Free audit
How much of your estate would actually probate?
Most people don't know whether their assets are set up to avoid probate or not. The title text on each deed and account is what decides. Not the will. This audit walks asset by asset and tells you the exact gaps.
- Free, no email
- About 90 seconds
- Arizona-specific (community property, beneficiary deeds, small-estate thresholds)
Arizona estate audit
Rough numbers are fine. We compute your probate exposure as you fill it in. Skip anything you don't have.
Primary home
Your residence in Arizona, by estimated equity (market value minus mortgage).
Other real estate
Rentals, vacation property, land. Out-of-state property triggers ancillary probate; we'll flag it.
Bank & brokerage accounts
Checking, savings, taxable investment accounts. Don't include retirement accounts.
Retirement accounts
IRA, 401(k), 403(b), pension lump sums. These pass by beneficiary designation, not your will.
Life insurance
Death benefit total. Passes by beneficiary designation if one is on file.
Vehicles
Cars, trucks, boats, RVs. Arizona allows a beneficiary on the title. Most people don't use it.
Personal property
Jewelry, art, collectibles, furniture. Ballpark is fine. Goes through probate unless trust-funded.
How probate exposure works
The 30-second version.
The will decides who inherits. The title decides how.
Beneficiary designations and joint titles override a will every time. That's why an IRA beneficiary form filled out in 1998 can defeat a will signed yesterday. The audit walks each asset to find these mismatches.
Probate-bound assets all share one trait.
They have no built-in transfer mechanism. A house titled in your name alone with no beneficiary deed and not held in a trust will probate. A bank account in your name with no TOD on file will probate. Every gap has a specific, usually free, fix.
Arizona has tools other states don't.
Beneficiary deeds for real estate. Community property with right of survivorship for married couples. TOD designations on vehicle titles. The audit accounts for each and recommends the right one for your situation.
A trust isn't the only answer. But it's often the cleanest.
Stacking beneficiary designations gets you most of the way for assets that allow them. A revocable trust solves it across the board, plus handles incapacity, plus keeps everything private. $1,200 to $1,500 once, versus $5,000+ in probate later.
Common questions
About the audit and what it means.
What does "probate exposure" mean?
Probate exposure is the dollar value of your assets that would go through Arizona's probate court at death. Assets with a built-in transfer mechanism (joint ownership with right of survivorship, beneficiary designations, trust ownership, beneficiary deeds) skip probate. Everything else lands there.
How accurate is this audit?
It's a directional estimate. Close enough to decide whether you have a problem, not precise enough to be a legal document. The actual probate calculation depends on the exact title language on each deed and account, which we'd review at your free consultation.
What's the Arizona small-estate threshold?
Arizona's simplified small-estate affidavit process applies when probate-bound assets are under $100,000 in real property AND under $75,000 in personal property. Below those thresholds, heirs can skip formal probate. Above them, full probate applies.
If everything has a beneficiary, do I still need a trust?
Maybe not for probate avoidance. But beneficiary designations only address death, not incapacity. A funded revocable trust handles both, plus it keeps your estate private (probate is public record). Many of our clients have full beneficiary coverage and still choose a trust for the incapacity protection.
What's a beneficiary deed?
An Arizona-specific tool that lets you name a beneficiary on real estate, similar to a payable-on-death designation for a bank account. It transfers the property outside probate at your death. Cheap to record, takes minutes. But doesn't help with incapacity, doesn't protect from creditors, and doesn't work if the beneficiary predeceases you.
Why do I have to verify the title myself?
Because the title text on a deed or beneficiary form is the only thing that controls what happens at death. The audit asks how you think it's titled; we confirm at consultation by looking at the actual document. "Not sure" answers in this audit get reviewed line-by-line.
Now turn the audit into a plan.
Free 30-minute consultation. Bring your audit result. We'll review the actual title text on your major assets and give you a flat-fee quote for any drafting.