Effective September 13, 2013, Arizona law changed to increase the maximum dollar amounts for exemptions from probate for estates of Arizona residents. The small estate exemptions amounts are now $75,000 for personal property and $100,000 for Arizona real property.
To learn more about these two small estate probate exemptions read my articles called:
Question:Â If I advance the funds needed to pay the estate’s legal fees can the estate repay the money to me?
Answer:Â Yes if the estate will have sufficient funds.
Question:Â How long from opening the probate until it can be closed and completely ended?
Answer: When we do a simple uncontested probate the time from when we are hired until the probate is closed is usually five to six months. The probate could take less time if Arizona law didn’t require that we publish a notice to creditors in a newspaper and wait four months to see if any claims against the estate are made.
Question:Â Can the personal representative of an Arizona probate be compensated for services rendered as personal representative?
Answer: Yes, but all payments must be reasonable and are subject to court approval. More often that not when the personal representative is a close relative of the decedent the personal representative elects not to be compensated.
Question:Â Do you do Arizona probates only in Maricopa County where you are located or can you also do probates in other Arizona counties?
Answer: We are able to represent personal representatives who open probates in all counties in Arizona. When we do a probate outside Maricopa County we file court documents by mail or electronically and are almost always able to make court appearances (if any are needed) by telephone rather than in person.
Question: My loved one was an Arizona resident who died without owning any assets that remain in his name? Must our family do an Arizona probate?
Answer: No in most cases. There are several reasons to open a probate:
1. To use the legal process to collect assets of the deceased that did not transfer automatically on the decedent’s death.
2. To get a personal representative appointed by the court so the PR can sign and file documents such as tax returns on behalf of the estate.
3. To give notice to unknown creditors of the decedent so as to start the statute of limitations on collecting debts of the estate so that claims that are not filed with the court will be cut off.
4. To pay creditors who have allowed claims.
5. Make sure that the probate estate’s assets are distributed to the lawful heirs after all liabilities of the estate are paid.
If none of the reasons for having a probate applies then a probate is not needed.