Arizona: Estate Inventory and Appraisement Requirements

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).