When someone you love needs care, your family can decide together who steps in and how. At Aurit Mediation’s Phoenix office, relatives work with a neutral mediator to agree on a guardianship plan before asking the court to make it official.
Your mediator keeps the person who needs care at the center, makes sure every relative is heard, and helps you agree on who serves, how responsibilities are shared, and how the family stays involved. Aurit puts your agreement in writing to support the court process, and relatives outside Phoenix can join online.
200 E Van Buren St Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 905-6111
For the statewide picture, our guide explains how families reach agreement on care for a loved one. These Phoenix pages cover related matters locally:
Ending a marriage with agreements you shape, filed with the Superior Court in Maricopa County.
How Phoenix parents agree on legal decision-making, parenting time, and a parenting plan.
Setting support under Arizona's guidelines, and updating it later when life changes.
Whether spousal maintenance fits your divorce, how much, and for how long.
Sorting community from separate property, including the home, retirement accounts, and debts.
A parenting plan and support agreement for parents who were never married.
| Office | Region Served | Primary Courthouse |
|---|---|---|
|
The Aurit Center for Divorce Mediation
Online sessions available
|
Phoenix |
Probate and Mental Health Department
East Court Building
101 W. Jefferson Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003
Old Courthouse
125 W. Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003 |
For a child, Arizona law lets the court appoint a guardian when it is in the child’s best interest and each living parent consents, the parents’ rights have been terminated, or the child is at least 16, is not in a dependency case, and has no parent willing or able to act. That consent requirement is why family agreement matters so much.
A judge or commissioner makes a permanent appointment after a hearing. Family members who are not licensed fiduciaries must first complete training approved by the Arizona Supreme Court, and the guardian’s authority begins when the Clerk issues letters of appointment. The court’s Law Library Resource Center can help with forms, though not legal advice.
Phoenix families work with a team that understands both the care decisions in front of you and the family history behind them.
Founder and Mediator Michael's degrees are a Juris Doctor from Pepperdine University School of Law and a Master's in Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine's Straus Institute. He has taught mediation at the Straus Institute and ASU, and his service as Ethics Chair of the Maricopa County Association of Family Mediators helps multi-relative sessions stay fair and productive.
Founder and CEO Karen co-founded Aurit to bring a peaceful, family-first approach to hard decisions, and guardianship conversations are where that approach matters most. Trained in clinical psychology at Antioch University (MA) and ASU (BA), with a mediation certificate from the Straus Institute, she has taught mediation as an adjunct professor of law at the Straus Institute and ASU's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law and co-founded the National Mediation Training Institute.
Lead Mediator Andrew keeps sessions organized when several relatives are at the table. He earned his J.D. at Arizona State University's law school and was recognized as Arizona's Top Mediator for 2025 by the Arizona Mediator's Association.
Guardianship decisions carry real emotional weight for every relative involved. Aurit offers a calm, structured way to work through them together:
Quieter relatives are heard alongside louder ones, the person who needs care stays at the center, and relatives outside Phoenix can join online.
Settling disagreements first makes the court process smoother and far less adversarial.
Families know the full cost from the first conversation, with no hourly billing.
No. In Arizona, guardianship and legal decision-making for parents are governed by different parts of the law. Guardianship typically involves care for a child or an adult when a parent, or the person themselves, cannot provide it.
In most cases, no. The court still appoints the guardian, and for a child it generally needs each living parent’s informed consent unless another legal condition applies. Mediation resolves the disagreements among family members so the court process is smoother and far less adversarial.
Yes. Relatives can join sessions online, so family members across Arizona or farther away can be part of the conversation.
The family members involved in the decision. Your mediator helps identify who needs to be part of the conversation so the agreement is one everyone can stand behind.
If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911 first. Urgent situations may call for court action that mediation cannot provide, so talk with us during your consultation about whether mediation is the right fit for your family.
Your loved one deserves a care plan your whole family can stand behind. Your free one-hour consultation covers who needs to be involved, how mediation works, and a personalized flat fee. Then your family works toward agreement in sessions where every voice is heard, and Aurit puts it in writing to support the court process.
Families can call (602) 905-6111, Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM.
Learn more about Aurit Mediation, meet our attorney-mediators, visit our Phoenix office page, or explore all of our Arizona locations.
