One of the most common questions people ask when writing a will is a blunt one: can I leave someone out completely? In Arizona the answer depends entirely on who that person is. Arizona does not follow the "forced heirship" systems used in many parts of the world, where a fixed slice of your estate is legally reserved for your children no matter what your will says. Here you have broad freedom to decide who inherits. That freedom, however, runs into two firm limits that every Arizona resident should understand before signing.
This guide explains who you can disinherit under Arizona law, who you effectively cannot, and how the state's community property rules quietly do the work that a "spousal elective share" does in other legal systems.
Arizona Has No Forced Heirship for Adult Children
Start with the good news for anyone who wants full control. Arizona imposes no forced heirship on your descendants. You may leave an adult child a full share, a token amount, or nothing at all, and a properly executed will controls that outcome. There is no reserved portion, no minimum percentage, and no requirement to justify your decision to a court.
A handwritten (holographic) will is a perfectly valid way to express these choices. Under A.R.S. Section 14-2503, a holographic will is valid, whether or not it is witnessed, as long as the signature and the material provisions are in the testator's own handwriting.1 Arizona does not require witnesses for this type of will, which makes it accessible to people who want to record their wishes clearly at home.
Say it plainly in the document
If you intend to disinherit an adult child, name the person and state your intent directly. Silence can create ambiguity, and ambiguity invites a challenge. A short, clear clause is far stronger than simply omitting someone and hoping the omission speaks for itself.
Template: disinheritance clause
Last Will and Testament
I have three children: Robert Miller, Susan Miller, and David Miller.
I have made no provision in this will for my son David Miller.
This decision is intentional and not the result of accident or oversight.
The Real Limit: You Cannot Fully Disinherit a Spouse
Here is where Arizona differs sharply from a will-writer's assumption that "my property is mine to give away." Arizona is a community property state. In general, most assets that either spouse acquires during the marriage are community property, and the surviving spouse already owns one-half of it in their own right.2 That half is not yours to distribute in your will, because it was never entirely yours to begin with.
Why Arizona has no spousal "elective share"
Many legal systems protect a surviving spouse with an elective share, a right to claim a set fraction of the deceased spouse's estate regardless of the will. Arizona takes a different route. Because the community property system already guarantees the surviving spouse ownership of half the marital assets, Arizona provides no separate elective share.3 The community property itself is treated as the spouse's protection. This is an important distinction: the safeguard exists, but it operates through property ownership rather than through a claim against your estate.
Your separate property (assets you owned before marriage, or received by gift or inheritance during it) is a different matter. You generally have freedom to leave your separate property to whomever you choose, including someone other than your spouse.
The Accidental Trap: Omitted Spouses and Omitted Children
Even people who do not intend to disinherit anyone can trigger Arizona's protective rules by simply failing to update an old will. These rules exist to prevent accidental omissions, not to override deliberate ones.
Omitted spouse
If you signed your will before you married and then died without updating it, Arizona treats your surviving spouse as an "omitted spouse." Under A.R.S. Section 14-2301, that spouse is generally entitled to the share they would have received had you died without a will, at least as to the portion of your estate not left to children from a prior relationship.4 The protection does not apply if the will shows it was made in contemplation of the marriage, if it states it remains effective despite a later marriage, or if you provided for the spouse outside the will.
Omitted children
A similar rule protects children born or adopted after the will was signed. Under A.R.S. Section 14-2302, an omitted afterborn or after-adopted child may receive a share of the estate, because the law presumes you would have provided for a child you simply had not yet had when you wrote the document.5 The key word is accidental. If you name a living child and deliberately leave them nothing, that is your right. But a child who appears in your life after the will is signed is treated as an oversight unless your will addresses future children.
What Happens If You Rely on the Default Rules Instead
Some people assume that leaving no will, or an incomplete one, will conveniently distribute everything to a spouse. That is not always true. Under Arizona's intestacy statute, A.R.S. Section 14-2102, a surviving spouse takes the entire estate only when all of the deceased person's descendants are also descendants of that spouse. If there are children from another relationship, the surviving spouse receives one-half of the separate property and no interest in the deceased spouse's half of the community property.3 In a blended family, the default rules can split an estate in ways the deceased person never intended.6
For a fuller picture of the default outcome, see our guide on dying without a will in Arizona. The short version: relying on the default is a gamble, and writing your own will is how you take control of it.
Putting It Together
Arizona gives you real freedom and two clear boundaries. You can disinherit an adult child, a sibling, a parent, or almost anyone else, as long as you say so clearly. You cannot use your will to take away the half of the community property your spouse already owns, and you should never leave an old will in place after a marriage or a new child without updating it, or the omitted-spouse and omitted-child rules may rewrite your plan.
| Person | Can you disinherit them in Arizona? |
|---|---|
| Adult child | Yes, if you state your intent clearly in the will |
| Parent, sibling, other relative | Yes |
| Spouse (community property half) | No, they already own that half |
| Spouse (your separate property) | Generally yes |
| Child born or adopted after the will | No, unless the will addresses future children |
A clear, correctly written holographic will lets you exercise the freedom Arizona gives you while respecting the limits it imposes. You can create your Arizona will in plain language, name exactly who inherits, and state any disinheritance in a way that is far harder to challenge. If your estate is large or your family situation is complicated, consider having an Arizona estate planning attorney review your choices before you sign.
Sources
- 1A.R.S. Section 14-2503, Holographic Will (Arizona State Legislature) (azleg.gov)
- 2Arizona Marital Property Laws (FindLaw) (findlaw.com)
- 3A.R.S. Section 14-2102, Intestate Share of Surviving Spouse (Arizona State Legislature) (azleg.gov)
- 4A.R.S. Section 14-2301, Entitlement of Spouse; Premarital Will (Justia) (law.justia.com)
- 5A.R.S. Section 14-2302, Omitted Children (Justia) (law.justia.com)
- 6Intestate Succession in Arizona (Nolo) (nolo.com)
About the author
Max Kuch
Max Kuch writes about estate planning, wills and inheritance for Arizona Last Will. He gathers the rules from the Arizona statutes and the leading public data, then explains them in plain, accessible language so anyone can put their wishes in writing.