When someone dies without a will in Arizona, state law determines who inherits the probate estate. This guided tool walks you step-by-step through those questions and applies Arizona's statutory order of priority to estimate how an estate may be divided. It takes about 2–3 minutes to complete.
This tool does not determine whether an asset is community or separate property — that depends on source of funds, timing, commingling, and other factors. Some assets (beneficiary designations, joint tenancy, trusts) transfer outside probate entirely.
Your role helps us highlight what matters most to you. It also pre-fills the next question where your answer is unambiguous — for example, if you are the surviving spouse, we already know a surviving spouse exists.
Under Arizona law, a surviving spouse may inherit all or part of the estate depending on whether the decedent had children from outside the marriage. Without a surviving spouse, the entire estate passes to the decedent's descendants.
Under Arizona law, if all of the decedent's children are also children of the surviving spouse, the spouse inherits the entire probate estate. But if even one child is not also a child of the surviving spouse — whether that child is living or deceased — Arizona law changes the distribution for everyone. The surviving spouse then receives only one-half of the decedent's separate property and nothing from the decedent's community property. All of the decedent's children — shared and non-shared alike — then share the remainder.
Under Arizona law, if the decedent left any children — or descendants of children who predeceased the decedent — those descendants inherit the entire estate before any other relatives. Only if there are no surviving descendants does the estate pass to parents, siblings, or more distant relatives.
Under Arizona law, when a child has predeceased the decedent (per-stirpes / by representation), that child's share passes to their own descendants equally. Building the actual family tree lets us calculate each heir's correct share, especially in complex multi-generational situations.
Arizona law passes the estate to the next available class of heirs. With no spouse or descendants, surviving parents inherit the entire estate equally. If no parents survive, we move to siblings.
If no parents survive, the estate passes to the descendants of the decedent’s parents — meaning siblings. If a sibling has predeceased the decedent, that sibling’s own descendants step into their place by representation.
If no parents or siblings survive, Arizona law looks to grandparents and their descendants — aunts, uncles, cousins. If grandparents survive on both sides, each side takes half. If no heirs can be found, the estate ultimately escheats to the State of Arizona.
This tool does not determine whether an asset is community or separate property — that depends on source of funds, timing, commingling, and other factors. Some assets (beneficiary designations, joint tenancy, trusts) transfer outside probate entirely.
| Asset Category | Estimated Value |
|---|---|
| Total Probate Estate Estimated value of all assets subject to probate distribution |
| Asset Category | Estimated Value |
|---|---|
| Decedent’s ½ Community Property The decedent’s one-half of all marital community property The surviving spouse’s own one-half of community property is already theirs by operation of law and is not part of the decedent’s probate estate — it is not entered here. | |
| Decedent’s Separate Property Pre-marital property, gifts, or inheritances owned solely by the decedent | |
| Total Probate Estate Value | — |
All fields are optional — skip to see percentage shares only.
Even when intestate shares are mathematically clear, disputes can arise over property characterization, non-probate transfers, financial exploitation claims, or competing interpretations of heirship. These factors can materially change outcomes and typically require legal representation.