Tèm trust Arizona yo, defini

Verifye ak Arizona Statutes yo nan dat 2026-10-12. Enfòmasyon jeneral, pa konsèy legal; tèks ofisyèl la ki kòmande.

Arizona Trust Code

Arizona's enactment of the Uniform Trust Code in its own numbering (A.R.S. § 14-10101 et seq., Title 14, chapter 11), in effect since January 1, 2009. A trust's terms prevail over it except for the mandatory rules A.R.S. § 14-10105 lists — among them the trustee's duty of good faith, the duty to respond to a qualified beneficiary's request for reports and information on an irrevocable trust, the periods of limitation and the court's powers.

Title 14 (Trusts, Estates and Protective Proceedings)

The title of the Arizona Revised Statutes that holds the Trust Code (chapter 11), intestate succession (A.R.S. § 14-2102, § 14-2103, § 14-2106), the homestead allowance (§ 14-2402), wills (§ 14-2502, § 14-2503, § 14-2504), the personal representative's inventory and creditor notice (§ 14-3706, § 14-3801), claims (§ 14-3803), the small estate affidavits (§ 14-3971), nonprobate transferees (§ 14-6102) and the trustee's creditor notice (§ 14-6103).

Superior court

The court with jurisdiction over a trust's administration, sitting in each county; a trust is not subject to continuing judicial supervision unless the court orders it (A.R.S. § 14-10201). Venue is the county of the trust's principal place of administration (§ 14-10204); the trust instrument may impose mandatory alternative dispute resolution on administration and distribution issues (§ 14-10205).

Settlor

A person, including a testator, who creates or contributes property to a trust; where more than one person does, each is the settlor of the portion attributable to that person's contribution (A.R.S. § 14-10103). While a trust is revocable, the beneficiaries' rights are subject to the settlor's control and the trustee's duties are owed exclusively to the settlor (§ 14-10603).

Trustee

The person who holds and administers the trust property — an original, additional or successor trustee or a cotrustee (A.R.S. § 14-10103). On accepting, a trustee administers the trust in good faith, in accordance with its terms and purposes and the interests of the beneficiaries, and in accordance with the Arizona Trust Code (§ 14-10801). Gid: Devwa administratè siksesè Arizona apre yon lanmò

Successor trustee

The trustee who takes over when a trustee rejects, resigns, is 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 it confers, then by a person the qualified beneficiaries unanimously agree on, then by the court (A.R.S. § 14-10704); a successor takes reasonable steps to compel a former trustee's delivery and to redress a known breach (§ 14-10812). Gid: Trustee siksesè Arizona: aksepte wòl la

Acceptance of the trusteeship

How a designated trustee becomes trustee: by substantially complying with the trust's method of acceptance or, where none is exclusive, by accepting delivery of the trust property, exercising powers or performing duties as trustee, or otherwise indicating acceptance; one who does not accept within a reasonable time after knowing of the designation is deemed to have rejected (A.R.S. § 14-10701). Arizona's acceptance notice counts sixty days from the acceptance (§ 14-10813(B)(2)).

Letters of trusteeship

The Arizona Trust Code provides none for the trustee of a living trust: a trust is administered without continuing court supervision unless the court orders it (A.R.S. § 14-10201). An institution usually asks for a certification of trust instead (§ 14-11013).

Beneficiary

A person who has a present or future beneficial interest in a trust, vested or contingent, or who holds a power of appointment over trust property in a capacity other than trustee (A.R.S. § 14-10103).

Distributee

A person who receives property from a trust other than as a creditor or purchaser (A.R.S. § 14-10103). The trustee's report goes to the distributees and permissible distributees of trust income or principal, and to other beneficiaries who request it (§ 14-10813(C)).

Qualified beneficiary

A beneficiary who, on the date the qualification is determined, is a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal, or would be one if the current distributees' interests or the trust itself terminated that day (A.R.S. § 14-10103(14)); a designated charitable organization and the enforcer of an animal or purpose trust have the same rights (§ 14-10110). Arizona's sixty-day notices go to this group (§ 14-10813(B)).

