How much does probate cost in Arizona?
2 Aug 2026
Arizona publishes no percentage for the attorney and none for the personal representative. What it does fix is the court: $149.00 to open a probate case.
Both fees are reasonable compensation, and Arizona controls them at the back end rather than the front: any interested person — expressly including anyone the representative employed — can ask the court to review whether the employment was proper and whether the pay was reasonable, and anyone who took too much can be ordered to refund it. The newspaper notice has no set price. The bond has no set sum: it starts from a sworn estimate of what the estate is worth and comes down from there.
A.R.S. §12-284(A) class C — Arizona Revised Statutes, published by the Arizona Legislature · Verified 2 Aug 2026
Informational only, not legal advice. Figures verified on the date stamped. Details: /disclaimer/
Work it out on your own number
Arizona sets no percentage on either professional fee, so there is no schedule to work. What the calculator can give you is the fixed court side.
| Opening a probate case — class C | $149.00 |
| Later steps in a probate case — class D | $74.00 |
| Minimum clerk fee — class E | $30.00 |
| Attorney | reasonable |
| Personal representative | reasonable |
The class C fee of $149.00 covers a petition in a formal testacy or appointment proceeding, an application for informal probate or informal appointment, a petition for supervised administration, a petition to appoint a conservator or make another protective order, an opposing petition, and a single estate application under title 14, chapter 3, section 14-3938. Post-judgment activity in a probate case drops to class D at $74.00, and routine acts — filing a power of attorney, certifying a copy, filing a paper with no fee of its own — sit at the class E minimum of $30.00.
The two professional fees cannot be computed from an estate value in Arizona, because no percentage exists to compute. Anyone quoting you an Arizona executor percentage is quoting another state.
What each part costs
Every row is one figure, one source, one date. Where Arizona fixes no price, the row says so instead of guessing.
| Fee | Amount or formula | Set by | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attorney feeOrdinary services | No statutory scheduleArizona publishes no percentage for the estate’s attorney and no schedule of any kind. What the statute gives instead is a review mechanism. After notice to all interested persons, on the petition of any interested person — and that expressly includes any person the representative employed — the court may review whether employing that person was proper at all, whether their compensation is reasonable, and whether the compensation the representative set for his own services is reasonable. Anyone who has received excessive compensation from an estate may be ordered to make an appropriate refund. | Agreement, reviewable and refundable | A.R.S. §14-3721 | 2 Aug 2026 |
| Personal representativeExecutor or administrator | Reasonable compensationArizona entitles the personal representative to reasonable compensation for services and sets no percentage anywhere. Where the will provides for the representative’s compensation and there was no contract with the decedent about it, the representative may renounce that provision before qualifying and take reasonable compensation instead. The representative may also renounce the right to all or part of the compensation altogether, and file a written renunciation with the court. Whether what is taken is reasonable is open to review under §14-3721. | Statute — reasonable, reviewable | A.R.S. §14-3719 | 2 Aug 2026 |
| Court filing feeOpening the estate | $149.00$149.00, and the law lets it rise — the supreme court may raise the statutory fees by no more than the change in the average consumer price index since the last increase; check the county clerk’s own schedule before filing. The clerk of the superior court receives fees in statutory classes and probate opens in class C. Later steps in the case fall to class D at $74.00, and the class E minimum of $30.00 covers routine filings. The money collected goes to the county treasurer, so what a particular clerk charges today can sit above the printed figure. | Statute, raisable by the supreme court | A.R.S. §12-284(A) class C, with (K) and (L) | 2 Aug 2026 |
| Newspaper publicationNotice to creditors | Not fixed by statuteNot fixed by statute — the newspaper sets its own rate. The statute sets how often the notice runs and for how long: at the time of appointment the representative publishes once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, giving the appointment and the representative’s address, and telling creditors to present claims within four months of first publication or be forever barred. Publication is not the whole duty — written notice must also go to all known creditors, and a creditor who gets written notice has until four months after the published notice or sixty days after the mailing, whichever is later. The section protects the representative personally: no liability to a creditor or successor for giving or failing to give notice under it. | The newspaper | A.R.S. §14-3801 | 2 Aug 2026 |
| BondPersonal representative’s bond | Required unless waived
|
Sworn estimate, then the court | A.R.S. §14-3604(A) | 10 Aug 2026 |
Arizona controls fees coming out, not going in. There is no cap to check a bill against before you pay it. The remedy is the §14-3721 review — and the statute says in terms that a person who has received excessive compensation may be ordered to refund it, which is a stronger remedy than most states give.
