Navigating the Probate Process in Arizona & California: A Complete Guide
With over 2 decades of experience, we offer compassionate, step-by-step legal guidance to help your family settle your loved one's estate. We assist with all probate matters in Arizona and California, whether or not the deceased had an estate plan.
Lori and Raquel - Rilus Law’s mother-daughter team, with 15+ years of experience combined, who will be by your side every step of probate.
What is Probate?
Probate is the court-supervised legal process of:
Authenticating a deceased person's will
Paying off their outstanding debts and taxes
And distributing their remaining assets to their rightful heirs or beneficiaries.
Start Here: Watch What Is Probate? Arizona Probate Explained in Plain English
Many people hear the word "probate" and know it is something they want to avoid, but few understand what it actually entails. Even if your loved one left a clear will naming you as the beneficiary, you cannot simply walk into a financial institution and take ownership of their individual assets.
Watch our quick, 3-minute introductory video below as attorney Rilus Dana breaks down a common estate scenario using plain English, or use the timestamps below to jump straight to the answer you need.
Watch the full video for a quick and easy-to-understand walkthrough of probate, or use these timestamps to jump straight to what you need to know:
00:05 – What Does Probate Cost?: Why the financial cost depends entirely on whether you actually need to go through the court process.
00:31 – Legal Definition of Probate: A plain-English breakdown of how the court authenticates a will and appoints a personal representative.
00:39 – The Real-World Scenario: Why a named beneficiary can collect life insurance or a joint home without court, but will still have a bank account frozen by a bank like Wells Fargo.
01:26 – The Real Reason to Avoid Probate: Why saving your family from the immense time-suck and administrative hassle is more critical than just the financial cost.
01:44 – Dying Without a Will (Intestacy): How default state laws dictate who gets assets if there is no plan, and what happens to the money if no living family members can be located.
02:20 – The Real Timeline to Gain Court Authority: The step-by-step process of filing an application with an attorney and waiting 2 to 6 weeks for the court to issue "PR Letters".
02:59 – Completing the Administration: Navigating the mandatory 4-month creditor period, publishing notices, inventorying assets, and managing final distributions.
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What Is Probate? Arizona Probate Explained in Plain English
How much does probate cost in Arizona? I'm attorney Rilus Dana, and in this video, I'll be discussing how much probate costs in Arizona. Well, it depends—of course, that's the classic attorney answer, right? But in order to give you a clear answer on what probate costs, we need to first figure out what probate actually is. I'll discuss how long the process takes, and then I'm going to talk about some probate alternatives. To figure out what it costs, we have to determine if you even need to go through it.
Probate is a judicial process where the courts legally authenticate a Last Will and Testament and formally appoint a Personal Representative to manage the estate. Let's look at an example using "Mr. and Mrs. Estate."
Mrs. Estate passes away. Mr. Estate is the named beneficiary on her life insurance policy, so he collects that money without any issues. He is also listed as a joint owner on their house, so there is no problem there either. However, Mrs. Estate left behind a bank account held strictly in her name alone. What happens to that?
The couple had a Last Will and Testament stating that Mr. Estate is both the sole beneficiary and the named Personal Representative. But if he walks into a bank like Wells Fargo and tries to take control of that individual account, the teller is going to tell him that he needs to open a probate case. Probate is the legal gateway required to authenticate that will and grant the Personal Representative the official power to act.
Even though I am discussing financial costs in this video, the main reason people want to avoid probate isn't actually the price tag—it's that it is incredibly time-consuming. Most people set up a comprehensive estate plan to save their family from the immense time and administrative hassle of probate court, not just the financial expense.
Dying Without a Will (Intestacy) If a person passes away without a will, it is legally referred to as dying intestate. In these situations, we have to look directly at default state laws to figure out who the legal beneficiaries are and who has priority to serve as the Personal Representative.
We frequently get asked: "What happens if they had no family at all?" If there is absolutely no family, you won't be able to claim the money; it legally goes straight to the state. Because of this, it is critical to track down the nearest living relatives, which sometimes requires hiring a professional investigator to find distant family members.
Understanding the True Probate Timeline When measuring the timeline of a probate case, you have to look at two distinct phases: how long it takes to get legal authority, and how long it takes to finish the entire process.
To get your initial authority as a Personal Representative, the first step is hiring an attorney to help you prepare and submit the formal probate application. Once filed, the paperwork sits with the court for anywhere from two to six weeks before it is approved by a judge. Once approved, the court issues your "PR Letters." That is the exact moment you finally gain the legal authority to sell real estate or collect financial accounts held in the deceased's name. In total, you are looking at roughly four to nine weeks just to get that initial stamp of authority.