Revocable trust

A trust the settlor may revoke without anyone's consent (A.R.S. § 14-10103). Unless the terms expressly provide that the trust is irrevocable, the settlor may revoke or amend it, by the terms' method or by a later will or codicil or another signed writing showing clear and convincing evidence of the intent (§ 14-10602); community property in such a trust may be revoked by either spouse as to that spouse's share but amended only jointly. Gid: Trust vivan revokab Arizona la, esplike

Irrevocable trust

A trust that can no longer be revoked — by its terms or because the settlor has died. Within sixty days after acquiring knowledge that a trust is irrevocable, the trustee notifies the qualified beneficiaries of its existence and their rights (A.R.S. § 14-10813(B)(3)). Gid: Trust irevokab Arizona, eksplike

Notice of the trust's existence

The notice a trustee gives the qualified beneficiaries within sixty days after acquiring knowledge of the creation of an irrevocable trust, or that a formerly revocable trust has become irrevocable — by the settlor's death or otherwise: the trust's existence, the identity of the settlor or settlors, the trustee's name, address and telephone number, the right to request a copy of the relevant portions of the trust instrument and the right to a trustee's report (A.R.S. § 14-10813(B)(3)). It applies to a trust created or made irrevocable on or after January 1, 2009 (§ 14-10813(E)).

Notice of acceptance

The notice a trustee gives the qualified beneficiaries within sixty days after accepting a trusteeship: the acceptance and the trustee's name, address and telephone number (A.R.S. § 14-10813(B)(2)). The same subsection provides at least thirty days' advance notice of a change in the method or rate of the trustee's compensation ((B)(4)).

Trustee's report

The report a trustee sends at least annually and at the trust's termination to the distributees or permissible distributees of trust income or principal and to other beneficiaries who request it: the trust property, liabilities, receipts and disbursements, including the source and amount of the trustee's compensation, a listing of the trust assets and, if feasible, their respective market values; on a vacancy with no cotrustee in office, the former trustee sends it (A.R.S. § 14-10813(C)). Gid: Egzijans kontablite trust nan Arizona

Waiver of the report

A beneficiary may waive the right to a trustee's report or other information otherwise required under A.R.S. § 14-10813, and may withdraw a waiver previously given as to future reports and information (§ 14-10813(D)).

Relevant portions of the trust instrument

On a beneficiary's request, the trustee promptly furnishes a copy of the portions of the trust instrument that are necessary to describe the beneficiary's interest (A.R.S. § 14-10813(B)(1)) — not the whole instrument; the existence notice tells the qualified beneficiaries of this right (§ 14-10813(B)(3)).

Certification of trust

A statement a trustee may furnish a person other than a beneficiary instead of the trust instrument: the trust's existence and the instrument's date, the settlor, the acting trustee and address, the trustee's powers, revocability and who may revoke, the cotrustees' signing authority and the manner of taking title — signed by any trustee, stating that the trust has not been revoked, modified or amended in a way that would make it incorrect, and without the dispositive terms (A.R.S. § 14-11013). Arizona's list carries no taxpayer identification number.

Court-appointed representative

A person the court appoints to receive notice, give consent and otherwise act for a minor, an incapacitated person, an unborn child or a person whose identity or location is unknown, where the beneficiary's interest is not otherwise represented or the representation might be inadequate (A.R.S. § 14-10302); the probate code's representation rules apply to trusts (§ 14-10301).

Duty of loyalty

A trustee administers the trust solely in the interests of the beneficiaries. A sale, encumbrance or other transaction involving trust property that the trustee enters for the trustee's own account, or that is affected by a conflict between the trustee's fiduciary and personal interests, is voidable by an affected beneficiary unless an exception the statute states applies; a transaction with the trustee's spouse, descendants, siblings or parents, the trustee's agent or attorney, or an enterprise the trustee has an interest in is presumed to be conflicted (A.R.S. § 14-10802).

Prudent administration

A trustee administers the trust as a prudent person would, considering its purposes, terms, distributional requirements and other circumstances, with reasonable care, skill and caution (A.R.S. § 14-10804), incurring only costs reasonable in relation to the property, the purposes and the trustee's skills (§ 14-10805), and using any special skills the trustee has or was named for (§ 14-10806).

