It’s the end of December, and the end of 2025. Looking back on this year, a lot has happened and there is a lot to look forward to.
What Happened In 2025
A lot happened in 2025- below are some of the most notable happenings.
Higher Limits to Small Estate Affidavits
Arizona allows for the collection of personal property and real estate by affidavit when the estate is under a certain level of assets. Prior to September 2025, in order to collect personal property by affidavit, the value of the personal property must have been under $75,000. To collect real property by affidavit the value of the real property had to be under $100,000. In September, the Arizona Legislature passed an bill that upped these numbers. Now, a small estate in Arizona is personal property of up to $200,000 in value, and a small real estate interest will be up to $300,000.
Silver Alert System Got An Upgrade
Arizona adopted a more robust Silver Alert system — and both expanded and renamed it. Soon to be called a “Seek and Find” alert (a/k/a the SAFE Alert), the system will still be available for the missing “elderly” (those over age 65). But it will also be available for those with a cognitive or developmental disability, regardless of their age.
The legislature also adopted another new alert system. This one is focused on missing individuals under age 65. It specifically mentions membership in a recognized Indian tribe, but is not only available to indigenous individuals. This kind of alert is referred to as a Turquoise Alert.
Natural Organic Reduction Facility in Arizona
Technically, natural organic reduction (a/k/a human composting) became legal in Arizona in March of 2024. The issue was that even though it was legal, there were no human composting facilities in Arizona. In 2025, it seems like a facility or two has opened up.
What we’re looking forward to in 2026
The past year has been good, but there are things we are looking forward to in 2026.
ABLE Act Accounts Get An Upgrade
In 2014, Achieving a a Better Life Experience Act created ABLE accounts. These accounts allow disabled Americans to save funds, in this account, without disqualifying them from means tested public benefits, like Medicaid. The accounts vary from state to state, but can be an important tool for benefits planning. Accounts can only receive up to $19,000 per year, and are only available to individuals who became disabled prior to the age 26. But, in 2026, the age for a qualifying disability will rise to 46 make the accounts available to people.
The Estate Tax Exemption Rises
At the start of the year, there was a lot of concern about the sunset of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Many estate planners were concerned that the legislation causing several years of high estate tax exemptions, was going to sunset, and the estate tax exemption would revert back to the levels it was at in 2017, adjusted for inflation. To give you some idea of what that would have meant, the estate tax exemption this year is at $13.99 million per person. If Congress did not take action the estate tax exemption would have reverted to $5 million as adjusted for inflation which we think would have been about $7 million.
But, in 2025 Congress acted. The OBBBA set the estate tax exemption at $15 million per person for deaths in 2026.