The remainder of the probate process involves several mandatory steps. You must publish a notice in a local newspaper to open a required four-month creditor period. During those four months, you must directly notify any known creditors, inventory and collect all the estate's assets, and settle any valid claims. Only after those steps are complete can you send a final accounting to the beneficiaries and execute the final distribution of assets. Because of these built-in legal waiting periods, a standard probate takes at least 9 to 12 months to complete, and it can easily take longer depending on the complexity of the estate's assets.
What Are the Steps of the Probate Process in Arizona & California?
The probate process varies slightly between Arizona and California, but both involve several key steps to legally transfer a deceased person's assets to their beneficiaries. Here is what you can expect during the administration of an estate.
5. Notifying Creditors
The estate must legally notify any potential creditors that the person has passed away. This usually involves publishing a notice in a local newspaper and sending direct letters to known creditors, giving them a four-month period to make a claim.
6. Settling Debts & Taxes
Before anyone inherits, the estate must pay off any valid debts, final income taxes, and estate administration costs. Crucial note: These debts are paid using the estate's funds, not out of the personal representative's or family's own pockets.
7. Distributing the Estate
Once all valid debts and taxes have been paid, the judge will grant permission to distribute the remaining assets to the rightful heirs and beneficiaries according to the will or state law.
8. Closing the Estate
The final step involves submitting a complete accounting to the court, showing exactly what came into the estate and what went out. Once the judge approves this final report, the estate is officially closed.
2. Validating the Will
The judge will review the Last Will and Testament to ensure it is legally valid and was signed correctly. If the person died without a will (known as dying "intestate"), the court will rely on state default laws to proceed.
1. Filing the Petition
The process begins by filing a formal petition with the local probate court in the county where the deceased owned assets or lived in. This alerts the court that an estate needs to be opened and administered.
4. Inventorying Assets
The appointed personal representative must locate, identify, and value all of the deceased's probate assets. This includes bank accounts, real estate, investments, and personal property, which are then reported to the court.
3. Appointing the PR
The court officially grants a personal representative, usually named in the will or a close family member, the legal authority to act on behalf of the estate. This person is given legal documents (often called PR Letters or Letters Testamentary) to prove they are in charge.
How Long Does Probate Take?
The probate process generally takes an average of 9 to 12 months to complete in Arizona and California. Even in a best-case scenario with a simple estate and no family disputes, the absolute fastest the process can be legally closed is 5 to 6 months.
Why does it take this long?
Initial Court Approvals: It typically takes 4 to 8 weeks just to prepare the application, file it with the court, and wait for a judge to officially appoint a personal representative.
The Mandatory Creditor Period: By law, once the estate is opened, you must wait a mandatory 4 months to allow any potential creditors to make a claim against the estate. The probate cannot be closed before this waiting period expires.
Asset Liquidation: If the estate involves selling a house, clearing out land, or locating complex financial assets, the process can easily stretch beyond a year.
Watch the video to hear Rilus break down the exact timeline step-by-step, or expand the transcript to read the full details.
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Hi, welcome everyone. My name is Rilus Dana, and today we're talking about probate, one of my favorite topics. We're going to discuss how long it takes to probate a will and what to do if there is no will. Let me share my screen here, and let's get into it. This is where I practice law in Arizona and California: Rilus Law, formerly Dana and Associates. Our phone number is 480-924-4424 if you need help with probate or estate planning.
Assessing the Estate & Defining the Players
After someone has passed away, the first way you assess the situation is to look at the assets. What is in the estate? Does the person have retirement accounts, life insurance, bank accounts, or real estate? Ideally, there will be some records left for you, making this easy. That's not always the case, though. You might have to search for clues by looking around their house for bank statements, checking their mail, or accessing their digital records. You must determine what a person owned in order to evaluate the estate.
Let's define the players. First, we have the decedent, which is another word for the deceased person. Next is the fiduciary; that's who is going to be in charge of managing the estate. A fiduciary is a person to whom property or power is entrusted for the benefit of another. When you are in this role, you have a "fiduciary duty"—a strict legal obligation to act in the best interest of another party. Then we have the beneficiary, or multiple beneficiaries—the people who receive the assets.
What exactly is an estate? Sometimes that term is used to describe a large house, but in this legal context, we mean everything a person owned.
What Happens if There is No Will?
What if there is no will? Dying without a will is legally called dying "intestate." In this situation, state laws dictate who has the priority to serve as the personal representative and who the beneficiaries will be. We get this call a lot: "What if there really is no family?" If there genuinely is no family, the estate goes to the state. However, the court will look all the way down the family tree to second cousins to see if they can locate a relative. Keep in mind, no matter how good a friend you are, or if you were a boyfriend or girlfriend, if it is not a legally recognized relationship, the assets must go to the legal family members.
The Last Will and Testament is a document where you designate the beneficiaries of your estate, the guardians for minor children, and the personal representative of your estate. However, it takes probate to actually activate those powers. Probate is the judicial process where the courts legally authenticate a will, determine the heirs, and formally appoint a personal representative to manage the estate.