Prudent investor rule

Article 9 of the Arizona Trust Code: a trustee invests and manages trust assets as a prudent investor would, in the context of the portfolio as a whole and an overall strategy with suitable risk and return objectives (A.R.S. § 14-10902), diversifies unless special circumstances make it better not to (§ 14-10903), and reviews the assets within a reasonable time after accepting (§ 14-10904); the rule is a default the trust's provisions may alter (§ 14-10901).

Impartiality

Where a trust has two or more beneficiaries, the trustee acts impartially in investing, managing and distributing the trust property, giving due regard to the beneficiaries' respective interests (A.R.S. § 14-10803).

Delegation

A trustee may delegate duties and powers a prudent trustee of comparable skills could properly delegate, with reasonable care in selecting the agent, setting the scope and terms and reviewing the agent's performance; an agent who accepts a delegation submits to the jurisdiction of Arizona's courts (A.R.S. § 14-10807); investment functions are delegated under the prudent investor rule's own section (§ 14-10907).

Cotrustees

Trustees serving together who, when they 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).

Powers to direct (directed trust)

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 to notify the beneficiaries of investment actions taken under them, is not responsible for the directed assets, and is not liable for acting on a direction unless in bad faith or with reckless indifference; a person other than a beneficiary who holds a power to direct is presumptively a fiduciary (A.R.S. § 14-10808).

Trust protector

A person the trust instrument appoints with powers such as removing and appointing a trustee, amending the instrument, changing a beneficiary's interest, modifying a power of appointment or changing the governing law; except as the instrument provides, a trust protector is not a trustee or fiduciary and is not liable as one (A.R.S. § 14-10818).

Trustee compensation

What the trust's terms specify or, if they are silent, compensation that is reasonable under the circumstances; a court may allow more or less than a specified amount where the duties are substantially different from those contemplated or the amount would be unreasonably low or high (A.R.S. § 14-10708). The trustee notifies the qualified beneficiaries at least thirty days in advance of a change in the method or rate (§ 14-10813(B)(4)), and the report shows the source and amount (§ 14-10813(C)). Arizona sets no fee schedule for a trustee. Gid: Konpansasyon trustee Arizona (A.R.S. § 14-10708)

Spendthrift provision

A term valid if it restrains either voluntary or involuntary transfer of a beneficiary's interest — words that the interest is held subject to a spendthrift trust suffice — so that a creditor or assignee may not reach the interest or a distribution before the beneficiary receives it (A.R.S. § 14-10502), with exceptions for a child's support order and a creditor who protected the beneficiary's interest in the trust, neither enforceable against a special needs trust (§ 14-10503).

Discretionary distribution

A distribution left to the trustee's discretion; a beneficiary's creditor may not compel it, even where the discretion is expressed as a standard or the trustee has not followed the standard, except a court's order for a child's support (A.R.S. § 14-10504), while a mandatory distribution the trustee has not made within a reasonable period may be reached (§ 14-10506).

Special needs trust

A trust for one or more persons with disabilities whose purposes include allowing the person to qualify or keep qualifying for public, charitable or private benefits (A.R.S. § 14-10103(17)); the spendthrift exception for support orders is unenforceable against it (§ 14-10503), and a settlor's creditor may not reach or compel its distributions (§ 14-10505).

Nonjudicial settlement agreement

A binding agreement among interested persons on any matter involving a trust — the interpretation of its terms, the approval of a trustee's report, a direction to a trustee, the resignation, appointment or compensation of a trustee, a transfer of the place of administration or a trustee's liability — valid to the extent it does not violate a material purpose and contains terms the court could approve; the court may approve or decline to approve it but may not disapprove it (A.R.S. § 14-10111).

Appointment to another trust (decanting)

A trustee with discretion to make distributions may, without prior court approval, appoint part or all of the trust property to the trustee of another trust for the beneficiaries' benefit, within the conditions the statute lists — no reduction of a fixed income payment, no adverse tax effect, no wider standard where the trustee is a possible beneficiary; the trustee may ask the court to approve it before or after (A.R.S. § 14-10819).

