Gilbert Intestate Estate Lawyer

Are you looking for an intestate estate lawyer in Gilbert, AZ?

At LifePlan Legal AZ, we are intestate estate lawyers serving families across Gilbert and the surrounding communities.

If a family member has passed away without a will, it is important to know what the probate court will expect from you. Arizona's succession statutes fill that gap when no plan exists, and the outcome seldom matches what your loved one would have chosen. Our Gilbert, AZ intestate estate lawyer at LifePlan Legal AZ has guided families through exactly this situation for more than 20 years. Contact our office to schedule a consultation and start closing out the estate.

Intestate Estate Lawyer Gilbert, AZ

An intestate estate is one left behind by someone who died without a valid will to direct where their belongings should go. In these cases, Title 14 of the Arizona Revised Statutes takes over, laying out a fixed order of who inherits, how much each person takes, and how the estate travels through probate.

The median home in Gilbert is worth roughly $575,000, according to U.S. Census data, and real estate of that size does not simply pass to the family on its own when there is no will or trust behind it. National surveys have long shown that most adults never put a will in place. When a Gilbert resident dies without one, relatives inherit a court process in place of a plan, along with the delays and expense that follow.

Types of Intestate Estate Cases We Handle in Gilbert

We represent Gilbert families dealing with the fallout of a death that left no will or trust behind. No two of these estates look quite the same, but certain situations come up more than others.

• Probate. Probate is the court process that settles an estate after death, and an intestate estate almost always has to pass through it. With no will naming a personal representative or directing distribution, the estate clears probate in Maricopa County Superior Court, where the court applies Arizona's statutory order before anything is handed out.
• Uncontested Probate. When heirs agree and no one challenges the estate, probate can move through court on a simpler, less adversarial track. Arizona also lets estates under a set value skip formal probate and use an affidavit instead. We help families figure out whether they qualify for that shortcut and handle the uncontested probate process when they do not.
• Partial Intestacy. A will exists but leaves some property unaddressed. Whatever the will misses falls under the intestacy rules, which can catch heirs off guard and set off disagreements.
• Spousal Inheritance Questions. Because Arizona treats marital property as community property, a surviving spouse's share turns on whether the person who died had children from an earlier relationship. That one factor can substantially alter each share and is a frequent source of contested claims.
• Estates With Minor Children. When a parent dies without a will, no guardian has been named, so the court has to appoint one. That takes time and can pull a family into disputes over who should be raising the children.
• Stepchildren and Blended Families. Under Arizona law, a stepchild who was never legally adopted does not inherit through intestacy. Families are frequently surprised to learn a step-relative has no claim at all.
• Deed and Real Estate Transfer. A home or parcel of land that was not placed in a trust or set up with a beneficiary designation has to go through probate. In many of these cases, a simple deed transfer during life would have kept the property out of court, which is why how real estate is titled matters so much when someone dies without a will.
• Small Estates. Arizona lets estates under a set value skip formal probate and use an affidavit instead. We help families figure out whether they qualify, and handle uncontested probate when they do not.

Why Choose LifePlan Legal AZ as My Intestate Estate Lawyer in Gilbert, AZ?

Handling Estates Left Without a Plan

An estate with no will moves through the same Maricopa County probate system as any other, but it arrives with more open questions. Nobody has been named to serve as personal representative, there is no distribution plan to follow, and there may be no clear guidance on debts, real property, or who cares for surviving children. Our attorneys work in this territory regularly and know how the court applies Arizona's statutory scheme when the deceased left nothing in writing.

Jake Carlson has practiced in Arizona for more than 20 years and leads the firm's estate administration and conservatorship work. He holds a J.D. concentrated in tax and estate planning from California Western School of Law along with an MBA from San Diego State University. That grounding in both law and finance helps him spot problems that hide inside intestate estates, from overlooked business interests to retirement account designations and tangled property titles.

