Arizona Affidavit Terminating Right of Survivorship

Arizona writes this instrument's name into the statute itself. Under A.R.S. Section 33-431, a right of survivorship in Arizona real property ends when an owner records an affidavit entitled affidavit terminating right of survivorship with the county recorder, and this package prepares exactly that affidavit as a fillable PDF. One owner signs it under oath, and recording it is what extinguishes the survivorship right.

One owner, acting alone

Both of Arizona's survivorship vestings answer to the same affidavit. For spouses who hold title as community property with right of survivorship, Section 33-431(D) permits either spouse to execute it. For co-owners who hold as joint tenants with right of survivorship, Section 33-431(E) permits any joint tenant to execute it. The statute conditions the termination on nothing else: no consent from the other owners, no joint signature, no court order. What other states accomplish through a severance of joint tenancy, Arizona accomplishes through this single recorded affidavit, and the same instrument reaches the community property survivorship title that most severance procedures never touch.

What the statute requires the affidavit to say

Section 33-431 prescribes the affidavit's contents, not merely its purpose. The instrument carries the exact statutory title; it is executed under oath; it sets forth the owner's stated intent to terminate the survivorship right; it describes the instrument that created the right of survivorship, including the date that instrument was recorded and the county recorder's book and page or instrument reference number; and it contains the legal description of the property. The form presents each element in a numbered section, with the description of the creating deed drawn from the recorder's stamp or online index. The oath is what makes this an affidavit rather than a deed: the owner signs before a notary, who administers the oath and completes a certificate tracking Arizona's statutory short form for a verification on oath or affirmation.

Recording is the switch

Under the statute, the right of survivorship is extinguished on the recordation of the affidavit in the office of the recorder of the county or counties where the property is located. A signed and notarized affidavit that never reaches the recorder terminates nothing. The recording itself is straightforward: Arizona's recording fee is a flat $30 statewide under Section 11-475, and because the affidavit is not a deed evidencing a transfer of title, no Affidavit of Property Value or exemption notation accompanies it. The form follows the document format rules of Section 11-480, with the first page's top reserved for the recorder's recording information.

What changes on the title, and what does not

The affidavit ends the survivorship feature and nothing else. No owner leaves the title, and no interest moves. Spouses keep their community property: Section 33-431(D) states expressly that the recordation shall not extinguish the community interest of either spouse, so each spouse's half simply passes by will or intestacy instead of vesting automatically in the survivor. Two joint tenants keep their undivided interests, which now pass through each owner's estate, the tenancy in common pattern that is Arizona's co-ownership default. Where three or more joint tenants hold title, an affidavit executed by one extinguishes only that owner's joint tenancy and survivorship right, and survivorship continues among all the remaining joint tenants. A co-owner's death that has already occurred presents a different documentation task, handled by a separate affidavit recorded with a death certificate under subsection F of the same statute; that instrument is prepared and recorded separately and is not included in this package.

The package contains the affidavit as a blank fillable PDF, a completed example showing the entire document filled in for a realistic Maricopa County fact pattern, and a plain language guide that walks through every numbered section, the oath and notary certificate, and the recording steps, with the statutory citations behind each entry. The materials are informational and are not legal advice.