Trusts & Wills · Arizona
A will tells the court. A trust skips the courtroom.
Both documents move your property to the people you choose. The difference is who has to approve it first, how long that takes, and who gets to read it.
The one difference everything else follows from.
A will is a set of instructions for a judge. It does nothing while you are alive. After you pass away, someone files it, the court opens a case, and your property moves once the judge signs off.
A living trust is a container. You put the house and the accounts into it while you are alive, and you keep running them as trustee. When you pass away, the person you named steps in and hands things out. No filing, no hearing.
See what we buildA will
Valid in Arizona under A.R.S. 14-2502 when you are 18 or older and you sign it in front of two witnesses. It names who receives your property, who raises your children, and who runs the estate.
A revocable living trust
You create it, you fund it, and you stay in control of it. You can change it or tear it up any time while you are alive and able to sign.
The two documents, line by line.
Read down the rows that describe your family. The pattern usually shows up in three or four of them.
- When it starts working
Will
After you pass away, once a court accepts it.
Revocable living trust
The day you sign it and move your assets in.
- Probate
Will
Usually yes. A judge has to admit the will before anything moves.
Revocable living trust
No, for whatever you actually titled into the trust.
- If you cannot sign anymore
Will
Nothing. A will does no work while you are alive.
Revocable living trust
Your successor trustee pays the bills and keeps the house running.
- Who can read it
Will
Anyone. It becomes a public court record in probate.
Revocable living trust
Your family and your trustee. It never gets filed.
- Guardian for your kids
Will
Yes. Under A.R.S. 14-5202 you name one here, and only here.
Revocable living trust
No. This is why trust clients still sign a will.
- Cost shape
Will
Less to draft now. Your family pays the probate cost later.
Revocable living trust
More to draft now, including the work of retitling assets.
- Property in another state
Will
Often a second probate case in that state.
Revocable living trust
One trust holds it, so there is no second case.
Even with a trust
Four jobs only a will can do.
A trust does not replace a will. In almost every plan we build, the two work as a pair.
Names a guardian for your children
A.R.S. 14-5202 puts that nomination in a will. No trust document can make it for you, so parents sign both.
Catches what you forgot
A pour-over will sweeps anything still in your name into your trust. It is the safety net for the account you opened and never retitled.
Names who is in charge
Your will appoints the personal representative who answers the court if any part of your estate does land in probate.
Handles the small stuff
Furniture, jewelry, tools, the truck. Personal items are simpler to leave in a will than to retitle one by one.
What probate actually costs your family.
People picture a hearing. The real cost is the calendar. Under A.R.S. 14-3801 the notice to creditors runs once a week for three weeks, and creditors then get four months from that first publication to bring a claim. No case closes before that clock runs out.
So the house cannot be sold on your family's timeline. Uncontested Arizona cases commonly run six months to a year, and a will does not shorten that. A funded trust never starts the clock at all.
How Arizona probate worksHow we settle it in one meeting.
- 01
We add up what you own
House, accounts, retirement, vehicles, a rental, a business share. On paper, on one page. The list decides the answer more than your age does.
- 02
We find what already skips probate
Retirement accounts, life insurance, and payable-on-death accounts pass on their own form. Sometimes that covers most of an estate already.
- 03
We look at the harder cases
Out-of-state property, a child who is not ready for a lump sum, a second marriage, or a family business. Each one pushes toward a trust.
- 04
We tell you if a will is enough
Plenty of Arizona families do fine with a will and good beneficiary forms. We will say so.
Keep exploring
Where this fits in your plan.
Will and trust questions, answered.
These come up at nearly every consultation. If yours is not here, just call.
Call (480) 863-6303Most trust clients sign both. The trust holds the assets and the pour-over will catches anything left in your name. If you have minor children, the will is also the only place you can nominate their guardian under A.R.S. 14-5202.
No. A will is the instruction sheet the probate court reads. It decides who receives what, but the case still gets opened, and A.R.S. 14-3801 gives creditors four months from the first published notice before it can close.
It can be. A.R.S. 14-2503 recognizes a holographic will when the signature and the important terms are in your own handwriting, with no witnesses. They are valid and they are also the ones families end up fighting over.
A.R.S. 14-3108 generally requires probate to be started within two years of the death. Waiting past that can leave heirs with a harder and more expensive path to clear title.
Yes. A will can be replaced, and a revocable living trust can be amended or revoked while you are alive and able. Review both after a marriage, a divorce, a new child, or a big change in what you own.
It protects nothing. An unfunded trust is a stack of paper, and the assets still in your name go to probate. Funding is the step DIY plans skip, and we handle it with you.
A will costs less to draft. Whether it is cheaper overall depends on what your family pays later in probate. We price both at your free consultation so you can compare real numbers, not guesses.
This page is general information for educational purposes and is not legal advice about your estate. Reading it does not make us your lawyers. Talk with us before you sign anything.
Turquoise Law Group, PLLC contracts with Roddy & Urness, PLLC or Nancy C. Pohl, PLLC in order to provide legal advice to your matter at an affordable cost.
Schedule your meeting
Find out which one your family needs.
Book a free consultation. We will add up what you own and show you the honest answer, in English or Spanish. Or call (480) 863-6303.
- Phone, video, or in our Scottsdale office
- Free and with no obligation
- Available in English and Spanish
Prefer to talk now?
(480) 863-6303