Arizona Trust and Estate Accounting Requirements
Current as of September 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice.
Arizona is the only state in this group with mandatory statewide account forms — but they apply to conservatorships, not to decedents’ estates, and the distinction matters. Arizona adopted the Uniform Trust Code as the Arizona Trust Code at A.R.S. Title 14 Chapter 11, and Title 14 substantially follows the Uniform Probate Code in structure and numbering.
Who must provide an accounting in Arizona
A.R.S. section 14-10813 sets the trustee’s duty to inform and report, and it is a default rule: the section opens “Unless the trust instrument provides otherwise.” Subsection (C) requires the trustee to send, at least annually and at termination, to distributees and permissible distributees of income or principal and to other beneficiaries who request it, a report of the trust. Subsection (B) requires sixty-day notices on acceptance of a trusteeship and on a trust becoming irrevocable, and thirty days’ advance notice of any change in the method or rate of trustee compensation. For estates, unsupervised administration is the default and Arizona Rule of Probate Procedure 50(b)(1) provides that the personal representative is not statutorily required to file annual accounts; accountability instead runs to the distributees, because A.R.S. section 14-3933(A)(3) requires the closing statement to certify that a full written account has been furnished to those whose interests are affected. In supervised administration, A.R.S. section 14-3505(B) requires an account filed with the court not less than annually. Conservators must account to the court annually under A.R.S. section 14-5419(A).
What an Arizona trust accounting must contain
Section 14-10813(C) requires a report of the trust property, liabilities, receipts and disbursements, including the source and amount of the trustee’s compensation, and a listing of the trust assets and, if feasible, their respective market values. Trust accounts are generally not filed: Arizona Rule of Probate Procedure 52(a) provides that a trustee is not required to submit an account to the court unless the court orders otherwise, and anything filed is confidential under Rule 8.
Income and principal allocation in Arizona
Arizona’s allocation rules are in A.R.S. Title 14, Chapter 7, Article 4, the Revised Uniform Principal and Income Act, the 1997 version. Arizona has not adopted the 2018 Uniform Fiduciary Income and Principal Act. Unitrust and total return conversion are handled separately, in the Trust Code at sections 14-11014 and 14-11015 rather than in the principal and income article. Arizona also adds a non-uniform notice of proposed action safe harbor at section 14-7431, with a thirty-day objection window, which can be used to settle an allocation question prospectively rather than defending it in an accounting later.
Filing an accounting with the Arizona probate court
A.R.S. section 14-3706 requires an inventory within ninety days after appointment, at fair market value as of the date of death, stating the community or separate character of each item and the type and amount of encumbrances; the representative may either file it with the court or deliver it to the heirs or devisees. For conservatorships, the Administrative Office of the Courts publishes required account forms: Form 5, Conservatorship Estate Budget; Form 6, Conservator’s First Account; Form 7, Conservator’s Account; Form 8, Conservator’s Final Account; and Form 9, Simplified Conservator’s Account, which is available only on a court order authorizing it. The forms page states that Forms 5 through 9 must be used in the format provided, except for good cause shown and upon court order, and Arizona Rule of Probate Procedure 45(e)(7) carries the same requirement. The forms are published as fillable PDFs and as Excel workbooks with the schedule arithmetic built in. Rule 50© makes the counterpart point explicit: unless the court orders otherwise, a personal representative’s account need not be presented on the conservator account forms.
When an Arizona accounting is contested
Arizona courts in several counties employ court accountants who review filed conservatorship accounts, so a non-conforming account may draw scrutiny before any interested person objects. Two Arizona-specific requirements catch people out: a conservator’s inventory must be accompanied by a consumer credit report for the protected person dated within ninety days under section 14-5418(A), and under section 14-5418(C) interested persons entitled to notice of the annual account may demand, once every thirty days, to inspect financial records or receive a receipts and disbursements report, with a thirty-day compliance window. Arizona is also a community property state, and section 14-3706(A) requires the inventory to mark each item accordingly.
How T.E.A. Fiduciary helps
We prepare Arizona trust, estate and conservatorship accountings, including conservator accounts on the mandatory statewide forms with their schedules and worksheets completed as the court expects, as a licensed, insured CPA firm practicing fiduciary accounting exclusively. We do not prepare tax returns. We work alongside your attorney and your tax preparer so that the accounting and the Form 1041 agree.
This page provides general information about Arizona fiduciary accounting requirements and is not legal or tax advice. Statutes, court rules and official forms change; confirm current requirements with counsel.