How the Arizona sources are linked. The Arizona Legislature publishes the Revised Statutes with a stable address for each section, so every source above points at the exact section we read.
What can change the bill — allowances, waivers and one-off charges
- Later steps in the case — $74.00 for post-judgment activity in a probate matter, and a $30.00 minimum clerk fee for routine filings such as a power of attorney, a certified copy, or any paper with no fee of its own.
- Consumer price index increases — the supreme court may raise the statutory clerk fees by no more than the change in the average CPI since the last increase, so the printed figure is a floor rather than a ceiling. We re-check this one every autumn.
- Surety premium — where a bond is ordered and a bonding company is used, the premium is a private rate. No statute fixes it.
A.R.S. §12-284(A) classes D and E, with (K) and (L); §14-3604(A) — Arizona Revised Statutes · Verified 2 Aug 2026
What changes YOUR number in Arizona
- Reasonable is not the same as unlimited
- Arizona gives no number, but it gives a process. Any interested person may ask the court, after notice to everyone interested, to review whether employing a professional was proper at all and whether what they were paid is reasonable — and the review reaches the representative’s own compensation too. The section ends with the part that matters: a person who has received excessive compensation from an estate for services rendered may be ordered to make an appropriate refund.
- If the will names a fee, it can bind you
- In Arizona, an executor who accepts without renouncing the will’s compensation clause before qualifying is held to it. The renunciation is available only where there was no contract with the decedent about compensation, and only before qualifying — afterwards the clause stands.
- $149.00 is a floor, not a ceiling
- Two things stop the printed figure from being the whole answer. The supreme court may raise the statutory fees by the change in the average consumer price index since the last increase, and the money collected goes to the county treasurer. What a particular clerk charges today can therefore sit above $149.00. Ask the clerk of the superior court in your county before you budget.
- The bond starts high and comes down
- The sworn estimate sets a floor covering personal estate, real estate less encumbrances, and a year’s expected income from both. Arizona then supplies three ways down: the bond may be reduced by the value of the real estate where the letters restrict sales of real property to court-confirmed sales; the registrar may permit a reduction by the value of estate assets deposited with the clerk or with a domestic financial institution in a way that prevents unauthorised disposition; and on petition the court may excuse the bond entirely, increase or reduce it, release sureties, or permit a substitute.
- The four-month bar has a sixty-day tail
- The published notice starts a four-month clock. But a creditor who is given written notice has until four months after the published notice or sixty days after the mailing, whichever is later. A creditor identified late can therefore have longer to claim than the headline four months suggests, which matters when you are deciding when it is safe to distribute.
Arizona has three small-estate routes, not one — and three different ceilings
Arizona runs three separate affidavit routes, and the conditions differ far more than the headline figures suggest. The page will not give you a single Arizona small-estate number, because there is not one.
- Unpaid wages — $5,000.00. Wages, salary or other compensation owing to the decedent may be paid to the surviving spouse on affidavit at any time after the death. No waiting period at all.
- Personal property — $200,000.00. Collected by affidavit thirty days after the death, where the value of all personal property in the estate wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed the ceiling, the claiming successor is entitled to it, and the funeral expenses and the expenses of the last illness have been paid.
- Real property — $300,000.00, and six months, not thirty days. An affidavit of succession is filed in the superior court where the value of all Arizona real property in the estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed the ceiling.