A Common Probate Scenario
Let's look at a scenario. A couple owns a house together, and the wife also has a bank account in her name alone, plus a life insurance policy. If she passes away, the life insurance policy names her husband as the beneficiary, so he collects that without probate. His name is also on the deed to the house as a joint owner, so he collects that without probate.
But how does he collect the bank account that is strictly in the name of his deceased wife? First, we locate her will to determine who is listed as the personal representative and the beneficiary—in this case, it's him, the surviving spouse. Even so, he has to go through probate to activate that power and prove he can act for the estate. Getting appointed as the personal representative is the first step. That is when he gains the authority to sell real estate, access bank accounts, and legally speak on behalf of the estate.
The Probate Timeline: How Long Does It Take?
How long does the entire probate process take from start to finish?
The first step begins when you hire an attorney. Once we are hired, it takes about two to three weeks to prepare the first wave of paperwork, which includes the probate application. The client signs the documents, and we file them with the court. It then takes the court anywhere from two to six weeks to approve the application and formally appoint the personal representative. Right away, you are looking at four to eight weeks just for these initial steps.
After the court appoints the personal representative, the next step is to publish a notice in the newspaper and begin the creditor period. By law, you must wait four months for potential creditors to make a claim against the estate. Even if the court processes the initial paperwork instantly, we still have to wait out this mandatory four-month period. During this time, you must directly notify any known creditors, collect all the assets, and handle things like listing real estate for sale.
You then evaluate incoming claims to determine if they are valid before settling with the creditors. Settling doesn't always mean paying them in full. One of the things we enjoy doing for our probate clients is negotiating with creditors, which often yields great results in reducing estate debts.
After all valid debts are paid, you send an accounting to all the beneficiaries. This shows the proposed distribution, the personal representative's fee, and the total legal fees. Once the accounting is approved, a final distribution is made to the beneficiaries, and the probate can be officially closed.
To summarize the timeline: The absolute fastest a probate can go in Arizona is about five to six months. On average, it usually takes about 9 to 12 months. Depending on the assets—such as waiting for a house or a piece of land to sell—it can take even longer to settle the estate and close out the probate.
Advice for Fiduciaries and Beneficiaries
If you are the fiduciary, you need to safeguard the assets, get officially appointed, and obtain formal authority to act. Most importantly, you must uphold your fiduciary duty. I highly recommend hiring legal counsel. An attorney will help you navigate your duties and ensure you don't get sued by your relatives for making a mistake.
If you are a beneficiary and not the one in charge, you should ask for a copy of the legal documents and an accounting of the estate. If the personal representative provides those documents and keeps you informed, please be patient. This process takes time, usually about a year. However, if it is taking much longer than that, and the personal representative is not being forthcoming about the assets, that is when you should contact an attorney to see what is going on.
If you have any questions about probate or setting up your own estate plan, please reach out to us. If you haven't created your will yet, check the link below to create your own last will and testament for free. We want to make sure everyone has a plan in place to protect their family.
Can Probate Be Avoided?
Yes. The most effective way to avoid probate in Arizona and California is by establishing a Revocable Living Trust.
Many people mistakenly believe that having a Last Will and Testament keeps their family out of court. However, a will is simply a set of instructions for a probate judge—it must go through the probate process to be validated.
To bypass the court system entirely, you can use:
A Living Trust: Assets placed inside a trust are controlled by the trust document, not the courts. Upon the creator's death, the successor trustee can immediately distribute the assets to the beneficiaries without judicial approval.
Beneficiary Designations: Financial accounts with designated "Payable on Death" (POD) or "Transfer on Death" (TOD) beneficiaries, as well as life insurance policies, transfer directly to the named person outside of probate.
Joint Ownership: Property titled in joint tenancy with right of survivorship automatically passes to the surviving owner.
Watch the short video to see a visual breakdown of exactly how a trust avoids the probate process, or expand the transcript to read the details.
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Hi, I'm Rilus Dana. I'm an attorney, and today we're going to talk about how a trust avoids probate. (If you have questions about trusts, probate, estates, or wills, be sure to check out some of the other videos on the channel).
Let's look at an example. "Mr. Estate" created a trust, and he has placed his house and his bank account inside of it. While he is alive, the trust is revocable, which is signaled in our example by an unlocked padlock.
Now, after Mr. Estate passes away, there is no longer a living trustor (the person who created the trust). At this point, the trust immediately becomes irrevocable, as shown by a locked padlock. A new trustee needs to be officially appointed, and the beneficiaries of the trust need to be determined.
The new successor trustee will review the document to see who the beneficiaries are and what the conditions of the trust are. They will check to see if there are any sub-trusts, age restrictions, or other specific rules. In this example case, the trust dictates an age restriction for anyone under the age of 21. Because the actual beneficiaries are already over 21, the successor trustee has the authority to simply sell the house and distribute everything directly to them.
