Santa Cruz County Affidavit of Succession to Interest in Community Property with Right of Survivorship (Surviving Spouse) Form

When two Arizona spouses hold property as community property with right of survivorship and one spouse dies, title to the whole passes to the surviving spouse automatically, by operation of law, under Arizona Revised Statutes Section 33-431. No court is involved and no new deed is signed. What remains is to place evidence of the death into the county records, to show the surviving spouse as sole owner of record. This form prepares that sworn affidavit.

How the Survivorship Works

Section 33-431(C) lets spouses hold community property with an express right of survivorship, created by the words in the vesting deed. The survivorship operates at the first death, and the deceased spouse's interest vests in the surviving spouse without probate. Because that passage happens by operation of law, the affidavit transfers nothing; it records the death and confirms the survivorship took effect.

A Title-Clearing Affidavit, Not a Statutory Form

Arizona does not prescribe a post-death affidavit form for community property with right of survivorship. Section 33-431 contains a statutory affidavit for the surviving joint tenant of a joint tenancy, in Subsection F, and this affidavit follows that content by analogy, adapted to the community property estate. The guide is candid about that footing and distinguishes the two similarly named statutory affidavits under Subsections D and F.

What the Affidavit States

The affiant, the surviving spouse, identifies the deceased spouse, the death, and the recorded instrument that created the survivorship. The sworn statements establish that the spouses held the property as community property with right of survivorship, that the right of survivorship had not been terminated, severed, or extinguished before the death, and that the entire interest vested in the surviving spouse by operation of law.

Recording in Arizona

The affidavit is recorded with the county recorder where the property sits, for a flat thirty dollar fee under Section 11-475, and Arizona charges no real estate transfer tax. A certified copy of the death certificate is attached and recorded with it. Because the affidavit effects no sale and no transfer, it falls outside the Affidavit of Property Value framework, which the guide explains.

What Is Included

• The blank form as a fillable PDF, completed on screen or printed and completed by hand
• A plain language guide that walks through every numbered section: what each blank asks, where the information comes from, and what a correct entry looks like
• A completed example showing the entire affidavit filled in for a realistic Arizona fact pattern

The document is formatted for Arizona recording standards under Arizona Revised Statutes Section 11-480: letter size pages, ten point body type meeting the statutory minimum, half inch margins, and a reserved band at the top of the first page for the recorder's information. The affidavit carries only operative, sworn content; the instructions page that ships with it, marked do not record, is removed before recording.

Related Arizona Forms

For a joint tenancy rather than community property, the Arizona Affidavit of Surviving Joint Tenant under Section 33-431(F) is the statutory post-death affidavit. To sever a right of survivorship during life, the Arizona Affidavit Terminating Right of Survivorship under Section 33-431(D) or Section 33-431(E) records that change. The Arizona Beneficiary Deed under Section 33-405 names a beneficiary who takes on the owner's death without survivorship vesting.