Estate Inventory and Appraisement Requirements in Arizona

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Preparation, timing, and route

A.R.S. § 14-3706 requires the personal representative to prepare the inventory. A special administrator is excluded, as is a successor when a prior representative already discharged the duty.

Rule 50(a)(1) measures the ordinary 90-day period from the first issuance of letters of appointment and permits the court to order otherwise. A representative who needs more time must act before the existing deadline:

“The motion must state why the personal representative needs additional time and how much additional time is needed.”

The representative chooses between two routes. Filing the original with the court requires copies only for interested persons who request them. If the original is not filed, it must be mailed or delivered to every heir in an intestate estate or every devisee after a will is probated, plus any other interested person who requests it. Rule 50(a)(3) then requires filed proof identifying each recipient and how and when the inventory was provided.

Property, valuation, and encumbrances

The inventory covers property the decedent owned at death and must list it in reasonable detail. For each item, A.R.S. § 14-3706 requires four distinct disclosures: date-of-death fair market value, community-or-separate character, and the type and amount of any encumbrance.

That structure calls for the gross fair market value and separate encumbrance information. The statute does not replace those fields with a single value after subtracting debt.

Optional valuation help

A.R.S. § 14-3707 makes an outside appraiser optional, and only describes using one for an asset whose value may be subject to reasonable doubt. The appraiser must be qualified and disinterested. Different appraisers may handle different asset types, and each appraiser's name and address must appear with the items that person appraised.

Supplementary inventory and enforcement

A.R.S. § 14-3708 requires a supplementary inventory or appraisement when the representative learns of omitted property or discovers that an item's value or description was erroneous or misleading. It must give the new or revised date-of-death market value or description and identify any appraiser or other data relied on.

The correction follows the original route. It is filed if the original was filed; otherwise Rule 50(a)(4) requires mailing or delivery to the same parties and a filed notice of that distribution. Neither provision supplies a separate number of days for the correction.

The inventory sections state no automatic inventory-specific fine or surcharge. Under A.R.S. § 14-3611, however, an interested person may petition for removal, and cause includes disregarding a court order, mismanaging the estate, or failing to perform a duty of office.

What trips people up

The 90-day clock is measured from the first issuance of letters, not from the date of death. A motion for additional time must be filed before the deadline it seeks to extend.

Optional court filing does not make either the inventory or its distribution optional. Choosing the private route creates a separate duty to file proof of mailing or delivery.

An encumbrance is a separate disclosure. A.R.S. § 14-3706 calls for fair market value and the encumbrance's type and amount; it does not direct the representative to report only a net figure.

Common questions

Must every asset be professionally appraised?

No. A.R.S. § 14-3707 permits, but does not require, a qualified and disinterested appraiser for an asset whose value may reasonably be in doubt.

Can the inventory be sent by email instead of mail or delivery?

The governing inventory provisions describe mailing or delivery, not email, for the private route. They also require filed proof identifying how and when each recipient was provided the inventory.

Does a successor always get a new 90-day inventory period?

No. A.R.S. § 14-3706 excludes a successor when another representative already discharged the inventory duty. A successor for whom that condition is not met remains within the statutory duty.

Statutes and sources

• A.R.S. § 14-3706 — preparation, exclusions, contents, optional court filing, and private recipients: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/14/03706.htm (accessed 2026-08-10).
• A.R.S. § 14-3707 — optional qualified, disinterested appraisers and their identification by item: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/14/03707.htm (accessed 2026-08-10).
• A.R.S. § 14-3708 — omitted property, erroneous or misleading values and descriptions, supporting data, and supplementary routing: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/14/03708.htm (accessed 2026-08-10).
• A.R.S. § 14-3611 — petition and causes for removal: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/14/03611.htm (accessed 2026-08-10).
• Ariz. R. Prob. P. 50(a) — first-letters trigger, proof of private distribution, supplementary notice, and pre-deadline extension motion: https://govt.westlaw.com/azrules/Document/NAF48A7B0004111EA8786FF445FE561E1?transitionType=Default (accessed 2026-08-10; rules current through amendments received May 1, 2026).