What’s the average cost of probate in Arizona? There’s two kinds of probates you need to know about. There are two, and there’s lots of different big kinds. The first one is one we all know about what happens after we pass away. It’s not all protected from probate. The average cost there is probably around ten to fifteen thousand dollars, about 12 months long.
That is if it’s relatively simple and there’s not a lot of assets. There’s a lot of complexity, there’s not a lot of beneficiaries. It’s pretty straightforward, and I know what you’re thinking—nothing straightforward in probate. So think about that. If it’s more complex, we’ve had some get to 20,30,40,50,100 grand. Two hundred grand gets really messy, it can get very expensive very quickly.
The probate most people don’t know about is while we’re alive. If we become incapacitated and don’t have our stuff arranged, and we don’t have a power of attorney that’s recent. We don’t have a trust that’s been funded. We don’t have a health care directive, a mental health care directive, or a living will. If we don’t have all this stuff in a place where we’re alive, even a spouse doesn’t have the default button. You’ve got to have it in place for your spouse.
So then what? Then, you go to probate so your spouse can get the authority to access your IRA. Your retirement account and health insurance if they need to sell the house because you’re on there jointly. Both of your names are on there. Their name has to be signed, too. But, if they’re incapacitated, they can’t sign. So you got to probate while we’re alive.
How much do those cost? Those are really expensive—the average there is about $20,000 to $25,000. Any little tiny thing that is not perfectly in order and is just so hard to predict. But, they can go from a $20,000 fee in probate to a $50,000, $80,000, or $100,000 fee. It’s because what you’re doing is you’re actually basically saying we have to make my mom award the state, or my husband or my wife award the state.
As soon as the state is involved, they can basically do whatever they want. They can appoint a guardian ad litem. They can appoint an accountant, a doctor, a physician, or an investigator. And guess who pays for all those people? You. Probate during life is really expensive. But that’s the average cost for both of those kinds of probates.
Summary
Probate costs vary in Arizona, and the first occurs after death. Simple cases cost $10,000–$15,000 and take a year. Some factors may elevate its fees to $20,000, $30,000, or $100,000. The less well-known type of probate occurs when a living, incompetent person has not made legal preparations. It can cost $25,000, which is expensive. Due to uncertainty, costs could also rise to $50,000, $80,000, or $100,000.