Total return unitrust

An income trust converted so that distributions are a percentage of the trust's fair market value, between three and five per cent, after the trustee's written policy and written notice to the living settlor, all qualified beneficiaries and every adviser or protector, with no objection delivered within thirty days after receipt (A.R.S. § 14-11014).

Uneconomic trust

After notice to the qualified beneficiaries, the trustee of a trust worth less than $100,000 in total, or uneconomic to administer, may terminate it on concluding that the value is insufficient to justify the cost of administration; an interested trustee may not (A.R.S. § 14-10414).

Combination and division of trusts

After notice to the qualified beneficiaries — unless the instrument says notice is not required — a trustee may combine two or more trusts or divide a trust into separate trusts, if the result does not impair a beneficiary's rights or the trust's purposes (A.R.S. § 14-10417).

Principal place of administration

The place the trust instrument designates, where a trustee's principal place of business or residence is there or part of the administration occurs there; a trustee may transfer it to another state or country after notifying the qualified beneficiaries at least sixty days before, with an objection date at least sixty days after the notice, and loses the authority on a reasonably founded written objection (A.R.S. § 14-10108).

Resignation of the trustee

A trustee may resign, unless the instrument provides otherwise, on at least thirty days' notice to the qualified beneficiaries, the settlor if living and all cotrustees, or with the court's approval; resignation does not discharge the trustee's liability for the trustee's acts (A.R.S. § 14-10705). A trustee who has resigned or been removed keeps the powers needed to protect the property until it is delivered (§ 14-10707).

Removal of the trustee

The settlor, a cotrustee or a beneficiary may ask the court to remove a trustee, or the court may act on its own, for a material breach of trust, a lack of cooperation among cotrustees, unfitness, unwillingness or persistent failure to administer, or a substantial change of circumstances or a request by all qualified beneficiaries where removal best serves the beneficiaries (A.R.S. § 14-10706).

Breach of trust

A trustee's violation of a duty owed to a beneficiary; the court may compel performance, enjoin a breach, compel redress, order an account, appoint a special fiduciary, suspend or remove the trustee, reduce or deny compensation, void an act or impose a lien or constructive trust, among other relief (A.R.S. § 14-11001); the trustee is liable for the greater of the loss and the trustee's profit (§ 14-11002).

Limitation period (claims against a trustee)

A beneficiary may not commence a proceeding for breach of trust more than one year after being sent a report that adequately disclosed the existence of a potential claim and informed the beneficiary of the time allowed; where that rule does not apply, two years after the first of the trustee's removal, resignation or death, the end of the beneficiary's interest and the trust's termination (A.R.S. § 14-11005).

Contest period

A trust that was revocable at the settlor's death may be contested within the earlier of one year after the death and four months after the trustee sends the person a copy of the trust instrument and a notice of the trust's existence, the trustee's name and address and the time allowed (A.R.S. § 14-10604(A)).

Distribution after the settlor's death

On the death of the settlor of a trust that was revocable at the death, the trustee may proceed to distribute the trust property under its terms and is not liable for doing so unless the trustee has actual knowledge of a pending contest or a potential contestant has given written notice of a possible proceeding and commences one within sixty days (A.R.S. § 14-10604(B)); a beneficiary of a trust later determined invalid must return a distribution unless a bona fide purchaser (§ 14-10604(C)).

Proposal for distribution

On a termination or partial termination, the trustee may send the beneficiaries a proposal for distribution; a beneficiary's right to object ends if the beneficiary does not notify the trustee of an objection within thirty days after the proposal was sent, provided the proposal informed the beneficiary of the right to object and the time allowed (A.R.S. § 14-10817(A)); the trustee distributes within a reasonable time, subject to a reasonable reserve for debts, expenses and taxes (§ 14-10817(B)). Gid: Fèmen yon trust nan Arizona: etap final administratè a

The trustee's notice to creditors (optional)

After the settlor's death the trustee of a nontestamentary trust may notify known creditors and may publish notice to creditors as a personal representative would (A.R.S. § 14-6103; § 14-3801); a claim that arose before the death and is not presented within the notice's time is barred against the trust estate, the trustee and the beneficiaries, and the trustee is not liable for giving or failing to give the notice (§ 14-6103).

