Taking the necessary steps to avoid probate in Arizona is recommended so that your beneficiaries do not have to deal with the stress and trouble of court when attempting to receive their inheritance. Here are three tips to avoid probate in Arizona and save your family and beneficiaries a great deal of frustration:

1.)   Create a revocable living trust – A revocable living trust is a common way to avoid probate in Arizona and works by having a grantor (the owner of the asset) “grant” the asset to a trustee who then distributes the asset to a beneficiary or beneficiaries. When the grantor is alive, the grantor usually fulfills all three roles of grantor, trustee and beneficiary. Upon the death of the grantor, a successor trustee takes over and becomes the administrator of the asset, and can then distribute the asset to living beneficiaries and avoid probate in Arizona.

2.)   Payable on death bank account – A payable on death designation can be added to any bank account which allows the account to avoid probate in Arizona. The bank account owner controls the account while he or she is alive, and upon the owner’s death the beneficiary can receive the money in the account directly from the bank without having to deal with probate court.

3.)   Transfer on death deeds – Transfer on death deeds can be created for real estate, and are similar to regular deeds in that they transfer the property to another person, but in this case the property will not be transferred until the death of the owner. This allows a home or other form of real estate to be received by a beneficiary, and this type of deed can avoid probate in Arizona. The deed can be revoked at any time during the life of the property owner.

These are only a few of the ways to avoid probate in Arizona for an asset, as Arizona allows for methods like joint ownership of assets, community property with right of survivorship, transfer on death registration for other types of assets, and more. Dealing with probate court is a hassle that no family should have to go through, and by implementing these tips you can avoid probate in Arizona for your assets.

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