Because the assets were in the trust, they never had to go through the probate court system to be distributed!
I hope you found this helpful.
What Does Probate Cost in Arizona? A Breakdown of Transparent Flat Fees from a Probate Attorney.
When you are dealing with the loss of a loved one, the last thing you need is a financial surprise. Many traditional law firms operate on expensive, unpredictable hourly retainers. At Rilus Law, we believe in radical transparency. We utilize clear flat fees for our standard probate services, so your family knows exactly what to expect from day one.
The overall cost of administering an estate in Arizona depends entirely on whether the family is in agreement, the size of the estate, and whether a full court process is required.
Watch the video to hear Rilus break down the exact costs, or expand the transcript to read the full details.
1. Arizona "Mini" Probate (Affidavits)
If the estate's total value falls below specific state thresholds, you may skip formal court entirely using simplified affidavits.
Small Estate Personal Property Affidavit: Starts at $2,625. (Used for collecting bank accounts or personal items. Note: These can often be done on your own for free, but we are here if you want professional handling).
Small Estate Real Property Affidavit: Starts at $3,675. (Used to transfer a home or real estate valued under $100,000 after a mandatory 6-month waiting period).
2. Arizona Informal Probate
This is the most common path when there is a valid will, or if there is no will but all heirs completely agree on who should be in charge (the Personal Representative). There are usually no court appearances required.
Informal Probate Flat Fee: Starts at $6,300. (Covers full preparation, initial filings, and guiding you through the standard administration).
3. Arizona Formal Probate
If family members cannot agree on who should lead the estate, if a beneficiary cannot be located, or if the validity of the will is questioned, the estate requires formal court hearings.
Formal Probate Initial Court Phase: $2,625 to file and navigate the estate to the first court hearing.
Formal Probate Secondary Phase: If no one objects at the hearing, a base fee of $5,250 applies to complete the administration. (If a family member formally objects, the case shifts into estate litigation at hourly rates).
What Affects the Final Probate Cost?
Beyond court types, prices can fluctuate based on the number of beneficiaries we must legally report to, or whether the deceased had a "pour-over will" that requires setting up a secondary sub-trust.
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The Real Cost of Probate in Arizona (What Your Family Actually Pays)
All right, let's talk about probate. First, there is informal probate, which is the most common path. It requires absolutely no court appearances. The core requirement for an informal probate is either that we have a valid will, or that everyone gets along. Even if a person passes away without a will—which is legally called dying intestate—we can still utilize an informal probate if all the heirs agree to nominate a single person to be in charge. Once the court issues the formal "Letters," the Personal Representative (PR) has full legal authority to act, and there is usually very limited court oversight after that.
Formal probate occurs when family members do not get along. If there is no will and the heirs are in an active disagreement over who should be the Personal Representative, or if there is a will but someone is actively contesting it, that requires formal probate. This path demands a court hearing before a Personal Representative can even be appointed, which ultimately costs more money and takes much longer. In severe cases, good old-fashioned litigation can mean family members fight it out in court for years just trying to figure out who is going to be in charge of the estate.
Key Factors That Influence Probate Fees When you are evaluating what a probate will cost, there are several variables that make a case more expensive:
The Number of Beneficiaries: Administering an estate for a single beneficiary is significantly easier than managing one with twelve beneficiaries. With twelve people, that is twelve individuals we must legally report to, creating more opportunities for questions, concerns, and delays.
Pour-Over Wills and Sub-Trusts: Frequently, a Last Will and Testament is structured as a "pour-over will," meaning it dictates that the assets must pour over into a trust. To complete that probate, you must also administer the trust, which incurs an extra charge. Similarly, if a will contains instructions to create a trust for a minor or protected beneficiary, managing that sub-trust adds to the administrative expenses.
Flat Fees vs. Hourly Retainers If you are currently shopping around for legal fees, it is important to know how law firms bill. At Rilus Law, we charge a predictable flat fee. We tell you the actual fee upfront so you can plan accordingly.
The traditional, old-school way is for attorneys to charge a retainer. They require you to pay a large sum upfront and then bill against it at their hourly rates. Once they run through that initial retainer, they ask you to refresh it. If an attorney tells you they can handle a probate and asks for a $2,500 retainer, that does not mean $2,500 is your total fee—the billing will keep going on and on until the case is completed. A flat fee is vastly more predictable.
You should also look at who you are actually hiring. If you hire a paralegal or a document preparation company, they can prepare the court forms for you, but they cannot legally go to court with you or give you any legal advice. On the other hand, if you hire an attorney, are they a one-man show? If a solo attorney is stuck in court or wrapped up with another client, there is no one available to answer the phone. At Rilus Law, you get an experienced attorney backed by a full team of paralegals and legal assistants who keep your case moving forward every single day.