Claims against the estate

At appointment, 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 a mailed notice if later (A.R.S. § 14-3801); claims not presented in time are barred, and where no notice is given within the earlier of two years after the death plus the remaining notice period (§ 14-3803).

Nonprobate transferee's liability

A transferee of a nonprobate transfer — including the trustee of a trust that was revocable by the decedent — is liable to the probate estate for allowed claims and the statutory allowances to the extent the probate estate is insufficient, in a proceeding commenced within two years after the death after a written demand to the personal representative; a trustee without written notice of an insufficient estate is released on assets distributed to the beneficiaries (A.R.S. § 14-6102).

The trust's liability for the settlor's estate

After the settlor's death, the property of a trust that was revocable at the death is subject to the settlor's creditors' claims, the costs of administering the estate, the funeral expenses and the statutory allowances to the surviving spouse and children to the extent the probate estate is inadequate, subject to the settlor's right to direct the source of payment and to exemptions (A.R.S. § 14-10505(A)(3)).

Homestead exemption

A person's interest in the dwelling the person resides in — real property, a condominium or cooperative, or a mobile home and its land — exempt from attachment, execution and forced sale up to $400,000 in the statute, adjusted annually for the cost of living from January 1, 2024; one homestead per person or married couple, continuing in identifiable cash proceeds of a sale for eighteen months (A.R.S. § 33-1101). It is a creditor exemption, not a restriction on devising a home. Gid: Kay la apre yon lanmò nan Arizona

Homestead allowance

A surviving spouse's $18,000 allowance from the decedent's estate — divided among the minor and dependent children where there is no spouse — exempt from and prior to all claims except expenses of administration, and chargeable against what passes to the spouse or child unless the will or governing instrument provides otherwise (A.R.S. § 14-2402).

Community property

All property either spouse acquires during the marriage, except property acquired by gift, devise or descent or after service of a petition for dissolution, legal separation or annulment that results in a decree (A.R.S. § 25-211). The decedent's one-half passes with the separate property; the surviving spouse's half is the spouse's own (§ 14-2102); a trustee dividing community property may consider community property outside the trust so that the division comes out by equal value (§ 14-10816).

By representation

Arizona's intestate division among descendants: the estate is divided into as many equal shares as there are surviving descendants in the nearest generation with a survivor and deceased descendants in that generation who left surviving descendants; each survivor in that generation takes a share, and the remaining shares are combined and divided in the same manner among the next generation — per capita at each generation (A.R.S. § 14-2106; § 14-2103). Gid: Kalkilatè per stirpes pou administratè Arizona

Surviving spouse's intestate share

The entire intestate estate — the separate property and the decedent's half of the community property — where there is no surviving issue or every surviving issue is also the spouse's; one-half of the intestate separate property and no interest in the decedent's half of the community property where one or more surviving issue are not the spouse's (A.R.S. § 14-2102). Gid: Mouri san testaman nan Arizona (entesta)

Small estate affidavit

The affidavit on which a person holding a decedent's personal property, or a transfer agent or the motor vehicle division, delivers it to a successor thirty days after the death where no personal representative is appointed and the personal property, net of liens, does not exceed $200,000; and the affidavit a successor files in the superior court, and records, not sooner than six months after the death for real property not exceeding $300,000 by the assessment rolls, net of liens (A.R.S. § 14-3971). Gid: Pwobasyon nan Arizona, eksplike

Personal representative (executor or administrator)

The person the court appoints to administer a decedent's probate estate. The representative prepares an inventory within ninety days of appointment, with each item's value, its nature as community or separate property and any encumbrance (A.R.S. § 14-3706), publishes and mails the notice to creditors (§ 14-3801) and administers the claims (§ 14-3803); a person serving for a fee without being related or nominated is a fiduciary licensed by the supreme court (§ 14-5651).

Licensed fiduciary

A person licensed by the supreme court to serve for a fee as a court-appointed guardian, conservator or personal representative for unrelated persons, under a code of conduct, a bond, training and biennial renewal (A.R.S. § 14-5651); a person whose fiduciary license has been suspended or revoked may not serve as a trustee unless related to the beneficiary by blood, adoption or marriage (§ 14-10820).

