Legal

• Welcome to the KARE Family Center
• Legal Information and Support for Relatives Raising Children for Pre-Adoptive Families
• Frequently Asked Questions About:
  • Title XIV - Guardianship
  • Dependency Proceedings
  • Termination of Parental Rights
  • Adoption
  • Custody
  • Grandparents Rights
  • Power of Attorney

CUSTODY

Can someone other than a legal parent file for custody of a child?
Yes. Arizona has a law called the "in loco parentis" statute. This law applies to persons who have previously acted as caretakers for a child in place of the parent. This law permits those caretakers (including grandparents) to file a custody or visitation action. This action is filed downtown in the domestic relations division of Superior Court.

There are four requirements to ask for custody under this law:

1. The person filing must have a relationship like that of a parent to the child.
2. It would be "significantly detrimental" to the child to stay with or go back to the legal parent who wishes to keep or gain custody.
3. A court has not approved an order under this law concerning the child's custody within the last year before filing unless there is reason to believe that the child's present environment may seriously endanger the child's physical, mental, moral or emotional" health. AND
4. One of the following applies:
   • One of the child's legal parents is deceased.
   • The legal parents were not married to each other.
   • There is a pending divorce or separation action of the legal parents at the time the petition is filed.

Those who file for custody under this section must show by a standard called 'clear and convincing' evidence that awarding custody to one of the child's legal parents is not in the child's best interests.

When filing for custody or visitation, the petitioner must give notice by serving according to court rules to: the child's parents, any person with court-ordered custody or visitation rights and any person or agency that claims to have custody rights, the child's guardian or guardian ad litem, and any other person that has previously appeared in court regarding this child's custody.

For all court actions, filing fees are required. For a custody action, the fee is approximately $200, those involved are required to take a court sponsored parent education class. The fee for this class is $30.00. The counseling services offered through the Family Center of the Conciliation Court are free of charge to parties in custody/visitation actions.