Here's where the stuff goes.
Until you do this, you have no claim to anything of hers.
Arizona Intestate Succession Laws
If any part of an Arizona decedent's estate is not effectively disposed of by will, the intestate share will be distributed in the following order and manner:
1. Surviving spouse. A surviving spouse is generally first in line to get any assets from the intestate estate, including both separate property and the one-half of community property that belongs to the decedent. However, the amount a surviving spouse is entitled to varies as follows:
* If there is no surviving issue (i.e., children) or if all of decedent's surviving issue are also issue of the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse is entitled to the entire intestate estate.
* If there are surviving issue one or more of whom are not issue of the surviving spouse, one-half of the intestate separate property and no interest in the one-half of the community property that belonged to the decedent.
2. Heirs other than surviving spouse. Any part of the intestate estate not passing to the surviving spouse as indicated above, or the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse, passes as follows:
1. To the decedent's descendants by representation.
2. If there is no surviving descendant, to the decedent's parents equally if both survive, or to the surviving parent.
3. If there is no surviving descendant or parent, to the descendants of the decedent's parents or either of them by representation.
4. If there is no surviving descendant, parent or descendant of a parent, but the decedent is survived by one or more grandparents or descendants of grandparents, half of the estate passes to the decedent's paternal grandparents equally if both survive or to the surviving paternal grandparent or the descendants of the decedent's paternal grandparents or either of them if both are deceased with the descendants taking by representation. The other half passes to the decedent's maternal relatives in the same manner. If there is no surviving grandparent or descendant of a grandparent on either the paternal or the maternal side, the entire estate passes to the decedent's relatives on the other side in the same manner as the half.
If all or part of a decedent's intestate estate passes by representation to the decedent's descendants (as mentioned above), that estate is divided into as many equal shares as there are surviving descendants in the generation nearest to the decedent that contains one or more surviving descendants and to deceased descendants in the same generation who left any surviving descendants. Each surviving descendant in the nearest generation is allocated one share. Any remaining shares are combined and then divided in the same manner among the surviving descendants of the deceased descendants as if the surviving descendants who were allocated a share and their surviving descendants had predeceased the decedent.
If all or part of a decedent's intestate estate passes by representation to the descendants of either of the decedent's deceased parents or to the descendants of either of the decedent's deceased paternal or maternal grandparents, all or part of the estate is divided into as many equal shares as there are surviving descendants in the generation nearest the deceased parents or either of them, or the deceased grandparents or either of them, that contains one or more surviving descendants and to deceased descendants in the same generation who left any surviving descendants. Each surviving descendant in the nearest generation is allocated one share. Any remaining shares are combined and then divided in the same manner among the surviving descendants of the deceased descendants as if the surviving descendants who were allocated a share and their surviving descendants had predeceased the decedent.
3. State of Arizona. If there is no taker under any of the above provisions, the intestate estate passes to the state of Arizona.
Arizona Intestate Succession Law Fun Facts
* Relatives of the half blood inherit the same share they would inherit if they were of the whole blood.
* Relatives of the decedent conceived before his death but born thereafter inherit as if they had been born in the lifetime of the decedent (provided the new-born lives at least 120 hours after birth).
* Any person who fails to survive the decedent by 120 hours is deemed to have predeceased the decedent for purposes of intestate succession (which means that the person generally doesn't get a share of the decedent's estate). If it cannot be established by clear and convincing evidence that the person who would otherwise be an heir has survived the decedent by 120 hours, it is considered that the person failed to survive for the required period. However, these rules don't apply if the end result is that the state of Arizona gets the intestate estate.
* Arizona's intestate succession laws, as well as other laws dealing with wills and decedents' estates, can be found in Title 14 of the Arizona Revised Statutes.
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