The Standard Methods of Proving Death
Before anyone can manage an estate, someone must prove that the person died. That may sound obvious, but Arizona law needs formal rules for it.
A.R.S. 14-1107 lays out a tiered system for proving death and legal status in probate.
A certified or authenticated copy of a death certificate purporting to be issued by an official or agency of the place where the death purportedly occurred is prima facie evidence of the fact, place, date and time of death and the identity of the decedent.
A.R.S. § 14-1107(2)A death certificate is the most common proof. The statute also accepts certified government records that report a person's status.
These records serve as prima facie evidence. This means courts accept them as enough proof unless someone shows otherwise.
In Arizona, this applies to real estate, bank accounts, separate property, and all other assets the person owned.
When There Is No Death Certificate
Sometimes a death certificate is not available. In those cases, a party can prove the death through clear and convincing evidence. This includes circumstantial evidence from natural disasters or military combat zones.
If no evidence of death exists at all, Arizona law applies a five-year rule. The law presumes dead any person absent for five straight years with no contact. The search must have been diligent, and the absence must be unexplained.
A person whose death is not established under paragraphs 1 through 4, who is absent for a continuous period of five years, during which time that person has not been heard from, and whose absence is not satisfactorily explained after diligent search or inquiry is presumed to be dead.
A.R.S. § 14-1107(5)The statute also ties into the 120-hour survival rule. A death certificate may show a time of death at least 120 hours after another person died. If so, that record proves survival by clear and convincing evidence.
This matters for inheritance order between a surviving spouse and other family members.