The short answer · 8 min read
A signed Arizona will — written, signed by you and by two witnesses (A.R.S. § 14-2502), or in your handwriting (§ 14-2503) — does nothing until your death, when its custodian delivers it on request (§ 14-2516) and a personal representative gives the creditor notice (§ 14-3801) and prepares the inventory (§ 14-3706). A self-proving affidavit lets it be proved without the witnesses (§ 14-2504).
Last reviewed against the Arizona Statutes and updated on 2026-10-12.
The original, and where it lives
The signed original is the document that will be probated, so keep it where your personal representative can find it and tell that person where it is. After your death and on an interested person's request, a person having custody of the will delivers it with reasonable promptness to a person able to secure its probate or, if none is known, to an appropriate court; a person who wilfully fails to deliver it is liable for damages and, after a court order, subject to contempt (A.R.S. § 14-2516).
How it was signed, and proving it
A paper will is in writing, signed by you or by another in your conscious presence and at your direction, and signed by at least two people, each within a reasonable time after witnessing your signing or your acknowledgment of the signature or the will (A.R.S. § 14-2502); you must be eighteen and of sound mind (§ 14-2501). A will that does not meet those requirements is valid as a holographic will, witnessed or not, if the signature and the material provisions are in your handwriting (§ 14-2503). A self-proving affidavit — your acknowledgment and the witnesses' affidavits before an officer authorized to administer oaths, in substantially the statutory form, at execution or afterward — proves the will without the witnesses' later testimony (§ 14-2504).
Your personal representative
The will names the person you want the court to appoint. A personal representative publishes a notice to creditors once a week for three successive weeks and mails it to known creditors, with claims due four months after the first publication or sixty days after the mailing if later (A.R.S. § 14-3801), and prepares an inventory within ninety days of appointment, with each item's value and its nature as community or separate property (§ 14-3706). A person who serves for a fee without being related to you, nominated in the will or a devisee must be a fiduciary licensed by the supreme court (§ 14-5651).
What changes a will
A later will or codicil signed with the same formalities, or a written revocation, changes or revokes it; Arizona's rules on revocation by a later writing or by a physical act, and on the effect of a divorce on provisions for a former spouse, are in Title 14, chapter 2. A no-contest clause in a will is unenforceable if probable cause exists for the contest (A.R.S. § 14-2517). A change in your family — a marriage, a divorce, a new child, the death of a beneficiary — is the usual reason to review the will with a licensed Arizona attorney of your choosing.
A will and a trust together
A trust may be created by a transfer taking effect at your death under your will (A.R.S. § 14-10401(1)), so a will can pour property left in your own name into your trust; property already titled to the trust passes under the trust's terms without the will. The will still governs what the trust and the beneficiary designations do not reach — and names a guardian for minor children.
What happens at your death
The custodian delivers the will (A.R.S. § 14-2516). Where the estate is small — personal property not exceeding $200,000 net of liens thirty days after the death, Arizona real property not exceeding $300,000 by the assessment rolls six months after it — a successor collects it on the affidavits of § 14-3971 and no personal representative is appointed. Otherwise the superior court appoints a personal representative, who gives the creditor notice (§ 14-3801), prepares the inventory (§ 14-3706) and administers the claims (§ 14-3803). Your surviving spouse's homestead allowance of $18,000 comes before claims (§ 14-2402), and the surviving spouse's half of the community property is the spouse's own (§ 14-2102). Arizona imposes no estate or inheritance tax.
When a licensed Arizona attorney is the right next call
TrusteeClear explains what a signed will does and does not do; it does not draft, amend or revoke an Arizona will, and it does not decide whether a particular writing is a valid will. A licensed Arizona attorney of your choosing can prepare those documents and advise on the plan.
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General information about Arizona law, not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
- Does an Arizona will need to be notarized?
- No. A paper will needs your signature and two witnesses (A.R.S. § 14-2502); the notary's role is the optional self-proving affidavit, which lets the will be proved without the witnesses' testimony (§ 14-2504).
- Is a handwritten will valid in Arizona?
- Yes, as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature and the material provisions are in the testator's handwriting (A.R.S. § 14-2503).
- Who files an Arizona will after a death?
- The person having custody of the will delivers it, on an interested person's request, to a person able to secure its probate or to an appropriate court (A.R.S. § 14-2516).
- Does a will avoid probate in Arizona?
- No; a will is the document probate follows. Property titled to a trust, held with right of survivorship, or passing by a beneficiary designation or a beneficiary deed (A.R.S. § 33-405) passes outside the will, and a small estate passes on the affidavits of § 14-3971.
General information about Arizona law, not legal advice.