Rebecca Easton brought her own practice into the firm in 2025 and is licensed in Arizona and Colorado, having earned her J.D. at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Her focus on trust administration, probate, and guardianship suits her to estates tangled up in competing claims or missing paperwork.

Our estate planning lawyer in Gilbert, AZ can also set up your own plan and keep your family out of intestacy altogether.

What Is Important To Understand About Intestate Estate Cases?

How Arizona Decides Who Inherits

When there is no will, Arizona's succession statutes set a strict order for who receives the estate. The details depend on which relatives survive, but the framework runs along these lines:

• A surviving spouse takes all of the community property. Their share of the deceased's separate property depends on whether there are children from a relationship outside the marriage.
• If no spouse survives, the children inherit in equal shares. With no spouse and no children, the estate moves to parents, then to siblings, then outward to more distant relatives.
• Assets that carry their own beneficiary, such as retirement accounts, life insurance, and payable-on-death bank accounts, pass straight to the named person and never enter the intestate estate.
• Property held jointly with right of survivorship and anything titled into a living trust also passes outside probate, will or no will.
• A stepchild who was not legally adopted, and an unmarried partner, take nothing under these rules no matter how close the relationship was.

What Are Important Aspects of an Intestate Estate Case?

Intestate estates raise concerns that never come up when someone leaves clear instructions. Spotting them early can save a family both time and money.

• Creditors keep the right to bring claims against an estate with no will, and the personal representative has to give notice and settle valid debts just as in any probate.
• With no one named in a will, the court appoints the personal representative by statutory priority, usually starting with the surviving spouse and then adult children.
• Disputes tend to cluster in blended families, where a share that seems obvious to one relative looks unfair to another.
• Even a valid will covering only part of the estate leaves the rest to intestacy, so partial planning can produce the same fights it was meant to prevent.
• The longer the estate sits open, the more it costs, both in court expense and in strain among the people involved.

What Is the Intestate Estate Case Timeline?

How long an intestate estate takes depends on its size and its complications, but the process in Maricopa County tends to move through predictable stages.

• Weeks one through four. File the application, receive the court appointment, and send notice to known creditors.
• Months two through six. The creditor claim window runs at least four months from the first published notice. Meanwhile, the personal representative inventories the assets and pays debts as they are confirmed.
• Months six through twelve. Once the claim period closes, what remains is distributed to heirs in the statutory order. Estates that hold real property or a business, or that involve heirs who cannot agree, can stretch well beyond a year. Long, costly probate is one of the plainer consequences of dying intestate.

What Should You Bring to Your Intestate Estate Consultation?

Before the first meeting, gather what you can about the person's assets and family. The fuller the picture, the faster we can map out the next steps.

• A certified copy of the death certificate
• Account statements, property deeds, or vehicle titles held in the deceased's name
• Records of debts, including any mortgage, credit cards, and outstanding loans
• A list of surviving relatives and how each one is related to the person who died
• Beneficiary forms from retirement accounts, life insurance, or payable-on-death accounts, if you can find them

We go through this material together and lay out what it takes to open the estate, whether that means formal probate or a simpler affidavit.

Maricopa County Court Resources for Intestate Estates

Gilbert lies within Maricopa County, and every probate matter here runs through the county's Superior Court. The nearest courthouse for Gilbert residents is the Southeast Regional Court Center at 222 E. Javelina in Mesa.

The Arizona Judicial Branch publishes probate forms and instructions, including the small estate affidavit and the informal probate packets that many intestate estates rely on. A full list of courthouses and departments is available. If you are not sure whether a relative already has a probate case open, the Clerk of the Superior Court can confirm it.

Reach Out to LifePlan Legal AZ to Schedule a Consultation

Whether you have just lost a family member or you want to keep intestacy from ever touching your own estate, our attorneys can walk you through what comes next. We have represented families across Gilbert and the East Valley in intestate and probate matters for more than two decades. Probate and estate administration are billed by the hour, and the first consultation is free. Contact us to schedule yours.