Methods of notice

Notice under the Trust Code is accomplished in a manner reasonably suitable under the circumstances and likely to result in receipt — first class mail, personal delivery, delivery to the person's last known place of residence or business, or a properly directed electronic message; it need not go to a person whose identity or location is unknown and not reasonably ascertainable, and may be waived (A.R.S. § 14-10109).

Fraudulent transfer

A transfer made with actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud a creditor, or without a reasonably equivalent value while the debtor was or became unable to pay (A.R.S. § 44-1004; § 44-1005); a claim for relief is extinguished four years after the transfer, or one year after its discovery for actual intent (§ 44-1009).

Exempt property

Property Arizona keeps from a judgment creditor — among it qualified retirement plans and deferred compensation plans, the cash value of life insurance and annuities owned for two years and payable to a spouse, child, parent, sibling or dependent, up to $20,000 payable to a surviving spouse or child on a life, a $5,000 account at one financial institution adjusted annually, and a section 529 plan (A.R.S. § 33-1126); life insurance proceeds payable to a beneficiary other than the insured belong to that beneficiary against the insured's creditors (§ 20-1131). Gid: Pwoteksyon byen nan Arizona: baz yo

Witnessed will

An Arizona paper will is in writing, signed by the testator or by another in the testator's conscious presence and at the testator's direction, and signed by at least two people, each within a reasonable time after witnessing the signing or the testator's acknowledgment (A.R.S. § 14-2502); the testator must be eighteen and of sound mind (§ 14-2501).

Holographic will

A will that does not meet the witnessing requirements is valid 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).

Self-proved will

A will made self-proved by the testator's acknowledgment and the witnesses' affidavits before an officer authorized to administer oaths, in substantially the forms the statute prints, at execution or at any time afterward (A.R.S. § 14-2504). After the death, the custodian of a will delivers it with reasonable promptness to a person able to secure its probate or to the court (§ 14-2516).

No-contest (penalty) clause

A provision in a trust instrument or a will that penalizes an interested person for contesting it or instituting other proceedings is unenforceable if probable cause exists for the contest or proceeding (A.R.S. § 14-10113; § 14-2517).

Beneficiary deed

A deed that conveys an interest in real property to a grantee beneficiary, expressly effective on the owner's death, executed and recorded with the county recorder before the death; revocable by a recorded instrument before the death, not revoked by a will, and usable to transfer property to the trustee of a trust, revocable or not (A.R.S. § 33-405). Gid: Kijan pou evite pwobasyon nan Arizona

Deed to or from a trustee

Every deed of Arizona real property in which the grantee is or acts as a trustee, and every deed by a grantor who holds title as a trustee, discloses the names and addresses of the beneficiaries and identifies the trust, or refers to a recorded instrument that does; a trustee who learns of a change in beneficiary records a notice within thirty days, with the exceptions the statute states (A.R.S. § 33-404).

Health care surrogate

The person who may decide for an adult patient who cannot make or communicate health care decisions and whose agent under a health care power of attorney or guardian is not available — in order of priority the spouse, a majority of the adult children, a parent, an unmarried patient's domestic partner, a sibling or a close friend — following the patient's known wishes (A.R.S. § 36-3231). Gid: Pwokirasyon ak direktiv alavans nan Arizona

Living will

Any writing that meets the requirements of Arizona's health care directives article may create a living will, with or without a health care power of attorney; the statute prints a sample — statements on a terminal condition, resuscitation, artificially administered food and fluids and prolonging life — offered as a sample only (A.R.S. § 36-3262).

Arizona estate tax (none)

Arizona imposes no estate tax for a death after 2004 and no inheritance or gift tax; the federal estate tax return and the trust's fiduciary income tax returns (Form 141AZ, with the federal Form 1041) are the returns a trustee records with the family's advisers.

Security breach notification

A person conducting business in Arizona that owns or licenses computerized personal information investigates a security incident and, on determining that a breach occurred, notifies the affected individuals within forty-five days — and, where more than one thousand individuals must be notified, the three largest consumer reporting agencies, the attorney general and the department of homeland security (A.R.S. § 18-552; definitions, § 18-551).