- The real property route carries a longer list of conditions: the funeral, the last illness and all unsecured debts paid, no federal estate tax due, no other person with a right to the property, and the claimant entitled by allowance in lieu of homestead, exempt property or family allowance, by intestate succession, or by devise under a valid will.
- For real property the value is taken from the assessment rolls for the year in question, and where a debt is secured by a lien the value is the unpaid principal balance.
- Both property ceilings are measured either as at the date of death, or as at the date of the affidavit where the personal representative has been discharged or more than a year has passed.
The six-month wait on real property is the thing most summaries get wrong. Thirty days is the personal-property route. Real property needs six months and the unsecured debts paid as well as the funeral and last illness.
A.R.S. §14-3971(A), (B), (E) and (F) — Arizona Revised Statutes · Verified 2 Aug 2026
Check your own estate against the Arizona route →
Three tools, in the order most people need them
Arizona probate cost questions
How much does an executor get paid in Arizona?
There is no percentage. Arizona entitles the personal representative to reasonable compensation and publishes no schedule of any kind. What is taken is open to review by the court on the petition of any interested person, and anyone who has received excessive compensation can be ordered to refund it. If the will names a fee, the representative must renounce that clause before qualifying to take reasonable compensation instead.
Does Arizona set probate attorney fees by statute?
No. Arizona publishes no attorney schedule. The control is a review section: on the petition of any interested person, the court may examine whether employing the attorney was proper at all and whether the fee is reasonable, and may order a refund of anything excessive.
What does it cost to file for probate in Arizona?
$149.00 to open the case — the clerk of the superior court charges probate matters in class C. Later steps in the case fall to class D at $74.00, and routine filings sit at the class E minimum of $30.00. The supreme court may raise those figures by the change in the consumer price index, so check the county clerk schedule before you budget.
How much is the newspaper notice in Arizona probate?
Arizona sets no price. The notice runs once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, and the paper sets its own rate. Written notice must also go to every known creditor, which is a separate cost in postage and time.
What is the small estate limit in Arizona?
There are three, not one. Unpaid wages up to $5,000 can be paid to the surviving spouse on affidavit immediately. Personal property up to $200,000 can be collected by affidavit thirty days after the death. Real property up to $300,000 needs an affidavit of succession filed in the superior court and a six-month wait, with all unsecured debts paid as well as the funeral and last illness.
Sources & verification
Every figure on this page was checked against the official source on the date shown. Arizona publishes its Revised Statutes with a stable address for each section, so each entry points at the exact text we read.
- Attorney fee, and the review that controls it — A.R.S. §14-3721 azleg.govVerified 2 Aug 2026 · annual statutory re-check
- Personal representative’s compensation and renunciation — A.R.S. §14-3719 azleg.govVerified 2 Aug 2026 · annual statutory re-check
- Court filing fee — A.R.S. §12-284(A) class C, read with (K) and (L) azleg.govVerified 2 Aug 2026 · raisable by consumer price index under subsection L · autumn re-check
- Publication schedule — A.R.S. §14-3801 azleg.govVerified 2 Aug 2026 · annual statutory re-check
- Bond, when it is required — A.R.S. §14-3603 azleg.govVerified 10 Aug 2026 · annual statutory re-check
- Bond, how the amount is fixed — A.R.S. §14-3604(A) azleg.govVerified 2 Aug 2026 · annual statutory re-check
- Small-estate routes — A.R.S. §14-3971(A), (B), (E) and (F) azleg.govVerified 2 Aug 2026 · annual statutory re-check
Researched and verified by John Terra · Methodology
This page is information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws and fee schedules change; every figure here was verified on the date stamped beside it. For advice about your own situation, consult an attorney licensed in Arizona. Full terms: /disclaimer/ · Privacy
Every state, one standard: How much does probate cost? →
Nearby and often compared: Nevada, California, Utah and New Mexico
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