In Arizona Guardianships are utilized for one person to take charge of another (minor or disabled adult). Conservatorships are used to allow one person to take charge of another’s property.

The normal guardianship of a minor takes about five weeks including the court hearing. In that hearing the court determines the need of the child for the guardianship & the fitness of the person applying. Needless to say, objections can be heard from the other parent or both parents. The need is often obvious, such as the child came into possession of money (such as an auto accident), both parents are in jail or deceased. The normal applicant for this type of guardianship of the person of the minor is a relative, but such procedures are not limited to a relative.

All guardianships/Conservatorships may require the filing of periodic accounting with the court, particularly Conservatorships wherein money is being held for the disabled person or minor by the other.

With respect to guardianships of disabled adults, matters get a bit more complicated. Not to be indelicate, but one must remember that as adults we are all entitled to be a little bit zany. The prerequisite for guardianship or the conservatorship of an adult is that there be a medical doctor stating that the adult is disabled in one respect or another, it does not contemplate (a) the nature and extend of the property, or (b) is a harm to himself or cannot care for himself. Physical disabilities normally do not qualify for adult guardianships unless there is an accompanying mental disability. The fact that an adult perceived to be disabled acts irrationally, such as spending all their Social Security check in the first day it is received at the local casino every month, keeps their living quarters in a condition that would rival a pig sty, or has a medically controlled condition such as manic depression, etc., may not qualify or be sufficient to enable a guardian of that adult to be appointed. There is no question but that this is extremely painful for the other family members around such a person, but the law takes wide latitude here with respect to personal freedom even though that freedom may not be immediately perceived by the family.

An adult guardianship takes upwards of 90 days. There is first a hearing wherein the court appoints a court visitor, usually an attorney who has to attest to the fact that person appears to be in a condition in which the doctor prescribed them &, of course, as noted above, a doctor has to fill out an affidavit stating what the disability is.