Our Actual Fee Structure Here are our actual flat fees for Arizona estate administration:
The Personal Property Affidavit (Mini-Probate): Starts at $2,625. This includes our team preparing and submitting the affidavit to two financial companies for you. We are always completely transparent when people call us: these affidavits are simple. If you Google it or ask the bank, they often have their own version you can fill out yourself for free. But if you want our professional help to ensure it is handled correctly, that is where our fee begins.
The Real Property Affidavit: Starts at $3,675. This is used to collect a home or real estate valued under the state threshold. You must wait a mandatory six months after the passing to file it, and our flat fee to handle the process is $3,675.
Arizona Informal Probate: Starts at $6,300. This covers everything standard that is included in our comprehensive flat fee. To understand what is included, I find it easiest to explain what is not included: unexpected litigation, formal creditor claims, or active family disputes. If those unexpected hurdles happen, we establish a separate agreement at hourly rates, and we are always perfectly clear before charging any extra fees.
Arizona Formal Probate: We charge an initial fee of $2,625 to prepare the filings and represent you through the first court hearing. If no one objects at that hearing, our base fee to complete the rest of the probate is an additional $5,250. If someone does object, you officially need a dedicated estate litigator. I do not handle estate litigation myself, but I have excellent professionals I can recommend. We often utilize formal probate when a specific family member refuses to cooperate or simply cannot be located. We file formally, and if they fail to show up to the court hearing, the judge allows us to proceed smoothly like a regular probate.
I hope you found this breakdown helpful. If you need assistance navigating a current probate, or if you want to set up an estate plan so your family can avoid this system entirely, reach out to us at RilusLaw.com. Thank you.
Do You Actually Need Probate?
Not every estate has to go through formal probate. If the estate's value falls below certain financial thresholds, Arizona law allows families to bypass the court system entirely using simplified "probate alternatives" known as Small Estate Affidavits.
The Two Types of Small Estate Affidavits
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Used to collect bank accounts, vehicles, and investments. The total value of all personal property must be less than $200,000. There is a mandatory 30-day waiting period after the passing, but no court filing is required. The affidavit is presented directly to the bank or DMV.
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Used to transfer Arizona real estate. The total equity in the property (after mortgages and liens are subtracted) must be less than $300,000. There is a mandatory 6-month waiting period from the date of death before this can be filed with the court.
"The In-Between": When You Qualify for an Affidavit, But Still Need Probate
Because these financial limits were recently increased, many families now find themselves in "the in-between"—they qualify for an affidavit, but are still better off opening a formal probate.
Why? Because an affidavit does not formally appoint a "Personal Representative" or provide an estate Tax ID number. Without clear court authority, you may hit major roadblocks:
Selling a Home Quickly: If a house is facing pre-foreclosure, you cannot wait the mandatory six months for a Real Property Affidavit. Opening a probate grants you authority much faster to sell the property and save the equity.
Institutional Rejections: Federal agencies and certain banks are legally permitted to accept Small Estate Affidavits, but they are not required to. If you are trying to collect multiple accounts, the risk of a bank rejecting your paperwork increases, which can force you into probate anyway.
Multiple Heirs: Splitting a house or large bank accounts among several beneficiaries is legally complex without a court-appointed leader.
Title Complications: Title companies can be hesitant to insure homes transferred via affidavit if there are historical title questions. A court-ordered probate provides a clean, permanent title transfer.
Watch the short video to hear Rilus explain the exact limits and hidden traps of probate alternatives, or expand the transcript to read the full details.
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Probate Alternatives in Arizona: Do You Actually Need Probate?
Do you actually need probate, or is there another alternative in Arizona? We have a "Personal Property Affidavit" for bank accounts, vehicles, and stock, and we also have a "Real Property Affidavit" for real estate.
The Personal Property Affidavit is available if the total assets you need to collect are worth less than $200,000. This limit was just increased recently; for a long time, it was around $75,000, so they increased it quite a bit. There is a 30-day waiting period, meaning you have to wait 30 days after the date of death. Then, you file this affidavit directly with the bank, the brokerage, or the DMV if it's a vehicle. There is absolutely no court filing required.
For the Real Property Affidavit, there is a $300,000 limit. That amount is after liens, meaning if there is a mortgage on the house, we look at the total equity. You have to wait six months from the date of death to be able to file that Real Property Affidavit.
Because these new limits have been increased so high, many people now fall into a space that I call "the in-between." This means they may financially qualify for one of these substitute affidavits, but they may still be better off just doing a probate.
Another reason I call this the in-between is that if you use a Personal Property Affidavit, you don't officially get appointed as the Personal Representative of the estate. You don't have clear authority, you don't get a tax ID number, and you cannot open up an estate bank account. You just have to try and collect each asset one by one.
