. Until it is recorded, nothing has legally happened.

When the affidavit will not work

Some estates have to go through informal or formal probate no matter how simple they look:

• Net real property value exceeds $300,000. No exceptions, no rounding.
• You cannot wait six months. The house needs to be sold now, the mortgage is heading to foreclosure, or a buyer is under contract. An informal probate can appoint a personal representative in a matter of weeks, and that PR can sell immediately.
• Unsecured debts have not been and cannot be paid. If the estate is insolvent, probate exists precisely to sort out who gets paid in what order.
• Anyone else has a claim. A contested will, an omitted spouse or child, a disputed heirship, a pending lawsuit, a creditor asserting rights — requirement 5 fails.
• An heir is a minor or is incapacitated. They cannot sign, and someone must be legally appointed to act for them.
• The will has not been probated and the original cannot be found. A copy is not enough; the statute wants the original attached.
• Title is clouded. A break in the chain of title, an old unreleased lien, or a boundary problem needs court oversight to clean up.

Seven mistakes that get affidavits rejected

1. Using market value instead of the assessor's full cash value.

People talk themselves out of a perfectly good affidavit because Zillow says the house is worth $520,000. The statute does not care what Zillow says.

2. Using the current mortgage balance instead of the date-of-death balance.

If payments kept getting made after death, the balance dropped — which makes the net value higher and can push you over the cap. Use the number as of the date of death.

3. Filing on day 180-something without counting carefully.

"Not sooner than six months." A registrar who counts and comes up one week short will reject it and you will pay the filing fee twice.

4. Leaving an heir off the affidavit.

Every person entitled to the property must sign. Half-siblings, children from a prior marriage, and the descendants of a predeceased child all count under Arizona's intestacy statutes.

5. Using a street address instead of the legal description.

The recorder indexes by legal description. "1234 E. Main St." is not a legal description and will not transfer title.

6. Forgetting the second parcel.

The vacant lot, the mineral interest, the quarter-interest in grandpa's ranch. All of it counts toward the $300,000 and all of it has to be disclosed.

7. Filing the affidavit and stopping there.

A filed affidavit sitting in the court file does nothing. It has to be recorded with the county recorder in the county where the land is located.

The personal property affidavit ($200,000, 30 days)

Most families need this one too, and it is much easier. Thirty days after the death, if the net value of all the decedent's personal property wherever located is $200,000 or less and no personal representative has been appointed, the successor can present a signed affidavit directly to whoever holds the asset. No court, no filing fee, no judge.

 

The affidavit must state that (1) 30 days have elapsed, (2) the $200,000 test is met and no PR is pending or appointed, (3) the signer is entitled to the property, and (4) funeral and last-illness expenses have been paid.

 

The statute specifically directs that:

• Banks and anyone holding tangible personal property, stock, or an instrument evidencing a debt must pay or deliver it to the successor.
• A transfer agent must change the registered ownership of securities on the corporation's books.
• The Arizona Motor Vehicle Division must transfer a vehicle title on presentation of the affidavit and payment of the fees.

There is also a separate quick rule in A.R.S. § 14-3971(A): at any time after death, an employer must pay a surviving spouse up to $5,000 in unpaid wages, salary or compensation on presentation of a simple affidavit.

The lesson every Arizona homeowner should take from this

Read back through what it takes: a six-month wait, an assessor lookup, lienholder payoff letters, every unsecured creditor paid, every heir located and cooperating, a court filing, a registrar's review, and a recording — and all of it available only if the numbers happen to land under $300,000.

 

That is the easy path. It is what Arizona offers as a favor to families with modest estates.

 

Compare it to what a revocable living trust does. Property titled in the trust is not in the probate estate. There is no $300,000 ceiling, no six-month wait, no affidavit, no registrar and no court. The successor trustee signs a deed and it is done — often within days of the funeral.

