נאמן יורש באריזונה

What "successor trustee" means in Arizona

A successor trustee is the person the trust names to serve when the current trustee stops — at the settlor-trustee's death, resignation or incapacity, or another vacancy. A vacancy occurs when a designated trustee rejects, cannot be identified or does not exist, resigns, is disqualified or removed, dies, or has a guardian or conservator appointed; a vacancy that must be filled is filled by the person the trust instrument designates or a person appointed under a power the instrument confers, then by a person the qualified beneficiaries unanimously agree on, then by the court (A.R.S. § 14-10704).

The Arizona Trust Code is A.R.S. § 14-10101 et seq. A trust is not subject to continuing judicial supervision unless the court orders it (§ 14-10201), and the court issues no letters of trusteeship for a living trust; an institution usually asks for a certification of trust instead (§ 14-11013).

Taking office: accepting, rejecting, and preserving

A designated trustee accepts by substantially complying with the method of acceptance the trust instrument provides or — where it provides none, or its method is not expressly exclusive — by accepting delivery of the trust property, exercising powers or performing duties as trustee, or otherwise indicating acceptance (A.R.S. § 14-10701(A)). A designated trustee who has not accepted may reject, and one who does not accept within a reasonable time after knowing of the designation is deemed to have rejected (§ 14-10701(B)).

Without accepting, a designee may act to preserve the trust property if a rejection is sent within a reasonable time afterward — to the settlor or, if the settlor is dead or lacks capacity, to a qualified beneficiary — and may inspect or investigate the property for environmental or other liability (§ 14-10701(C)). A trustee gives bond only where the court finds one is needed to protect the beneficiaries or the instrument requires it, and a bank, trust company or the public fiduciary never does (§ 14-10702).

The notices: 60 days, counted from what happens

Within sixty days after accepting, the trustee notifies the qualified beneficiaries of the acceptance and of the trustee's name, address and telephone number (A.R.S. § 14-10813(B)(2)). Within sixty days after acquiring knowledge that the trust is irrevocable — created irrevocable, or a formerly revocable trust become irrevocable by the settlor's death or otherwise — the trustee notifies them of the trust's existence, of the identity of the settlor or settlors, of the trustee's contact details, of the right to request a copy of the relevant portions of the trust instrument and of the right to a trustee's report (§ 14-10813(B)(3)). The second notice counts from the trustee's knowledge, not from the death.

These rules apply to a trustee who accepts, an irrevocable trust created, or a revocable trust that becomes irrevocable on or after January 1, 2009 (§ 14-10813(E)); while a trust is revocable, the trustee's duties are owed exclusively to the settlor and no beneficiary notice is due (§ 14-10603). Who the qualified beneficiaries are on a date — the distributees and permissible distributees, and those who would be if the current interests or the trust ended that day (§ 14-10103(14)) — is a question the trust's own terms answer.

The duties that come with the role

The statutes describe what a trustee owes:

• Good faith, in accordance with the trust's terms and purposes and the interests of the beneficiaries (A.R.S. § 14-10801).
• Loyalty: a transaction for the trustee's own account, or affected by a conflict of interest, is voidable by an affected beneficiary unless an exception applies; a transaction with the trustee's spouse, descendants, siblings, parents, agent or attorney is presumed conflicted (§ 14-10802).
• Impartiality among two or more beneficiaries (§ 14-10803), prudent administration with reasonable costs (§ 14-10804, § 14-10805), and the use of any special skills the trustee has (§ 14-10806).
• Control and protection of the trust property (§ 14-10809), records and separation (§ 14-10810), the enforcement and defense of claims (§ 14-10811) and the collection of property from a former trustee (§ 14-10812).
• Furnishing the relevant portions of the instrument on a beneficiary's request, and responding to requests for information (§ 14-10813(A), (B)(1)).
• A trustee's report at least annually and at termination (§ 14-10813(C)).

First steps before acting

Read the trust and every amendment; note the trustee provisions, any power to direct or trust protector, and the distribution terms. List the property by how it is titled — a deed to a trustee discloses the beneficiaries and identifies the trust, or refers to a recorded instrument that does (A.R.S. § 33-404) — and, where the settlor was married, by whether it was community or separate property (§ 25-211). Within a reasonable time after accepting, review the assets and decide what to retain and what to dispose of under the prudent investor rule (§ 14-10904). A successor takes reasonable steps to compel a former trustee's delivery of the property and to redress a breach the successor knows the former trustee committed (§ 14-10812).

מועדי הנאמן באריזונה: מה קובעים החוקים

נבדק מול חוקי אריזונה בתאריך 2026-10-12. מידע כללי, לא ייעוץ משפטי; הנוסח הרשמי קובע.

Cotrustees, powers to direct, and trust protectors

Cotrustees who cannot reach a unanimous decision may act by majority; each participates unless unavailable or a function was properly delegated, the remaining cotrustees act when a vacancy occurs, and each exercises reasonable care to prevent and redress a cotrustee's material breach (A.R.S. § 14-10703). Where the trust makes assets subject to the direction of the settlor, a cotrustee, a beneficiary or a third party, the trustee has no duty to review the directions or monitor the directed assets and is not liable for acting on a direction except in bad faith or with reckless indifference; a non-beneficiary who holds a power to direct is presumptively a fiduciary (§ 14-10808). A trust protector the instrument appoints has the powers the instrument gives — removing a trustee, amending the instrument, changing the governing law — and, except as the instrument provides, is neither a trustee nor a fiduciary (§ 14-10818).

Resigning, being removed, and the vacancy

A trustee may resign on at least thirty days' notice to the qualified beneficiaries, the settlor if living and all cotrustees — unless the instrument provides otherwise — or with the court's approval; resignation does not discharge liability for the trustee's acts (A.R.S. § 14-10705). The settlor, a cotrustee or a beneficiary may ask the court to remove a trustee for a material breach, a lack of cooperation among cotrustees, unfitness or persistent failure, or a substantial change of circumstances where removal best serves the beneficiaries (§ 14-10706). A trustee who has resigned or been removed keeps the powers needed to protect the property until it is delivered, and delivers it expeditiously (§ 14-10707); the vacancy is filled in the order § 14-10704 sets.

Compensation, reports, and the ways trustees get into trouble

Where the trust does not set it, a trustee is entitled to reasonable compensation; where it does, the court may allow more or less in the circumstances the statute states (A.R.S. § 14-10708), and a change in the method or rate is noticed at least thirty days in advance (§ 14-10813(B)(4)). Expenses properly incurred are reimbursed (§ 14-10709). A breach of trust exposes the trustee to the remedies of § 14-11001 and to liability for the greater of the loss and the trustee's profit (§ 14-11002); a report that adequately discloses a potential claim and states the time allowed starts a one-year period for the beneficiary's claim, and two years run otherwise from the trustee's departure, the end of the interest or the trust's end (§ 14-11005).

When a licensed Arizona attorney is the right next call

TrusteeClear explains the role and organizes the record; it does not decide who is a qualified beneficiary, whether property is community or separate, or how a power to direct divides the work, and it completes no Arizona document. A licensed Arizona attorney of your choosing can advise on those questions, prepare the notices, and advise on a resignation or a dispute.