A potential problem with Personal Property Affidavits is that some banks and federal agencies simply refuse them. The law is permissive, stating that financial institutions may accept them, but they don't have to. Federally, they often do not accept them. The more accounts you have, the higher the risk.
For example, I had a client recently who was pretty savvy. She was able to collect six different accounts using Personal Property Affidavits, though some took multiple submissions, which is common. Oftentimes, a bank rejects it the first time, and you have to submit it again to explain that in Arizona, this is a legal substitute for probate. Even then, some places still won't accept it. What happened with her is that the seventh institution would not accept the affidavit. They forced her to do a probate. So, she went through all that work proving her authority in that "in-between space" for six accounts, but because the seventh one required a probate, we had to go through the full probate process anyway. It would have been a lot easier if we had just done probate in the beginning so she had clear, blanket authority.
When Might Probate Be Better?
The Number of Heirs: If there is only one person inheriting, it can be pretty easy to collect a house or a bank account. But if you have multiple heirs, distributing the assets can be much more difficult without formal court authority.
The Number of Accounts: As discussed, the more accounts you have, the more likely it is that one place will reject the affidavit, forcing you into probate regardless.
Needing to Sell the House Fast: Often, people come to us when a house is in pre-foreclosure. They need to sell it as soon as possible to save the equity. In that case, they can get legal authority much faster by opening a probate instead of waiting the mandatory six months to use a Real Property Affidavit.
Title Issues: Sometimes title companies do not like Real Property Affidavits and may require a probate later down the road if there is a question about a title transfer from years ago. If you just do the probate and the Personal Representative gets appointed, the deed is cleanly and permanently transferred.
Frequently Asked Questions About Probate
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Yes. Having a Last Will and Testament does not bypass the probate process.
Many people assume a will automatically transfers assets, but a will is essentially just a formal set of instructions for a probate judge. The court still must legally validate the will, officially appoint the executor (Personal Representative), and oversee the paying of debts before those assets can be legally transferred to the beneficiaries.
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The attorney's fees and court costs are paid directly out of the estate's assets, not from your personal bank account.
If you are named as the Personal Representative, you do not need to worry about funding the legal process out of your own pocket. Probate is an administrative expense of the estate. The attorney's fees, filing fees, and creditor debts are settled using the estate's funds before the remaining balance is distributed to the heirs.
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Dying without a will is called dying "intestate," and the state will use its default laws to determine who gets your assets.
If there is no will, the probate court distributes the estate based on a strict legal hierarchy—usually starting with a surviving spouse, then children, then parents, and so on. This means close friends, un-adopted stepchildren, or unmarried partners will legally receive nothing. If absolutely no living relatives can be found, the assets will eventually go to the state.
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No. Family members and beneficiaries do not inherit debt.
When a person passes away, their estate (the assets they left behind) is responsible for paying off their debts. If there is not enough money in the estate to cover what is owed, the estate is declared "insolvent," and the remaining debts are typically written off by the creditors. You are not personally liable to pay their credit cards or medical bills from your own money.
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No. If the estate is relatively small or only contains certain types of assets, you may qualify for a simplified process.
Both Arizona and California offer a "Small Estate Affidavit" process for estates that fall below a specific financial threshold (which varies by state). This allows you to skip formal probate and transfer assets much faster. Additionally, any assets held in a Living Trust, or accounts with a named "Payable on Death" (POD) beneficiary, bypass probate entirely regardless of their value.
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No. This is a common mistake and can actually be considered a form of fraud or theft, even if you are the only heir.
The moment a person passes away, their individual accounts legally belong to their estate. Transferring money digitally without legal authority can create massive headaches, open you up to personal liability, and disrupt the legal requirement to pay the estate's creditors first. You must wait to be officially appointed by the court as the Personal Representative before moving any funds.
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Yes. The person managing the estate is legally entitled to reasonable compensation.
Acting as a fiduciary is a big job that requires time, organization, and legal responsibility. State laws allow the Personal Representative to be paid a fee from the estate's assets for their services. However, if the representative is also a beneficiary, they may choose to waive this fee, as executor fees are considered taxable income, whereas an inheritance generally is not.
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If someone challenges the validity of a will, it becomes a "contested" probate, which can significantly delay the process.
A family member might contest a will if they believe the deceased was coerced, lacked mental capacity, or if they suspect the document is fraudulent. This turns the probate process into a form of litigation. In these cases, having an experienced probate attorney is absolutely critical to defend the estate and ensure the true wishes of the deceased are honored.
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While you are not legally required to hire an attorney to go through probate, doing it alone exposes you to significant personal financial risk.
Probate involves strict court deadlines, complex paperwork, and negotiating with creditors. As the Personal Representative (executor), you carry a strict "fiduciary duty." If you make a mistake—such as paying a debt you didn't legally have to, missing a tax deadline, or improperly distributing assets—the court can hold you personally liable to pay back the estate's lost value. Hiring an experienced probate attorney ensures the process is done perfectly, protects you from personal liability or family lawsuits, and lifts the administrative burden off your shoulders while you grieve.
