Affidavit of Surviving Joint Tenant Title-Clearance Requirements in Arizona

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Covered title and the statutory route

A.R.S. § 33-431(B) recognizes a joint tenancy when the grant, transfer, or devise expressly declares a right of survivorship. Subsection (F) then provides the post-death record route for a “deceased joint tenant.” It presupposes that the survivorship interest still existed at death; it does not validate the creating instrument or decide a severance dispute.

Arizona separately recognizes community property with right of survivorship in § 33-431(C). The Legislature did not use that broader phrase in subsection (F), which is expressly limited to a deceased joint tenant. The statutory affidavit route should therefore not be described as a prescribed community-property- with-right-of-survivorship procedure.

Instrument, signer, and required contents

The filing is permitted, not mandatory. Section 33-431(F) says the termination or extinguishment caused by death “may be evidenced” by recording both required items: the survivor's affidavit and the attached death certificate.

One surviving joint tenant may execute the affidavit, or multiple survivors may execute it together. The affidavit must give the deceased tenant's name, date of death, and cause of death. It must also identify the instrument that created the survivorship right, state that instrument's recording date and book-and-page or instrument reference number, and provide the affected property's legal description.

Death evidence and execution formalities

The second item is “an attached death certificate of the deceased joint tenant.” Section 33-431(F)(2) does not use “certified,” “certified copy,” or “original.” Those words should not be added to the statewide statutory minimum.

Subsection (F) requires the affidavit to be executed by one or more surviving joint tenants. Unlike the lifetime termination affidavits in subsections (D) and (E), it does not separately say “under oath.” The general recording rule still applies: § 33-411(B) says an instrument is not lawfully recorded unless it was previously acknowledged in the prescribed manner. Neither provision prescribes a witness count or a personal-knowledge recital for this post-death affidavit.

Office, timing, and effect

Record both items with the recorder of the county—or each county—where the real property is located. Section 33-431(F) states no waiting period or outside deadline measured from death.

Recording supplies evidence that death terminated or extinguished the deceased tenant's joint-tenancy survivorship interest. Under § 33-411(A), lawful recording also gives subsequent purchasers or encumbrance holders notice of the instrument's contents. Neither section calls the affidavit a deed, says it conveys the deceased tenant's interest, or makes its factual statements conclusive in a title dispute.

What trips people up

Community-property survivorship appears in the same section but not in the post-death subsection. Section 33-431(C) creates community property with right of survivorship. Subsection (F), however, repeatedly says “joint tenant” and “joint tenancy.” A form should not silently expand that prescribed route.

The statutory death-certificate language is unqualified. The Legislature required an attached death certificate but did not specify a certified copy in § 33-431(F)(2).

The affidavit records an existing death effect. Subsection (F) says death terminated or extinguished the deceased tenant's interest and permits the filing as evidence of that event. The affidavit is not described as the event that transfers title.

Common questions

Can one survivor sign when more than one joint tenant remains? Yes. Section 33-431(F)(1) permits execution by “one or more” surviving joint tenants.

What if a joint tenant recorded a termination affidavit before the death? Section 33-431(E) allows a joint tenant to extinguish that person's survivorship right during life by recording the specified affidavit. The post-death route in subsection (F) does not cure a right that was already terminated.

What if the land crosses county lines? Subsection (F) uses “county or counties.” Record the two-item package with the recorder in each county where the affected property is located.

Statutes and sources

• Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-431(B)-(F) — express survivorship ownership, lifetime termination, and the complete post-death affidavit route. https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/00431.htm (accessed 2026-08-03).
• Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-411(A)-(C) — county recording, acknowledgment for lawful recording, notice, and the acknowledgment-defect cure. https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/00411.htm (accessed 2026-08-03).