Spousal Elective Share Requirements in Arizona

At a glance

What Arizona does instead

Arizona does not provide a general elective share or a right to renounce a will for a fixed fraction. The complete current Title 14 index has separate articles for intestacy, waiver of spouse rights, a spouse omitted from a premarital will, exempt property and allowances, and wills. It contains no elective-share or augmented-estate article.

The operative baseline is community-property ownership. A.R.S. § 25-211 says property acquired during marriage is community property except for the listed gift, devise, descent, and qualifying post-petition property. A.R.S. § 14-1201(23) then defines a spouse's estate as only the spouse's separate property and “the share of the community property belonging to the decedent.” The survivor's community share is therefore outside the decedent's defined estate rather than a percentage elected from it.

A.R.S. § 14-2102 confirms the split by describing “the one-half of community property that belongs to the decedent.” That section determines what the spouse receives when the decedent dies intestate; it is not an elective share against a will. Arizona's separate omitted-spouse and allowance provisions likewise do not create a general election for a fraction of every estate.

What trips people up

• One-half of community property is not one-half of the decedent's entire estate. The survivor's existing community share does not create a claim against all of the decedent's separate property or nonprobate transfers.
• Intestacy is not an election against a will. A.R.S. § 14-2102 states what passes when property is intestate. Its descendant-based result does not supply a general right to override an otherwise controlling will.
• A premarital-will remedy is fact-specific. Title 14 places the omitted- spouse provision in a separate article. Combining that possible claim with community ownership in a form labeled an elective-share election changes the nature and scope of both rights.

Common questions

Can an Arizona spouse file an election against the will? No general elective-share filing exists. The current statutes instead define the decedent's estate to exclude the survivor's community share.

What property is normally community property? Under A.R.S. § 25-211, property acquired by either spouse during marriage is community property unless it falls within the statute's exceptions, including gift, devise, or descent.

Why does A.R.S. § 14-2102 discuss the spouse's share? It is an intestacy statute. It distributes the decedent's separate property and the decedent's one-half community interest when those assets do not pass by will; it does not create an elective share.

Statutes and sources

• Title 14 A.R.S., complete official index — the current structure lists intestacy, waiver, omitted-spouse rights, allowances, and wills, but no elective-share or augmented-estate scheme. Official Title 14 index (accessed 2026-08-02).
• A.R.S. § 14-1201(23) — limits a spouse's estate to that spouse's separate property and the community-property share belonging to that spouse. Official section text (accessed 2026-08-02).
• A.R.S. § 14-2102 — identifies the decedent's one-half community share and supplies the surviving spouse's intestate share. Official section text (accessed 2026-08-02).
• A.R.S. § 25-211 — defines property acquired during marriage as community property subject to the section's exceptions. Official section text (accessed 2026-08-02).