Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Arizona

Re: How non-joint property is divided in an estate

The answer to your questions depend upon how the actual title to the assets was held. Specifically, was title held as joint tenants with right of survivorship or in both names alone or in both names as husband and wife or in both names with "or" in between. If the property has a value of less than $50,000, the property may be distributed to the heirs by filing an affidavit with the court. If more than $50k, an informal probate is required, which is not expensive or difficult, except in the case of claims or other disputes. That is how you go about getting legal ownership of the probate estate.

Re: How non-joint property is divided in an estate

If the property is jointly owned by father and step-mother, step-mother succeeds to all. This may not include personal property, as she may be entitled to only 1/2 of those assets, including furnishings and bank accounts if she is not named on the accounts and there is nothing delivering other personal effects to her.

Re: How non-joint property is divided in an estate

Assets in "joint" accounts will traditionally go to the surviving joint tenant, houses in joint tenancy to the survivor, bank accounts which are joint to the survivor, "Pay on Death" designations on accounts make those go to the designee. There can be exceptions to these rules but they are few. I presume your father had full mental capacity.

Was there life insurance that was paid for with community funds? (Arizona is a community property state.) What about vehicles? Many people mistakenly presume that a vehicle which was community property and is titled in the name of husband and/or wife goes to the survivor entirely. That is not the case, one half of the value of a jointly owned or community property vehicle goes to the beneficiaries of the estate. Which brings up another issue. How do you know he died intestate? Did he ever use an attorney for anything? If so, have you called that attorney to see if there was a will? Do you know of your own knowledge that there was no will?

If there was no will, you may be entitled to part of the assets which did not pass automatically on your father's death to your step-mother by automatic survivorship.

Hope this helps. We are in Mesa, Arizona if you need more help. You can also get more free information on estate planning by calling our office. I presume you want your own estate to be in order now that you have seen what has happened in your father's.

Best regards,

James D. Jenkins