Obtaining Guardianship

State of Arizona

My nephew and girlfriend had a baby boy two years ago. They are not married but both names are on birth certificate

When he was born the mom and dad lived with my sister. After about six months, they moved out but two months later they separated and asked my sister to keep her grandson. They have not totally abandoned him as they do see him about once a month.

We want to file custody papers with the courts and believe at this time the parents will sign agreement.

Three Questions:

1. Shouldn’t she file for guardianship since she is not the parent but the grandparent?

2. Since no child support will be requested and the child has no money, are we correct in assuming we file for Guardianship only and not as Guardian and Conservator?

2. Do we need both parent’s signatures or just the mothers? They are not married so I believe legal custody is with the mother.

Thanks for any help you can give us.

This is just my advice but, you could just have the legal parent draw up a power of attorney(custody by mandate) which states that the grandparent is allowed to enroll child in school, sign for medical care, do what is needed to support child, do what is needed to discipline child in a way seen fit, and a few others. I have that for my 7 year old b/c she lives with her step-father and sister. It's not the parent giving the child to the grandparent but just saying that she can do what is needed to support the child. It can be revoked at any time the parent wants and the only problem would be having to renew it yearly or however often you have it made up for.