Guardianships are more common than you think. Many times people have to get a guardianship of a minor whose parents cannot take care of him or her.
Guardianships are also common in situations where a parent has an adult child with a disability and the child cannot care for him or herself. Guardianships have many requirements, and it is important to know what you need to do if you have a guardianship and need to move to another state. In this case, we will look at transferring a guardianship to Arizona.
First, you must make sure that the state you obtained your guardianship in a state that has adopted the Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act. This Act allows guardianships to transfer smoothly from state to state. It also eliminates problems of a new state not recognizing the guardianship from the original state. Fortunately, Arizona has adopted this Act. This means that if the state where you originally obtained the guardianship has also adopted the act, the transfer to Arizona will be easy. If the original state has not adopted the act, it will be important to speak with an attorney in that state, as the process can become more complicated.
Lots of Paperwork
Keep in mind that even though Arizona has adopted the Act, transferring guardianship still is very procedural and requires a lot of paperwork. If being organized stresses you out, you will be better off hiring an attorney who knows how to transfer the guardianship for you.
While transferring guardianship to Arizona, you are going to have to keep the original state in the loop. This means you are going to need to get information and permission from that state. The first step is filing a Petition for Acceptance of Transfer of Guardianship from another state to Arizona. Complete the petition, along with a probate information cover sheet, and an affidavit of the person to be appointed (who will be the guardian). The Maricopa Superior Court website and courthouses have forms for all three of these documents you can fill out.
Once completed, be sure to file the paperwork with the superior court. Most likely, you will receive a hearing date and an attorney will be appointed for your child or whomever you are guardian of. This information will all be provided to you at the courthouse at the time of filing the paperwork. Once you have a hearing, the Arizona court should give you an order saying that the guardianship can be transferred, as well as a temporary order appointing you as guardian.
That information must be provided to the original state. Once that state receives that information, they will give you the final approval to have the guardianship fully transferred to Arizona. After receiving the final approval paperwork from the original state, you will need to file it in the superior court so that the Arizona court has notice of the original state’s approval.
Final Hearing For Approval
At that point, the Arizona court may set a final hearing to grant you the final approval of the transfer. Other times, the court may grant you the approval without a hearing. This is all dependent on the attorney appointed to the person you are trying to get the guardianship for, and how the court wants to proceed moving forward. The process can be very simple if you follow the steps. However, as a reminder again, there is a lot of paperwork and organizational skill required. Be prepared for that. If one item is missing, the case could be dismissed, and you will have to start over, or it could be drawn out for months.
