25-415

25-415. Custody by nonparent; presumption;
grounds; definitions

A. In addition to section 25-401, a child custody proceeding may be commenced in
the superior court by a person other than a legal parent by filing a verified petition,
or by filing a petition supported by an affidavit, in the county in which the child is
permanently resident or is found. The petition shall include detailed facts supporting
the petitioner's right to file the petition. The petitioner shall provide notice as
required by subsection E of this section. Notice shall include a copy of the petition
and any affidavits. The court shall summarily deny a petition unless it finds that the
petitioner by the pleadings established that all of the following are true:

1. The person filing the petition stands in loco parentis to the child.

2. It would be significantly detrimental to the child to remain or be placed in the
custody of either of the child's living legal parents who wish to retain or obtain
custody.

3. A court of competent jurisdiction has not entered or approved an order
concerning the child's custody within one year before the person filed a petition
pursuant to this section, unless there is reason to believe the child's present
environment may seriously endanger the child's physical, mental, moral or emotional
health.

4. One of the following applies:

(a) One of the legal parents is deceased.

(b) The child's legal parents are not married to each other at the time the
petition is filed.

(c) There is a pending proceeding for dissolution of marriage or for legal
separation of the legal parents at the time the petition is filed.

B. If a person other than a child's legal parent is seeking custody there is a
rebuttable presumption that it is in the child's best interest to award custody to a
legal parent because of the physical, psychological and emotional needs of the child to
be reared by the child's legal parent. To rebut this presumption that person must show
by clear and convincing evidence that awarding custody to a legal parent is not in the
child's best interests.

C. The superior court may grant a person who stands in loco parentis to a child,
including grandparents and great-grandparents, and who meets the requirements of section
25-409 reasonable visitation rights to the child on a finding that the visitation is in
the child's best interests and that any of the following is true:

1. One of the legal parents is deceased or has been missing at least three months.

2. The child's legal parents are not married to each other at the time the petition
is filed.

3. There is a pending proceeding for dissolution of marriage or for legal
separation of the legal parents at the time the petition is filed.

D. A grandparent, a great-grandparent or a person who stands in loco parentis to a
child may bring a proceeding for visitation rights with a child by filing a verified
petition in the county in which the child is permanently resident or is found.

E. Notice of a custody or visitation proceeding filed pursuant to this section
shall be served pursuant to the Arizona rules of family law procedure to all of the
following:

1. The child's parents.

2. A person who has court ordered custody or visitation rights.

3. The child's guardian or guardian ad litem.

4. A person or agency that has physical custody of the child or that claims to have
custody or visitation rights.

5. Any other person or agency that has previously appeared in the action.

F. A person shall file proceedings for custody or visitation under this chapter in
the same action in which the legal parents had their marriage dissolved or any other
proceeding in which a previous custody order has been entered regarding the child.

G. For the purposes of this chapter:

1. "In loco parentis" means a person who has been treated as a parent by the child
and who has formed a meaningful parental relationship with the child for a substantial
period of time.

2. "Legal parent" means a biological or adoptive parent whose parental rights have
not been terminated.