What to Expect During Probate?
Watch the full video for an easy-to-understand walkthrough of probate, or use these timestamps to jump straight to what you need to know:
02:03 - Defining the Key Players: Understanding the terms "decedent," "fiduciary," and "beneficiary."
02:47 - What Exactly is an Estate?: An estate includes everything a person owns, whether they are alive or dead.
03:38 - Understanding Fiduciary Duty: The legal obligation of the person in charge to act in the best interest of the beneficiaries.
04:16 - What is Probate?: Why a personal representative must go through the court system to get the legal authority to transfer assets.
05:26 - Intestacy (Dying Without a Will): How state default laws determine who receives assets if there is no will.
06:05 - Step 1 of Administration: Identifying Assets: Figuring out what the deceased owned and what legal document controls those assets (like a trust, a will, or a beneficiary designation).
07:45 - Step 2: Getting Appointed: The process of getting official authority through probate court or an acceptance of trustee document.
09:55 - The Risks of Being a Fiduciary: Why it is highly recommended to hire legal counsel to avoid personal liability for losing estate value.
11:08 - Creating Sub-Trusts: How to manage trusts for minor children, beneficiaries with special needs, or dynasty trusts for asset protection.
12:11 - Determining Valid Debts: Why you should review claims carefully, as not all debts necessarily have to be paid by the estate.
12:42 - Advice for Beneficiaries: Your right to ask for a copy of the legal documents and a full accounting of the estate in writing.
14:05 - What to Do if You Suspect Bad Acting: How to set deadlines and when to hire legal counsel if a fiduciary is not doing their job.
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Hi, welcome everyone. I’m Rilus Dana. Today, we’re going to be talking about how to administer an estate. This is an important topic for a few reasons. One, we’re all going to die; we’re not getting out of here alive, so this is good information to plan your own estate. This is also relevant if you’re helping your parents or family with their estate. Additionally, if you’re a real estate investor targeting probate leads and looking to buy inherited properties, this will be useful information.
I want to talk about some basic estate planning terms, and then we’ll get into how you should administer an estate. Let me share my screen here. This is where I practice law: Dana and Associates, an Arizona and California law firm. Up here is Maat Legal. This is also my company, which runs the law firm. I’ve developed some estate planning software and specific systems for attorneys under Maat Legal. Dana and Associates is where I practice law in Arizona and California.
Defining the Key Players in Estate Planning
First, let’s start by defining the players. What is a decedent? Another word for a dead person is a decedent.Fiduciary: That’s who is in charge. It’s commonly called the executor, but the person in charge is the fiduciary. A fiduciary is a person to whom property or power is entrusted for the benefit of another. I like to use a little bookkeeper hat to signal the fiduciary because they have different names in different documents. In a trust, it’s a trustee; in a power of attorney, they are the principal. When a person wears that fiduciary hat, they have a legal obligation to act in the best interest of another.
Beneficiary: Who gets the stuff? Who is entitled to receive it? There can be multiple beneficiaries.
Estate: People often call a large house an estate, which is why this can be confusing. The way we use it in estate planning means everything that a person owns, whether alive or dead. Estate planning is the process of planning where your estate—where everything—goes.
Last Will and Testament: This is a legal document. The person that makes it is called a testator, which is why it’s a last will and testament. It defines who the beneficiaries of the estate are. If there are minor children, that’s where you define who the guardians and the personal representative will be.
Understanding Probate and Intestacy
After a person passes away, it takes court or government action to actually appoint the personal representative and guardian. The will says who you want to be in charge, but they have to go through the court to get their authority. Probate is that process where they get their authority. For example, if someone passes away and a person is named as a beneficiary for life insurance, they can collect that. If their name is on the title for the house, they can collect that. But how do they collect a bank account just in the deceased’s name? Even if there’s a will listing them as the beneficiary and personal representative, they still have to go through court to be formally appointed. Only then can that account be transferred. There are lots of steps to probate, it takes a lot of time, and there are many filing requirements, which is why people usually want to avoid it.When someone dies without a will, it’s called dying intestate. Default state laws control which family members receive the assets. If there are no family members, it passes entirely to the state. That’s pretty rare, though. They look all the way for second cousins, and if there are none, it goes to the state.
