Arizona Probate Accounting

An Arizona personal representative holds someone else's property and has to answer for every dollar of it. Accounting is how you give that answer: what the estate held, what came in, what went out, and what each heir finally received. Heirs and devisees have a right to that picture, and a personal representative who cannot produce it risks court proceedings, personal liability, and removal.

Arizona adopted the Uniform Probate Code, so most estates run informally and unsupervised. This guide explains Arizona probate accounting: the 90-day inventory duty, how accounting differs between an unsupervised estate and a supervised one, what an accounting must contain, when interested persons can demand one, and how the closing statement ends the case. Arizona probate runs through the Superior Court of the county where the person lived, which is the state's general-jurisdiction court with locations in each county.

Why Accounting Matters

The duty to account grows out of the personal representative's fiduciary role. Under A.R.S. 14-3703, an Arizona personal representative is a fiduciary who must settle and distribute the estate in the interests of the persons interested in it, and the same section addresses relation and liability to those persons. Managing another person's property carries a duty of transparency that is not optional.

Accounting also protects you. A clean, documented account shows that you inventoried the estate, paid valid claims in the right order, and distributed what was left according to the will or Arizona's intestacy rules. Without that record, you are exposed to claims that you mismanaged the estate or mixed its money with your own. Arizona is a community property state, so your account should reflect that only the decedent's one-half of the community property, plus the decedent's separate property, moved through the estate.

The Inventory

Before any final account is due, you prepare an inventory and appraisement. Under A.R.S. 14-3706, the personal representative must prepare an inventory within 90 days after appointment, listing each item in reasonable detail, its fair market value as of the date of death, and the type and amount of any encumbrance on it.

Deadline: within 90 days of the date the court appoints you, not 90 days from the date of death.

Arizona gives you a choice on where the inventory goes. Under A.R.S. 14-3706 you may file the original with the court, or deliver or mail a copy to each of the interested persons who requests it. The inventory is the opening balance for everything that follows, so build it carefully: for each asset, capture the title or account number, the date-of-death value, any lien, and the source document. If property surfaces later or a value proves wrong, prepare a supplemental inventory and provide it the same way.

Missing this mandatory deadline is not a small thing. It exposes the personal representative to a court proceeding to compel the inventory and to removal or a surcharge.

Unsupervised vs. Supervised Accounting in Arizona

Arizona handles all probate through the Superior Court, but your accounting obligations turn on whether the estate is unsupervised or supervised.

Unsupervised (Informal) Administration

Most Arizona estates open informally and run unsupervised. Informal probate or informal appointment is available for qualifying uncontested matters through the county Superior Court clerk or registrar, under A.R.S. Title 14, Chapter 3. In an unsupervised estate, the personal representative is generally not required to file periodic accountings with the court while the case is open. Instead, the duty runs to the people with a stake in the estate: you send the inventory to interested persons who request it, keep the heirs and devisees informed, and deliver a full written account when you close. Regular updates prevent most disputes and reduce the chance that someone asks the court to step in.

Supervised or Formal Administration

Formal probate or appointment proceedings run through the Superior Court for contested or court-supervised matters, under A.R.S. Title 14, Chapter 3. Supervised administration means the personal representative acts under continuing court oversight, and the estate is settled and distributed under a court order rather than a self-filed statement. The court reviews the accounting and the proposed distribution before it discharges you. That closer oversight is one reason supervised administration takes longer and costs more than the ordinary informal track.

What Goes in a Probate Accounting

Whether you deliver it to the heirs and devisees at closing or file it for court review, an Arizona estate accounting has four main parts.

1. Opening Value

The starting point: the value from your inventory and appraisement, or the ending balance from a prior account.

2. Receipts

Everything the estate took in during the period:

Cash gathered from bank and investment accounts
Income earned after death, such as interest, dividends, and rent
Proceeds from selling estate property
Refunds and insurance proceeds paid to the estate

3. Disbursements

Everything paid out of estate funds:

Funeral and last-illness expenses
Allowed creditor claims, paid in statutory priority order
Administration costs: court fees, publication, appraisal, and professional fees
Personal-representative compensation and attorney fees
Taxes. Arizona imposes no state estate tax, but the estate may owe income tax on income earned during administration, and the decedent's final income tax return is still due.

4. Distributions and Ending Balance

What each beneficiary received and what remains on hand. A final account should reconcile to zero, or close to it, once distribution is complete. In an Arizona community property estate, note how the decedent's separate property and one-half community share were handled.

