Petition to Probate a Will
Filing a formal testacy petition is not as simple as submitting a will to the court. The petition must meet specific content requirements so the court and all interested parties understand exactly what is being asked.
A petition for formal probate of a will must: 1. Request an order as to the testacy of the decedent in relation to a particular instrument which may or may not have been informally probated and determining the heirs; 2. Contain the statements required for informal applications as stated in paragraph 1 of subsection B of section 14-3301 and the statements required by subdivisions (b) and (c), paragraph 2 of subsection B of section 14-3301; and 3. State whether the original of the last will of the decedent is in the possession of the court or accompanies the petition.
A.R.S. § 14-3402(A)If the original will is missing, the petition must go further. It needs to describe the contents of the will and explain that the document is lost, destroyed, or otherwise unavailable. This allows the court to consider probating a will even when the physical document cannot be produced, though the standard of proof is higher in those situations.
Petition for Intestacy
Formal proceedings are not limited to proving a will. They can also be used to ask the court to declare that someone died without a valid will. This is important when the informal process is not available or when there is a dispute about whether a will exists.
A petition for adjudication of intestacy and appointment of an administrator in intestacy must request a judicial finding and order that the decedent left no will and determining the heirs, contain the statements required by paragraphs 1 and 4 of subsection B of section 14-3301 and indicate whether supervised administration is sought.
A.R.S. § 14-3402(B)The petition can request both an intestacy finding and the appointment of an administrator, or it can simply ask the court to determine heirs without appointing anyone. This flexibility allows families to use formal proceedings for different purposes depending on what the estate requires.