How to Administer the Estate
How do you administer an estate? Here is what you do. Number one: define the players. Two: figure out what assets are in the estate. This includes retirement accounts like an IRA, life insurance, bank accounts, and real estate. Next, determine what controls the assets. Things like IRAs and life insurance usually have a named beneficiary. If that beneficiary contract is filled out, that controls the asset, and it does not go through probate. An asset like a house might still be titled in the name of the deceased, so we say it’s owned by their estate. Things could also be owned by a trust. A bank account might list a person or a trust as the beneficiary, or the trust could be the owner of the bank account. Figure out what the assets are and what controls them. The bank account in the trust is controlled by the trust, and the house in the estate will be controlled by the estate.If there is a last will and testament, that document controls the estate. If there is no will, we look at the laws of intestacy in the state where the person lived or passed away. Assets in the name of the estate could be controlled by the will, which names the beneficiaries and the personal representative, or by the laws of intestacy, which determine the beneficiaries and who has priority to serve as personal representative. A trust will name a trustee to manage it and will also name beneficiaries.
The Duties and Risks of Being a Fiduciary
If you are the fiduciary—listed in the trust as a trustee or in the will as a personal representative—you need to protect the assets. Figure out what is out there, safeguard it, and start an accounting. Get appointed. For a will, you must go through probate court. For a trust, you must prove you are the trustee using a document called an acceptance of trustee, where you sign and accept that duty. The trust also has to get a tax ID number at that time. There is reporting to federal and state governments to get appointed, whether in a trust or a probate.A common misconception is that if you have a trust, no work needs to be done after you pass away. It avoids probate court and that associated time, but there is still work to do to get appointed. After appointment, you follow the instructions in the trust, the will, or the intestacy laws. Sometimes instructions aren’t super clear. They can be vague or contradict another section, which can be challenging. Overall, you have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of all beneficiaries.
I highly recommend legal counsel for this job. I am biased as an attorney, but you don’t know what you don’t know. A lot of people come to me after they have made mistakes and gotten into trouble. They often say, ‘I didn’t know how to do this, but I did my best.’ The court doesn’t really care about that. If you violate that fiduciary duty and cause the assets to lose value, you are personally liable as the fiduciary. That is why I recommend legal counsel to make sure you are doing things fairly and won’t get sued by your siblings.
Managing Sub-Trusts and Debts
You may need to create sub-trusts. A trust might create trusts for the children after the parents pass away. Examples include an age trust (if children are underage, someone holds the assets until they reach a certain age, at least 18), a Special Needs Trust or Supplemental Needs Trust (for a beneficiary receiving government benefits like disability, making sure their inheritance won’t disqualify them), and a Dynasty Trust (to protect the inheritance so it’s not subject to future estate taxes and is protected from potential creditors, a divorcing spouse, or lawsuits). For sub-trusts, you also have to get a tax ID number, report to the government, collect the assets, and create these trusts.There are a lot of claims made after someone passes away, and they are not all valid. Some things don’t necessarily have to be paid. Legal counsel can help avoid unnecessary debts or negotiate unsecured debts. After paying all debts, it is time to divide the assets.
Advice for Beneficiaries
If you are not the fiduciary but a beneficiary, here is what you should do. Ask for a copy of the legal documents, like the trust or will, so you can understand what should be happening. They should also provide you with an accounting. That is part of the job when administering a trust or a will through probate. They need to let all beneficiaries know what assets exist and what is going on.If they don’t provide that, ask in writing so you have proof. Be patient. If they give you an accounting and copies of the documents, the process does take time. You can always consult a lawyer to advise you of your rights. If they aren’t giving you an accounting or documents, or if you’ve been patient and things still aren’t happening, it’s time to get a lawyer. They can see if there is any funny business and if they need to get involved to help the fiduciaries do their job properly.
If you have to litigate, try to do it nicely. This can be tough because trust administration usually involves family members. It can be awkward when a sibling or uncle might be a bad actor. My recommendation is to be open and honest. Ask for an accounting, give them time limits, and if they don’t respond, get counsel. Hire legal counsel, set deadlines, and plan for what happens after those deadlines. How long are you going to wait for answers, and what will you do if you don’t get them? Legal counsel can help determine exactly what to do.
Getting Help with Your Estate
Here is my contact information for where I practice law in Arizona and California. If you’d like help with your plan, I’d be happy to help. We are meeting clients back in the office as well as virtually through Zoom. If you need help updating your estate plan, or if you are helping a family member administer their estate or trust, we can help you with that as well. I hope everyone has a great day. Let me know what you thought about this video and what topics you’d like to hear about in the future. Thank you.
About the Probate Attorney: Rilus Dana, J.D.
Rilus Dana is a second-generation estate planning and probate attorney with over two decades of experience in the legal industry. As the founder and managing partner of Rilus Law, his firm has successfully administered hundreds of estates, guiding families through both trust administration and the complex probate court process. Recognized as an industry leader, Rilus also provides Continuing Legal Education (CLE) to other estate planning attorneys nationwide. His mission is to provide straightforward, modern solutions that ease the administrative burden on your family during a difficult time.
You don’t have to navigate probate alone.
Whether there was a plan in place or no planning done at all, we can help you. Schedule a free case evaluation today to get clear answers and compassionate guidance.
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