WHAT ARE PROBATE ASSETS?
Probate proceedings involve only assets commonly referred to as “probate assets.” Arizona probate courts do not have jurisdiction over and cannot administer assets that are not probate assets. Probate assets include all real property and personal property, including intangible personal property: • in which the decedent had an interest at the time of death, and • that are not transferred by operation of law or by contract to a person or entity. The decedent must have had an interest in the property at the time of death or the property is not a probate asset. Example 1 – Transfer of Title Before Death: If the decedent gives his 2003 Hummer SUV to his mother the day before his death, the Hummer belongs to his mother on the date of death and is not a probate asset that passes through probate. However, if the decedent failed to sign the title to the Hummer to his mother and did not properly complete the legal formalities of transferring title to the Hummer, the decedent would have retained
