Clear Money Guide
What this state guide covers
A quick view of the questions, practical details and source notes below.
Updated August 3, 2026. Quick answer for Arizona: nobody publishes a reliable, state-specific median for what a will costs here, and the figures you will see quoted — including ours — are national. Anyone showing you a precise Arizona number is estimating. What is genuinely Arizona-specific, and what actually decides whether your will works, is how it has to be executed. The detail worth knowing before you sign anything: in Arizona a beneficiary, or a person related to a beneficiary by blood, marriage or adoption, may not act as a witness to a will unless the will is made self-proved.
Putting a loan in writing? The interest limit, the signing rules and the time limit to sue, from the state’s own statutes: Arizona promissory note.
How to make a will in Arizona: what the statute says
Each line is a short extract quoted from the Arizona statute itself; the section has the exceptions.
- Signing and witnesses. A.R.S. § 14-2502(A): “Signed by at least two people, each of whom signed within a reasonable time after that person witnessed either the signing of the will as described in paragraph 2 of this subsection or the testator’s acknowledgment of that signature or acknowledgment of the will.”
- Self-proving affidavit. A.R.S. § 14-2504(A): “A will may be simultaneously executed, attested and made self-proved by its acknowledgment by the testator and by affidavits of the witnesses if the acknowledgment and affidavits are made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state in which execution occurs and are evidenced by the officer’s certificate, under official seal, in substantially the following form:”
- Handwritten (holographic) will. A.R.S. § 14-2503: “A will that does not comply with section 14-2502 is valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature and the material provisions are in the handwriting of the testator.”
The cost of settling an estate is a separate question: Arizona Probate Cost 2026.
The honest position on Arizona pricing
We publish a national attorney median for a simple will of $625 (middle 50% $450–$1,000) and a DIY platform range of $129–$599. Attorney figures are the national medians from the LegalTemplates 2026 survey of 909 firms, verified July 23, 2026. They are national, not state-specific — see the note on state pricing below. Geographic multipliers are widely republished, but the primary source for them blocks automated verification, so we will not apply one to Arizona and present the result as an Arizona figure. When a defensible state-level dataset exists, this page will carry it and say where it came from.
What Arizona law actually requires
This is the part that is genuinely state-specific, and the part that decides whether the document works at all. Every line below is read from the statute, with the citation attached:
- Witnesses: 2. A.R.S. § 14-2502(A)
- If a beneficiary witnesses it: a devisee, or a person related by blood, marriage or adoption to a devisee, may not act as a witness to a will executed on or after October 1, 2019, unless the will is made self-proved (disqualifying statute). A.R.S. § 14-2505(A)-(C)
- Notary required for the will to be valid: no. A notary is not what makes a will valid here — the witnesses are. A.R.S. § 14-2502
- Self-proving affidavit: available. Signing one at the same time as the will is what saves your executor from tracking witnesses down years later. A.R.S. § 14-2504
- Handwritten (holographic) wills: recognised. Valid whether or not witnessed if the signature and material provisions are in the testator’s handwriting. A.R.S. § 14-2503
- Electronic wills: recognised. A.R.S. § 14-2518 et seq.
The full 44-jurisdiction comparison is on what each state requires for a will to be valid.
Does Arizona give you a free form?
No. We found no complete statutory will form in the Arizona code. California, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico and Wisconsin each print one in their own codes. In Arizona your realistic routes are a DIY platform, a flat-fee attorney will, or an hourly engagement if the estate is complicated.
If a DIY will is the right route for you in Arizona
Where the estate is straightforward and none of the complications above apply, a properly executed DIY will does the job, and how it is signed matters far more than where the document came from. LawDepot builds a state-specific last will and testament, which you then sign and witness under the Arizona rules above.
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.
What skipping it costs in Arizona
Arizona sets probate compensation using “reasonable” compensation with no percentage schedule. The two numbers that decide what an estate actually pays are the fee basis and the small-estate threshold.
Fee basis: A personal representative is entitled to “reasonable compensation for his services” (A.R.S. §14-3719). Arizona’s statute states no percentage schedule and no dollar figure.
Small-estate threshold: $200,000 of personal property; a separate affidavit reaches real property up to $300,000 (A.R.S. § 14-3971).
A will does not avoid probate — it directs it. What it prevents is the estate being distributed by Arizona’s intestacy statute instead of by you, and it lets you name the executor rather than leaving the court to appoint one. The arithmetic on the other side is on what probate costs in Arizona.
What a will costs nationally — every route priced, and the four situations where DIY fails.
Statutory text read at the state’s own legislature or official code site. Pricing figures are national and dated above. General information, not legal advice.
Related: whether Arizona requires the executor to post a bond.
The court’s own filing fee to open probate is a separate cost from what’s on this page, see the Arizona probate filing fee.
Related: how long creditors have to file a claim against an estate in Arizona.