guardianship; minors; appointment; notice
HB 2079 amends Arizona's guardianship laws for minors, affecting minors, parents, and potential guardians. It requires courts to find that parental rights are terminated or parents cannot care for the minor before appointing a guardian, and mandates clear notice to minors aged 14+ and parents about guardianship rights and consequences. The bill also requires courts to verify proper notice was given (including efforts to locate unresponsive parents) and allows for guardian ad litem appointments if parents cannot be reached. Additionally, it permits temporary guardianships for up to six months with possible extensions if needed for a minor's best interests.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
House Passage
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
Signed into Law
Apr 2025
Introduced Jan 9, 2025
Signed Apr 18, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
House Engrossed Version
→
Chaptered Version
·
3 edits
MINOR
This bill was formatted and finalized for official adoption as Chapter 79. The substantive legal text of the guardianship provisions for minors remains largely unchanged from the House Engrossed version, with only minor formatting adjustments and capitalization corrections. The bill establishes conditions under which courts can appoint guardians for minors and outlines notice requirements for interested parties.
TECHNICAL
The bill was converted from a House Engrossed version to an official Chaptered version with proper formatting, including the addition of approval and filing dates (April 18, 2025 and April 21, 2025 respectively).
Minor capitalization corrections were made throughout the text, such as changing 'THE COURT' to 'the court' and 'Each' to 'Each' for consistency.
Some redundant words like 'ON' and 'Upon' were corrected to 'upon' in the text for proper grammar and consistency.
Floor votes · Senate Apr 10, 2025 · House Feb 17, 2025
How they voted
28–1
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 30
Apr 10, 2025
D
Democratic13
92% Yea
R
Republican17
94% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
14
Key actions
6
Committee
1
Amendments
2
Apr 18, 2025
Signed into law
Signed by Governor
executive
Apr 10, 2025
Upper · Passed
PASSED
upper
Mar 19, 2025
Upper · Passed
DP
upper
Feb 17, 2025
Lower · Passed
PASSED
lower
Feb 12, 2025
Lower · Passed
DPA
lower
Jan 22, 2025
Lower · Passed
DPA
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Walt Blackman
RRepublican
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