And a trust does something the affidavit process can never do: it can leave each beneficiary's inheritance in an irrevocable asset-protected trust, so what you leave your children is shielded from their creditors, a future ex-spouse, and a bankruptcy court. An affidavit hands the house over free and clear — and everything that comes with being handed a house free and clear.

 

Every KEYTLaw estate plan includes the revocable living trust, the certification of trust, healthcare and financial powers of attorney, a HIPAA authorization, a living will, the deed transferring your home into the trust, a designation of guardian for minor children, an assignment of personal property, and a personal property memorandum.

Frequently asked questions

Is the $300,000 limit per property or for the whole estate?

It is the combined net value of all of the decedent's Arizona real property, not a per-parcel limit. Two parcels worth $200,000 each do not qualify.

Do I use the market value or the assessor's value?

The assessor's full cash value shown on the assessment rolls for the year the decedent died. Market value, appraised value and Zillow estimates are irrelevant to the calculation.

Can I use the affidavit if there is a will?

Yes. You attach the original will to the affidavit, or the will must already have been probated. A photocopy is not sufficient.

Do all of the heirs have to sign?

Yes. The affidavit swears that no other person has a right to the decedent's interest, so everyone entitled to the property must sign. If one heir refuses, is a minor, is incapacitated, or cannot be found, you cannot use the affidavit.

Can I sell the house before the six months are up?

Not with clean title. Until the certified affidavit is recorded, title is still in the decedent's name. If you need to sell sooner, open an informal probate — a personal representative can be appointed in weeks and can sell immediately.

Does the affidavit wipe out the mortgage?

No. The mortgage or deed of trust stays on the property. You inherit the house subject to the loan, and the lender still has to be paid.

What if the decedent lived in another state but owned Arizona land?

File the affidavit in any Arizona county where the real property is located. Domicile in Arizona is not required.

The person died in 2021 and we were told the estate was too big. Has that changed?

Possibly. The new $300,000 and $200,000 limits apply to affidavits filed on or after September 26, 2025, regardless of the date of death. An estate that failed the old $100,000 test may pass today.

What if the property is already in a trust or has a beneficiary deed?

Then you do not need an affidavit at all. A successor trustee deeds trust property directly, and a beneficiary deed transfers title when the death certificate is recorded.

Can I do both affidavits for the same estate?

Yes, and most families do. The $300,000 real property cap and the $200,000 personal property cap are tested separately, with different waiting periods.

What is the court filing fee?

It is the county's standard probate filing fee and varies by county. It can be waived or deferred if you qualify under A.R.S. §§ 12-301 or 12-302. Our flat fee below covers the filing fee and costs.

What happens if I get something wrong?

At best the registrar rejects the affidavit and you refile and pay again. At worst you have sworn falsely in a court document, which the statute expressly ties to perjury and subornation of perjury — and an omitted heir or unpaid creditor can come after the property later.

How to hire Arizona probate attorney Richard C. Keyt

Richard C. Keyt will prepare the Affidavit for Succession to Real Property and/or Personal Property, file it with the appropriate Arizona Superior Court, and record the certified copy in the proper county for a flat fee of $1,800, including costs and court filing fees.

 

To get started, complete and submit the questionnaire:

• Small Estate Probate Exemption Affidavit questionnaire — for real property and/or personal property

Questions first? Call Richard C. Keyt at 480-664-7472, email rck@keytlaw.com, or book a free office, phone or Zoom meeting. He does not charge to talk to people.

Related reading

• Arizona Probate: What It Is and How Long It Takes
• Arizona Beneficiary Deeds and Special Warranty Deeds
• What Is in a KEYTLaw Estate Plan — 36 Documents and Fixed Fees
• Arizona Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning Articles Library

This article explains Arizona law as of August 8, 2026 and is general legal information, not legal advice for your situation. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Statutes change and the facts of every estate differ — talk to an Arizona probate attorney before relying on anything here. KEYTLaw, LLC, 7373 E. Doubletree Ranch Road, Suite 135, Scottsdale, AZ 85258 · 480-664-7478.