Arizona has 15 counties and one Superior Court in each. There are no separate probate courts, and every estate is filed with the Clerk of the Superior Court in the county where the deceased was domiciled at death under ARS § 14-3201.
Jonathan Khorsandi on May 05, 2026
Arizona has 15 counties and one Superior Court in each. There are no separate probate courts, and every estate is filed with the Clerk of the Superior Court in the county where the deceased was domiciled at death under ARS § 14-3201.
Do not use the statewide Arizona Judicial Branch public access search: probate is excluded from it. Maricopa has a public probate docket search that takes Last Name, First Name and Case Number only, with no document images. Pima offers limited case viewing and sends you to the courthouse or a mail request for documents.
Inspection is free, copies are $0.50 per page and certification is $35.00 in both counties. Most estates run 6 to 12 months. Since HB 2116 took effect on 26 September 2025, estates under $200,000 in personal property or $300,000 in Arizona real property, both net of liens, can pass by affidavit and never appear on a docket.
Arizona has 15 counties and one Superior Court in each of them. There are no separate probate courts. Every decedent's estate, guardianship and conservatorship in the state is filed with the Clerk of the Superior Court in the county where the deceased was domiciled at death, under Title 14 of the Arizona Revised Statutes.
One court per county sounds simple, and the filing rule is. Access is not. The statewide public case search that covers most Arizona courts excludes probate outright, so a search there returns nothing whether or not the estate exists. Each county clerk runs its own system instead.
Maricopa and Pima together hold roughly three quarters of the state's population, which is where the filing volume sits and where this guide focuses.
Yes. Probate case files in Arizona are public records held by the Clerk of the Superior Court, and any member of the public can inspect them. You do not need to be an heir, a beneficiary or an attorney.
Public means the petition, the order appointing the personal representative, the letters of appointment, the notice to creditors, the docket history and the hearing calendar. Access to individual documents is limited only where a judge has sealed something or where Arizona Supreme Court Rule 123 makes a specific record confidential.
Two limits matter more than the confidentiality rules. First, public does not mean online: neither Maricopa nor Pima puts probate document images in front of the general public without a visit or a request. Second, the inventory may not be in the file at all. Under ARS § 14-3706 the personal representative prepares an inventory within 90 days of appointment but may either file it with the court or simply mail copies to the heirs and devisees. Plenty choose the second option, which means the document listing the estate's real property and its values is frequently missing from the public record.
In the county of domicile at death. ARS § 14-3201 fixes venue for the first proceeding in the county where the decedent had their domicile, not where they died and not where the property sits. Someone who lived in Scottsdale and died in a Tucson hospital is administered in Maricopa County.
The exception is the non-resident owner. Where the decedent was not domiciled in Arizona, § 14-3201 puts venue in any county where property of the decedent was located at death. A Californian with a Sedona rental is administered where the rental is. In a snowbird state this exception is not rare.
Arizona adopted the Uniform Probate Code, so estates run informal or formal.
Informal probate is the default and the large majority of filings. The application goes to the registrar rather than a judge, letters issue without a hearing, and the personal representative can begin administering the estate immediately.
Formal probate is a judicial proceeding, used when the will is contested, when heirs are in dispute, or when the applicant needs the court to determine testacy or heirship. It takes longer and generates far more docket activity.
Neither track is the same thing as supervised administration, which is a separate status a court can impose under ARS § 14-3504. That distinction is the one agents get wrong most often, and it is covered under lead generation below.
Testate filings produce a will, a named executor and letters testamentary. The estate's direction is usually settled from the first document.
Intestate filings produce an application or petition for letters of administration and a court-appointed administrator, with Arizona's intestacy rules deciding who inherits. These are often the more productive filings, because several adult children who never planned for it now jointly own a house none of them lives in.
ARS § 14-3971 lets successors transfer assets by affidavit without opening a probate case. The thresholds rose sharply when HB 2116 took effect on 26 September 2025, and most guidance written before that date is wrong:
| Affadavit | Threshold | Waiting Period |
|---|---|---|
| Personal property | $200,000, less liens and encumbrances | 30 days after death |
| Real property in Arizona | $300,000, less liens and encumbrances | 6 months after death |
Both figures are net of liens, which is what makes the real property threshold reach further than it looks. A house worth $520,000 with a $250,000 mortgage clears the $300,000 net test and can pass by affidavit with no probate case at all.
The practical effect for lead sourcing is direct. Since late September 2025, a growing share of Arizona estate property transfers without ever appearing on a probate docket. The court record is a sample of estate activity in these counties, not a census of it.
County by county, through the Clerk of the Superior Court. Skip the state portals.
The Arizona Judicial Branch public access case search covers most courts in the state and looks like the obvious starting point. Probate is excluded from its results. Searching it for an estate returns nothing, in any county, and the absence of a result tells you nothing about whether the case exists. Do not use it for probate in Maricopa, in Pima or anywhere else.
Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler, Scottsdale, Glendale and Gilbert. The fourth most populous county in the United States and the highest-volume probate market in the state.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Court | Maricopa County Superior Court, Probate and Mental Health Department |
| Filing | Central Court Building, 201 W Jefferson Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003 |
| Records viewing | Four Clerk locations, not the filing counter: 601 W Jackson Street, Phoenix; 222 E Javelina Avenue, Mesa; 14264 W Tierra Buena Lane, Surprise; 18380 N 40th Street, Suite 120, Phoenix |
| Hours | Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. |
| Phone | Clerk of the Superior Court 602-372-5375; Probate and Mental Health Department 602-506-3204 |
| Online case search | Probate court case docket |
| Fees | $306 probate filing; $0.50 per page copies; $35 certification |
The docket search takes three fields and no others: Last Name, First Name, Case Number. There is no attorney search, no case-type filter and no date-of-death range. You work it one name at a time, which is the single biggest constraint on manual research in this county.
What the search returns is case number, filing date, party names including the personal representative, the docket history and hearing dates. That is enough to confirm an estate is open and identify who holds authority. It is not enough to identify the property. For document images, use a Clerk records location or the online records request form.
Note the split between the two addresses. Filings go to 201 W Jefferson. Records are viewed at the four Clerk sites listed above, and turning up at the Jefferson Street counter to read a file is a wasted trip.
Tucson, Oro Valley, Marana and Sahuarita. Arizona's second market, with a large retiree population and a steady flow of out-of-state heirs.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Court | Pima County Clerk of the Superior Court |
| Address | 110 W Congress Street, Room 241, Tucson, AZ 85701 |
| Hours | Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
| Phone | 520-724-3240 (Public Records Services) |
| Online case search | Clerk's own Public Record Search, described by the court as limited viewing of case information |
| Fees | $366 probate filing, per the Clerk's fee schedule; $0.50 per page copies; $35 certification |
Pima's public search is thinner than Maricopa's and does not expose document images. For wills, inventories where one was filed, and letters of appointment, expect an in-person visit or a mail request to the Clerk.
A mail request needs the decedent's full name, the case number if you have it, the specific documents you want, a return address and payment for copying. Confirm the current amount with Public Records Services before sending a cheque, since fee schedules are reissued periodically.
| County | Search route | Case search online | Document images online |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maricopa | Superior Court probate docket, Last Name / First Name / Case Number | Yes | No, request or visit a Clerk records site |
| Pima | Clerk's Public Record Search, limited viewing | Partial | No, visit or mail request |
| Statewide | Arizona Judicial Branch public access | No, probate excluded | No |
Neither county gives you the estate's property from a browser. Maricopa gets you a confirmed open case and a named personal representative from a desk; Pima gets you less. Everything past that point is a records request, a courthouse visit, or a cross-reference against the county recorder and assessor.
Inspection at the counter is free in both counties. Copies are where the cost sits, and the two counties charge identically:
The filing fees are not a research cost, but they are worth knowing when you are reading a docket and want to understand what an estate has already spent.
Research fees may apply in Maricopa where a request is complex enough to require staff time. Neither county charges a per-name search fee, which makes Arizona cheaper to work speculatively than states that price each name lookup.
Most Arizona estates run 6 to 12 months from filing to closing. Contested estates and supervised administrations run longer. The statutory deadlines are what keep generating public filings in the meantime.
| Stage | Statutory position |
|---|---|
| Open probate at all | Within 2 years of death, § 14-3108 |
| Publish notice to creditors | Once a week for 3 successive weeks, § 14-3801 |
| Creditor claim window | 4 months from first publication, or 60 days from mailed notice to a known creditor, whichever is later |
| Prepare inventory | Within 90 days of appointment, § 14-3706 |
| Personal property affidavit available | 30 days after death, § 14-3971 |
| Real property affidavit available | 6 months after death, § 14-3971 |
Two of these shape outreach timing more than the rest. The two-year limit in § 14-3108 means a decedent who died three years ago almost certainly has no probate case coming, so an old death with an unresolved title is a different conversation entirely. And the four-month creditor window under § 14-3801 is the period in which most personal representatives decide what happens to the house.
The productive contact point is 60 to 120 days after the letters issue. Before that, the personal representative is dealing with appointment, notice and the first round of creditor claims. Much past six months and a listing decision has usually been made.
The docket tells you an estate is open and who runs it. It rarely tells you what the estate owns. Four steps close that gap.
1. Search the county of domicile, not the property county. An estate opened in Maricopa can hold a house in Yavapai. Under § 14-3201 you search where the person lived, then follow the assets outward. The exception is the out-of-state decedent, whose Arizona estate is opened where the Arizona property is.
2. Read the docket for authority, not just for the petition. Confirm that letters of appointment have actually issued. Then check for one specific thing: whether the court has ordered supervised administration under § 14-3504. That status is the difference between a straightforward transaction and a slow one, because under § 14-3504 all sales of real property in a supervised administration are subject to court confirmation and the personal representative cannot distribute without a prior order.