When Beneficiaries Can Demand an Accounting

Arizona structures the right to an account around the personal representative's fiduciary duty rather than a single fixed-deadline demand statute.

The inventory. Under A.R.S. 14-3706, an interested person who requests a copy is entitled to one, whether you filed it with the court or kept it for delivery.
The closing account. When you close an unsupervised estate, the closing statement under A.R.S. 14-3933 confirms that you sent a full account of your administration to the distributees and to creditors whose claims are neither paid nor barred.
The court route. If a beneficiary believes the estate is being mishandled, an interested person can petition the Superior Court under Arizona's Uniform Probate Code (A.R.S. Title 14) to compel an accounting and settlement, which is one of the matters the Superior Court hears.

Because a demand can turn into a court petition, put every response in writing and keep the delivery record. An heir who receives clear, timely information rarely escalates.

The Final Accounting and Closing the Estate

Unsupervised Estates

An unsupervised Arizona estate closes by a verified closing statement. Under A.R.S. 14-3933, you may file it no earlier than four months after your original appointment, after the creditor claim period has expired and the estate is fully administered. In the statement you verify that you published notice, that the time for presenting claims has expired, that you fully administered the estate by paying or settling claims and distributing the assets, and that you sent a copy of the statement and a full account to the distributees and to known unpaid creditors. If no proceeding involving you is pending one year after you file, your appointment terminates. No hearing is required for this route.

Supervised Estates

A supervised administration does not close by statement. It closes by court order. The Superior Court reviews your final accounting and proposed distribution, and once it is satisfied that debts, taxes, and allowances are handled, it enters an order settling the estate and discharging you.

Protecting Yourself as Personal Representative

Open a dedicated estate account. Run every estate transaction through it and never mix estate funds with your own. Commingling is the fastest way to lose the presumption that you acted properly.

Keep records from day one. Save receipts, invoices, statements, and a dated log of what you received and what you paid. Note the date on everything; timing decides most accounting disputes.

Pay claims in order. Arizona sets a priority for claims, and paying early or out of order can leave a higher-priority claim short and expose you personally. Set aside the family and exempt-property allowances first.

Get signed receipts at distribution. A receipt from each beneficiary documents that the distribution matched your account.

Communicate. A short update to the heirs and devisees every month or two heads off most demands and shows good faith if a question ever reaches the Superior Court.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does an Arizona personal representative file the accounting with the court?

In informal, unsupervised administration, generally no. You account to the heirs and devisees and deliver a full account with the closing statement under A.R.S. 14-3933. In supervised administration, the Superior Court reviews your accounting before it discharges you and closes the estate by court order.

When is the inventory due in Arizona?

Within 90 days after the court appoints you, under A.R.S. 14-3706. You may file the original with the court or deliver a copy to interested persons who request it.

Can beneficiaries waive a formal accounting?

Often, effectively, yes. An unsupervised estate closes on the written account you send with the closing statement rather than a court-audited accounting, so interested persons who are satisfied with the information they received can simply not ask for more. If an interested person is not satisfied, they can petition the Superior Court under A.R.S. Title 14 to compel a full accounting.

What happens if I do not account properly?

An interested person can petition the Superior Court to compel an accounting, and the court can order you to produce one. If you missed the inventory deadline or paid claims out of order, the court can remove you or impose a surcharge to make the estate whole.

Sources

Sources:

Title: 14-3703 - General duties; relation and liability to persons interested in estate; standing to sue. Publisher: Arizona Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed. Access date: 2026-07-01. URL: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/14/03703.htm
Title: 14-3706 - Duty of personal representative; inventory and appraisement. Publisher: Arizona Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed. Access date: 2026-07-01. URL: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/14/03706.htm
Title: 14-3801 - Notice to creditors. Publisher: Arizona Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed. Access date: 2026-07-01. URL: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/14/03801.htm
Title: 14-3933 - Closing estates; statement of personal representative. Publisher: Arizona Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed. Access date: 2026-07-01. URL: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/14/03933.htm
Title: Superior Court. Publisher: Arizona Judicial Branch. Publication Date: Not listed. Access date: 2026-07-01. URL: https://www.azcourts.gov/AZ-Courts/Superior-Court/Location-and-Contact-Information

This guide provides general information about Arizona probate accounting for personal representatives. Whether and how you must account depends on your specific estate and whether it is supervised, so confirm the current rules with the Superior Court handling the estate or a licensed Arizona attorney. It is not legal advice.