Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: in Arizona, dying without a will does not mean the state keeps the estate; it means Arizona’s intestacy statute (A.R.S. §14-2102) decides who gets it, and the surviving spouse usually does not take everything. The single most common misunderstanding on this page: a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship can cut the spouse’s share sharply below what most people assume.
What this guide covers
Who inherits from Arizona residents who die without a will is set by statute, not custom: A.R.S. §14-2102 and the sections around it. It governs only the probate estate: what is left after retirement accounts and life insurance with a living named beneficiary, payable-on-death accounts, property in joint tenancy with survivorship, and anything already in a funded trust have already passed outside it. This page covers the spouse’s share, who inherits if there is no spouse, and the rules that can change the answer: half-blood relatives, community property.
The spouse’s share
When the spouse takes everything: Spouse takes the entire intestate estate (both separate property AND decedent’s half of community property) if there is no surviving issue, OR if all surviving issue are also issue of the surviving spouse. No reference to surviving parents at all in the spouse-share statute.
When it is less than everything: Blended-family case: ‘one-half of the intestate separate property and no interest in the one-half of the community property that belonged to the decedent’; the decedent’s half of community property passes instead to the non-common descendants. Current §14-2102 contains NO dollar-figure formula; purely fraction-based (not a UPC dollar-plus-fraction structure).
The following part of the intestate estate, as to both separate property and the one-half of community property that belongs to the decedent, passes to the surviving spouse: 1. If there is no surviving issue or if there are surviving issue all of whom are issue of the surviving spouse also, the entire intestate estate.
Source: A.R.S. §14-2102
If a DIY will fits your situation in Arizona
In Arizona, a surviving spouse can end up sharing the estate with a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship under the default rules above; a will is what lets you decide that instead of the statute. LawDepot builds a state-specific last will and testament.
LawDepot pays us a commission if you buy through this link; it costs you nothing extra. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice. Affiliate Disclosure.
Who inherits if there is no spouse
descendants by representation -> parents equally or surviving parent -> descendants of parents by representation -> split 50/50 paternal/maternal: grandparent(s) or descendants; whole estate to surviving side if other empty.
Rules that change the outcome
Half-blood relatives: Full share, no reduction. A.R.S. §14-2107: ‘Relatives of the half blood inherit the same share they would inherit if they were of the whole blood.’
Community property: Arizona is a community-property state. The spouse keeps the decedent’s half of community property only if every surviving descendant is also the spouse’s own child; where one is not, that half passes to the decedent’s other descendants instead, and the spouse keeps only their own pre-existing half (A.R.S. §14-2102).
What a will changes
A will does not just skip the statute above; it lets you choose who gets Arizona property that the intestacy rules would send somewhere else: a spouse who would otherwise share the estate with a stepchild, a partner who is not married and inherits nothing under intestacy at all, or specific people the statute’s ladder never reaches. It also lets you name an executor rather than leaving the court to appoint one. What it does not change: assets that already pass outside probate: a will has no effect on a beneficiary designation, a payable-on-death account, or property held in joint tenancy.
General information drawn from state intestate-succession statutes, not legal advice. Who inherits without a will is STATE law and differs in every state; the spouse’s share, the order of inheritance, and how half-blood and community-property rules apply all change, and every figure here is sourced and dated. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice.