Estate Administration & Probate


Attorneys Colby and ThornesWhen a person (the decedent) passes away, the assets owned by the decedent on his/her death are called the decedent’s “estate”.  The decedent’s estate will pass to his/her heirs or beneficiaries.  At Colby&Thornes, our estate planning attorneys are experienced in this area of the law and will administer the process of guiding decedent’s assets to his/her heirs or intended beneficiaries.  The nature and complexity of the administration process for each decedent estate will be determined by the nature of the assets, how titled and whether the decedent died intestate, had a will or a trust.

Instate Succession

If the decedent died without any written instrument, his or her assets will pass, by law, in accordance with Arizona’s intestate succession statute.  If a decedent dies without a written instrument, is it said that he/she died intestate.  In essence, under the Arizona intestate succession statute, the Arizona legislature writes a statutory will for every person who died intestate.  If a person in Arizona dies intestate, the assets of the person must be administered to the rightful heirs through a probate in the Arizona courts.   At Colby&Thornes, our estate planning attorneys are experienced in this area of the law and will help guide the heirs of an intestate decedent through the probate process.

Last Will and Testament

If a decedent dies with a Last Will and Testament as his or her written instrument of choice, the assets of the decedent who died with a Will must be administered and transferred to the rightful heirs through a probate proceeding in the Arizona courts.  At Colby&Thornes, our estate planning attorneys are experienced in this area of the law and will help guide the heirs of a decedent with a Last Will and Testament through the probate process.

Revocable Trust

If a decedent dies with a Revocable Trust as his or her written instrument of choice, the assets of the decedent properly titled in the name of the Revocable Trust will pass to the beneficiaries identified in the Revocable Trust without the need to open a probate proceeding in the Arizona courts.  If, on the other hand, a decedent dies with a Revocable Trust, but owns assets on death that were not titled in the name of the Trust but rather were still titled in the name of the decedent on his/her death, the Pour Over Will of the decedent will control.  The Pour Over Will (included with any properly drafted Revocable Trust) states that any assets titled in the name of the decedent on his or her death shall transfer to the Revocable Trust of the decedent; the Pour Over Will requires that an informal probate be opened in the Arizona courts to transfer the assets titled in decedent’s name on his/her death to the Revocable Trust and then the probate can be closed.

At Colby&Thornes, our estate planning attorneys are experienced in this area of law and will help guide the heirs of a Revocable Trust through the trust administration process, as well as a probate proceeding if utilization of the Pour Over Will is required to pick up assets not properly titled in the name of the Revocable Trust on death.

Beneficiary Designation Assets

A beneficiary designation asset is an asset, such as an IRA, a life insurance policy, an employer sponsored retirement plan, a non-qualified annuity or even a bank account (POD account), where, upon your death, the asset will be payable directly to the beneficiary by operation of law, avoiding probate, and without the need for a will or a trust.   You fill out, sign and date a beneficiary designation form with the asset custodian identifying the beneficiaries on your death.  A beneficiary designation itself will not remove an asset from your taxable estate, but it will provide that the asset goes directly to the beneficiary as set forth in the beneficiary designation, avoiding probate, and without the need for a will or a trust.

Colby & Thornes is an Arizona Professional Limited Liability Company. The members of the company are David H. Colby and Megan A. Thornes. This website is intended to provide information about our practice and the legal services we offer. It is not intended to create, nor does it create, an attorney-client relationship. The website is informational only, and should not be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed attorney at law.

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Colby & Thornes PLLC
Gainey Ranch Financial Center
7373 E. Doubletree Ranch Rd. Ste. 225 Scottsdale, Arizona 85258
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9am to 5pm Monday - Friday