Probate Estate Closing and Representative Discharge in Arizona

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Statement and formal settlement

For an estate outside supervised administration, the representative may file a verified closing statement no earlier than four months after the first general appointment. It must say the claim period has expired, describe the disposition of presented claims, expenses and death taxes, and state that the assets were distributed. If claims remain unpaid, it must identify either the distributees' agreement to take subject to liability or the other arrangements made for those obligations. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 14-3933.)

The representative may also petition for complete court settlement. Another interested person may petition after one year from the original appointment, and the court cannot entertain the petition before the predeath claim period expires. A devisee under an informally probated will has a separate petition route that settles distribution under the will without adjudicating testacy. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 14-3931–3932.)

Supervised administration ends by court order under the notice, timing and order-content rules of complete settlement. The supervised representative files an account at least annually and a final account on closing for approval under § 14-3931. The court may order a physical check of property under the representative's control in connection with an account. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 14-3505.)

Account, notice and order

A statement filer must send a copy to every distributee and each known creditor or claimant whose claim is unpaid and unbarred. The representative must furnish a full written administration account to affected distributees; § 14-3933 calls for furnishing that account to them, while the closing filing is the verified statement. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 14-3933.)

A complete-settlement petition may ask the court to consider a final account, compel or approve an accounting, and direct distribution. All interested persons receive notice; affected distributees also receive the final account. After a hearing, the court may approve settlement, direct or decree distribution and discharge the representative from further interested-person demands. The limited testate route instead requires notice to devisees and the representative; if part of the estate is intestate, the petition must be dismissed or amended under the complete-settlement provision. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 14-3931–3932.)

End of appointment and security

If no proceeding involving the representative is pending one year after a closing statement is filed, the appointment terminates. After termination, the representative or surety may file a verified application showing that, so far as known, no estate action is pending, then obtain a registrar certificate evidencing release of a property lien securing performance in place of bond or surety. The certificate does not prevent a suit against either the representative or the surety. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 14-3933; § 14-3937.)

What trips people up

The six-month limit in § 14-3935 concerns certain fiduciary-duty proceedings, while § 14-3933(B) sets a separate one-year condition for termination of the appointment. Fraud, misrepresentation and inadequate-disclosure recovery claims are expressly outside that six-month bar. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 14-3933, 14-3935.)

Common questions

Can the supervised court allow a partial distribution before closing? Yes. It may enter interim orders approving or directing partial distributions while supervised administration is pending. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 14-3505.)

Can a devisee obtain a court settlement without reopening testacy? Yes, for an informally probated will, subject to the notice, timing and intestacy conditions of the limited settlement route. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 14-3932.)

What if more property is found later? After settlement and discharge, or one year after a closing statement, an interested person may seek appointment of the same or a successor representative for later-discovered property. A claim already barred cannot be revived in that administration. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 14-3938.)

Statutes and sources

The quoted sections were checked against the Arizona Legislature's current Arizona Revised Statutes on October 4, 2026.