Outside supervised administration, no court permission is needed to sell. ARS § 14-3715 lets a personal representative acting reasonably for the benefit of interested persons sell, mortgage or lease estate real property without prior court authorisation, subject only to restrictions in the will or a court order. An Arizona personal representative with letters in hand can sign a purchase contract. Arizona has no rule requiring a sale to hit a percentage of the appraised value before the court will confirm it; that is a California rule, and applying it here will make you sound like you have not worked an Arizona file.
3. Find the property yourself. Because § 14-3706 lets the personal representative deliver the inventory to heirs instead of filing it, the court file often contains no property list. Match the decedent's name and last known address against the county recorder's grantor and grantee index and the assessor's parcel records to identify what they owned, what is encumbered and whether taxes are current.
4. Identify who can actually sign, and who advises them. The personal representative named in the letters is the only person with authority to sell. Where an attorney of record appears on the docket, they are frequently the better first contact on a larger estate. Phoenix and Tucson probate attorneys carry several clients at once who need to sell.
Two Arizona-specific realities are worth building into the approach. A large share of decedents in both counties have adult children living out of state, so the personal representative may never have seen the property and will need pricing, condition and timeline guidance rather than a pitch. And estate property here is frequently in deferred maintenance, with heirs who have no appetite for repairs, so as-is pricing experience and investor relationships matter more than staging.
Follow-up is where most of this falls apart. Arizona estates run 6 to 12 months, so a personal representative who declines in month two is a genuinely different conversation in month six. A 60-day cadence across both counties separates the agents who close probate deals from the ones who collect lists.
Two: Maricopa and Pima. Between them they hold Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale, Chandler, Glendale, Gilbert and Tucson.
Every lead is a verified court filing with a case number, not a death record or a pre-probate prediction. Each one carries the property records matched to the estate, the personal representative skip traced with mailing address, phone and email where available, the attorney of record where one is named, and MLS tracking so you can see whether the property has already listed.
The honest comparison is with what the manual route actually costs. Maricopa's docket search accepts one name at a time, returns no property, and sends you to a Clerk records site or an online request for documents. Pima returns less and sends you to the courthouse. Then the recorder and assessor cross-reference on every case, then skip tracing. The research works, and it is most of a working week each month for two counties.
You can see the full coverage list at probatedata.com/counties, or start a 7-day trial for $1 and search Maricopa and Pima directly.
For the wider method across every state, see the national guide to finding probate records by county.
Yes. Probate case files are public records held by the Clerk of the Superior Court in each county, and anyone can inspect them without being an heir, a beneficiary or an attorney. Access is restricted only where a judge has sealed a document or Arizona Supreme Court Rule 123 makes a record confidential. Public does not mean online, though: neither Maricopa nor Pima puts probate document images in front of the general public without a records request or a courthouse visit.
County by county, through the Clerk of the Superior Court. Maricopa County runs a public probate docket search that accepts Last Name, First Name and Case Number only. Pima County offers limited case viewing through the Clerk's Public Record Search and requires a visit or a mail request for documents. Do not use the statewide Arizona Judicial Branch public access search: probate cases are excluded from it, so a search returns nothing whether or not the estate exists.
No. The Arizona Judicial Branch public access case search covers most courts in the state but excludes probate from its results. This applies in every county, including Maricopa and Pima. An empty result there tells you nothing about whether the estate exists, so go to the county Clerk of the Superior Court directly.
Since HB 2116 took effect on 26 September 2025, ARS 14-3971 allows an affidavit for personal property valued at up to $200,000 less liens and encumbrances, available 30 days after death, and for Arizona real property valued at up to $300,000 less liens and encumbrances, available six months after death. Both figures are net of liens, so a mortgaged house can qualify even when its market value is well above the limit. Estates that transfer this way never appear on a probate docket.
Usually not. ARS 14-3715 lets a personal representative acting reasonably for the benefit of interested persons sell, mortgage or lease estate real property without prior court authorisation, subject to restrictions in the will or a court order. The exception is supervised administration under ARS 14-3504, where all sales of real property are subject to court confirmation and no distribution can be made without a prior court order. Arizona has no rule requiring a sale price to reach a set percentage of the appraised value.
Most Arizona estates run 6 to 12 months from filing to closing, and contested or supervised estates run longer. Probate generally cannot be opened more than two years after death under ARS 14-3108. Notice to creditors runs once a week for three successive weeks under ARS 14-3801, and creditors have four months from first publication, or 60 days from a mailed notice, whichever is later.
Inspection at the counter is free in both Maricopa and Pima. Plain copies are $0.50 per page and certification of a document is $35.00 in both counties. Neither county charges a per-name search fee. Filing fees differ: a probate filing costs $306 in Maricopa and $366 in Pima.
Not always. ARS 14-3706 requires the personal representative to prepare an inventory within 90 days of appointment, but it may either be filed with the court or delivered to the heirs and devisees instead. Many representatives choose the second option, which means the document listing the estate's real property and values is often missing from the public file. Identify the property through the county recorder and assessor rather than relying on the court record.
