Rule 37.1.Appointment of a Guardian ad Litem for an Alleged Incapacitated Person or an Adult in Need of Protection

Part III. Parties · Last amended January 1, 2022 · Last verified September 4, 2026

In one sentenceRule 37.1 lets the court appoint a guardian ad litem to investigate whether an adult party needs a guardian or conservator, automatically stays the family law case while that happens, and keeps the guardian ad litem out of the family law dispute itself.

Full Text of Rule 37.1

Text sizeJump to: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j)

(a) Appointment. Any party, including the attorney for a party who might be incapacitated or in need of protection, may move for the appointment of a guardian ad litem (hereinafter referred to as a “GAL”). On such motion, or on its own initiative, the court may appoint a GAL for a party if the court finds reasonable cause to believe that the party is, or may be, an incapacitated person or an adult in need of protection and the party is or may be in need of a guardian or conservator, or both, or other protective order under Chapter 5 of Title 14 of the Arizona Revised Statutes. The court must notify the parties and the GAL of the appointment within 3 days.

(b) GAL's Qualifications. A GAL appointed under this rule must be an attorney licensed to practice in Arizona. A GAL must not have ever represented any of the parties; must not be related to any party or to a party's attorney; and must have no personal interest in the family law case.

(c) Stay of Proceedings Upon Appointment. Unless the court orders otherwise, the court's appointment of a GAL under this rule automatically stays the family law proceeding, except that all previously issued orders, including a preliminary injunction, remain in effect. This stay remains in effect until the court enters an order lifting the stay.

(d) Role. The role of a GAL appointed under this rule is limited to investigating whether the adult party for whom the GAL was appointed (hereinafter referred to as the “subject person”) may be in need of a guardian, conservator, or other protective order under Title 14 of the Arizona Revised Statutes, and, if so, to initiate and prosecute proceedings under Chapter 5 of Title 14 of the Arizona Revised Statutes. The GAL does not represent the subject person in the family law proceeding and may not be called to testify in that proceeding or be asked to advise the subject person or the court on any pending issue in the family law case except on whether the subject person may be in need of a guardian, conservator, or other protective order under Title 14 of the Arizona Revised Statutes.

(e) Authority. The GAL may perform the following acts:

(1) Communicate with, and obtain and review records from, any person or entity who has knowledge or information relevant to whether the subject person is in need of a guardian, a conservator, or other protective order under Title 14 of the Arizona Revised Statutes. This power to obtain records includes access to all medical, substance abuse, psychiatric, psychological, and counseling records of the subject person, including records that are otherwise privileged or confidential.

(2) Meet with the subject person at any location where that person may be located and meet and interview other individuals living in the same household as the subject person or, if the subject person is at a care facility, treatment agency, or hospital, the persons in charge of providing treatment to, or care of, the subject person.

(3) Obtain and review court records in any case, including a court-ordered mental health care and treatment case, filed in any court, concerning the subject person.

(4) Obtain and review financial records, including records of the subject person that are otherwise privileged or confidential.

(5) Consult with any person who may be entitled to initiate, or has initiated, guardianship, conservatorship, or other protective proceedings under Chapter 5 of Title 14 of the Arizona Revised Statutes, and investigate and review the background of any person who is interested in becoming the guardian or conservator, including but not limited to the person's criminal arrests and convictions and credit history.

(6) Initiate and prosecute proceedings under Chapter 5 of Title 14 of the Arizona Revised Statutes.

(7) Any other acts specifically authorized by the court.

(f) Order of Appointment. The order appointing the GAL must set forth the basis for the GAL's appointment, the scope and duration of the GAL's appointment, and the GAL's powers, including those described in Rule 37.1(e).

(g) Privileges and Confidentiality.

(1) Between the GAL and the Subject Person. The subject person has no privilege or confidentiality concerning the person's communication with the GAL. When the GAL first communicates with the subject person, the GAL must inform the subject person that their communications are neither privileged nor confidential.

(2) Subject Person's Privileges and Confidentiality. The appointment of a GAL for a subject person and the receipt of otherwise privileged or confidential documents or information by the GAL does not waive any of that person's privileges or rights of confidentiality. As a result, the GAL may not be compelled by any party to the family law case to produce any privileged documents the GAL obtains.

(h) Independent Evaluation. On the GAL's motion, or on its own initiative, the court may order an evaluation of the subject person by a licensed physician to assist the GAL in determining whether the adult party is an incapacitated person or an adult in need of protection. The physician must provide the results of that evaluation only to the guardian ad litem, and the evaluation is not subject to discovery in the family law case.

(i) Report. Within the time set by the court, the GAL must file in the family law case a report regarding the status and results of the GAL's investigation, including whether the GAL, or anyone else, intends to or has initiated guardianship proceedings, conservatorship proceedings, or both. If the report contains privileged or confidential information, the GAL must request to file the report under seal. The GAL must provide the parties to the family law case with a copy of the report but not any privileged or confidential information.

(j) Fees and Costs of GAL and Physician. A GAL and any physician appointed under this rule are entitled to receive reasonable compensation for the work they performed and costs they incurred. The court must determine what, if any, portion of their reasonable fees and costs should be paid by the subject person and what, if any, portion should be paid from community property. If the court determines that the subject person and the marital community have insufficient funds to pay fees and costs, the court may order all or any part of the reasonable fees and costs to be paid as a county expense.

End

Rule History

Added on an emergency basis Aug. 30, 2021, effective Sept. 29, 2021; adopted and amended on a permanent basis Dec. 8, 2021, effective Jan. 1, 2022.

Plain-English Summary

Rule 37.1 is one of the newer rules in the ruleset -- added on an emergency basis in August 2021 and permanently adopted effective January 1, 2022 -- and it has no counterpart in ordinary civil practice. It exists for the case where a party may no longer be able to participate in their own divorce.

Appointment

Any party, including the attorney for the party who might be incapacitated, may move for appointment of a guardian ad litem. The court may also act on its own. The standard is reasonable cause to believe the party is or may be an incapacitated person or an adult in need of protection and may need a guardian, a conservator, or another protective order under Chapter 5 of Title 14. The court must notify the parties and the appointee within 3 days.

Qualifications

The appointee must be an Arizona-licensed attorney who has never represented any of the parties, is not related to a party or a party's attorney, and has no personal interest in the case.

The automatic stay

Unless the court orders otherwise, appointment automatically stays the family law proceeding -- but every previously issued order, including a preliminary injunction, stays in force. The stay lasts until the court lifts it.

A deliberately narrow role

The appointee's role is limited to investigating whether the subject person needs protection under Title 14, and if so to initiating and prosecuting those proceedings. The rule then states the boundary twice over: the appointee does not represent the subject person in the family law proceeding, may not be called to testify in it, and may not be asked to advise the subject person or the court on any pending issue in the family law case except the protection question.

Access, and what it does not cost the subject person

The powers are broad -- medical, substance abuse, psychiatric, psychological and counseling records including privileged or confidential ones, financial records, court records, meetings with the subject person wherever they are, background checks on proposed guardians.

Two protections balance that. Communications between the subject person and the appointee are neither privileged nor confidential, and the appointee must say so at first contact. But the appointment and the receipt of privileged material waives nothing: no party to the family law case can compel the appointee to produce privileged documents they obtained. An independent physician's evaluation goes only to the appointee and is not subject to discovery in the family law case.

Report, and cost

A report on the status and results of the investigation is filed within the time the court sets, with a request to seal if it contains privileged material; the parties get a copy without the privileged or confidential information. The appointee and any physician are entitled to reasonable compensation, apportioned by the court between the subject person and community property -- and if neither can pay, the court may order the cost paid as a county expense.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can ask for a guardian ad litem under Rule 37.1?

Any party, including the attorney for the party who might be incapacitated or in need of protection. Rule 37.1(a) also allows the court to appoint on its own initiative.

Does the case keep moving after the appointment?

No. Rule 37.1(c) says the appointment automatically stays the family law proceeding unless the court orders otherwise, though previously issued orders including a preliminary injunction remain in effect until the court lifts the stay.

Can the guardian ad litem be called as a witness about the divorce?

No. Rule 37.1(d) says the guardian ad litem does not represent the subject person in the family law proceeding and may not be called to testify in it or asked to advise on any pending issue except whether the person may need protection under Title 14.

Are my conversations with the guardian ad litem confidential?

No. Rule 37.1(g)(1) says the subject person has no privilege or confidentiality concerning communications with the guardian ad litem, and requires the guardian ad litem to say so at first contact.

Does the appointment waive my privileges as to the other party?

No. Rule 37.1(g)(2) says the appointment and the guardian ad litem's receipt of privileged or confidential material does not waive any privilege or right of confidentiality, and no party to the family law case may compel the guardian ad litem to produce privileged documents.

Who pays for the guardian ad litem?

Rule 37.1(j) requires the court to determine what portion of the reasonable fees and costs is paid by the subject person and what portion from community property. If neither has sufficient funds, the court may order all or part paid as a county expense.

Source & verification. Rule text and Rule History reproduced verbatim from the Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure as published by the Arizona Supreme Court, current through amendments effective January 1, 2026. Promulgated by the Supreme Court of Arizona (Ariz. Const. art. 6, § 5). Last verified September 4, 2026. · Official text

Also known as: guardian ad litemGALincapacitated partyadult in need of protectionautomatic stayTitle 14conservatorcapacityprotective order