Yes, in most cases a will does go through probate. Having a will doesn’t keep your estate out of court—it just tells the court what you wanted. The will is the instruction sheet probate follows, not a way around probate.
That catches a lot of Glendale and Phoenix families off guard. People spend money on a will assuming it means their family skips the courthouse, then find out after a death that they’re filing paperwork at Maricopa County Superior Court and waiting months anyway. So let’s clear it up: what a will actually does, when probate is required, and the situations where an estate can avoid it entirely.
What a Will Actually Does
A will (formally, a Last Will and Testament) is a legal document that names who gets your assets, names a guardian for your minor children, and appoints an executor to carry out your wishes. It’s the foundation of most estate plans, and everyone with kids or property should have one.
But a will has one big limitation people don’t expect: it has no legal power until a court accepts it. When you die, your will gets filed with the probate court, a judge confirms it’s valid, and only then does your executor have authority to distribute anything. That confirmation process is probate. So the will doesn’t avoid probate—it’s the thing probate enforces.
So When Is Probate Actually Required?
Probate is triggered by how your assets are titled, not by whether you have a will. The court only needs to get involved when assets are held in your name alone with no other instruction attached to them.
A house with only your name on the deed needs probate to transfer. A bank account with no beneficiary listed needs probate. A car titled solely to you needs probate. In each case, there’s no mechanism to move the asset to a new owner except a court order—and your will is what tells the court who that new owner should be.
If most of what you own is titled this way, your will is going through probate. That’s the default for the average Arizona estate.
The Assets That Skip Probate Entirely
Here’s the flip side, and it’s where families can save real time and money. Some assets pass directly to a new owner without any court involvement, no matter what your will says. Your will doesn’t even control these—the designation on the asset does.
Accounts with a named beneficiary, like 401(k)s, IRAs, and life insurance policies, pay out straight to the person you named. Bank accounts with a Payable on Death (POD) designation and brokerage accounts with a Transfer on Death (TOD) designation do the same. Property owned in joint tenancy with right of survivorship—common between spouses—passes automatically to the surviving owner. And assets held in a living trust transfer to your beneficiaries under the trust’s terms, outside of court.
One thing worth understanding: these designations override your will. If your will leaves everything to your kids but your retirement account names your ex-spouse as beneficiary, the ex-spouse gets that account. The designation wins. That’s why beneficiary forms and your will need to line up with each other.
How Arizona Lets Smaller Estates Skip the Full Process
Even when an estate has probate-type assets, Arizona doesn’t always force you through full formal probate. The state offers a simplified shortcut for smaller estates called a small estate affidavit.
Under A.R.S. § 14-3971, as amended effective September 26, 2025, if the total value of all personal property in the estate (minus debts) is $200,000 or less, an heir can collect those assets with a sworn affidavit instead of opening a probate case. They wait 30 days after the death, present the affidavit to the bank or institution, and the asset is released. For real property, the limit is $300,000, with a six-month waiting period.
Those thresholds jumped in 2025—they used to be $75,000 and $100,000—so far more Maricopa County estates now qualify for the simpler route than did a couple of years ago. If you’re handling an estate that fell just over the old limits, it’s worth a fresh look under the new numbers.
It’s important to know what this does and doesn’t change. The small estate affidavit still uses the will to determine who inherits. It just lets the family skip the formal court process. The will still matters—it’s still doing its job—but nobody has to stand in front of a judge to make it work.
When You’re Stuck With Full Probate
If the estate is larger than those affidavit limits, or if there’s a dispute among heirs, a creditor problem, or ambiguity about what the will means, you’re looking at formal probate through Maricopa County Superior Court. That’s the slow, public, sometimes costly process most people picture when they hear the word.
Full probate can take 6 to 18 months and become a matter of public record. It’s manageable, especially with guidance, but it’s exactly what good planning aims to minimize. And a will alone, by itself, doesn’t minimize it.
How to Actually Keep Your Family Out of Court
If avoiding probate is your goal, a will is not the tool that does it. A will makes sure your wishes are clear and your kids have a guardian, but it routes through court by design.
The tool built to avoid probate is a revocable living trust. When you move your assets into a trust, the trust owns them, so there’s nothing titled in your name alone for the court to administer. Your successor trustee distributes everything under the trust’s terms, privately, without a probate filing. Most people who set up a trust also keep a “pour-over will” that names guardians and catches anything they forgot to move into the trust.
The practical takeaway is this: a will and a trust do different jobs. A will tells the court what you want. A trust keeps the court out of it. Plenty of Arizona families use both, with beneficiary designations on their accounts lined up to match.
In Conclusion
Not all wills go through probate, but most do—because having a will doesn’t change how your assets are titled, and titling is what triggers probate. The will is the script the court follows, not a way to skip the courtroom.
If you want your family to avoid the probate process altogether, the planning has to go a step beyond a basic will. Understanding which of your assets would land in court today is the first move, and it’s usually a shorter conversation than people expect.