How to File the Annual Report of Guardian in Arizona

To file the Annual Report of Guardian in Arizona, complete your county’s court-approved form, attach a written statement from the ward’s physician, file the original with the Clerk of the Superior Court on or before the anniversary of your Letters of Appointment, and mail copies to every party listed in Arizona Revised Statutes 14-5315. The report must address the nine categories of information the statute requires, and you must also file an Affidavit of Mailing showing who received a copy.

When the Report Is Due

Your report is due on or before the anniversary of the date your Letters of Permanent Appointment were issued. The statute requires annual submission “pursuant to rules adopted by the supreme court,” and county probate procedures set that anniversary as the filing deadline.¹ Check the date on your Letters if you are not sure.

If you know you will not make the deadline, call the Probate Registrar in your county before the due date and ask about requesting additional time. Do not let the date pass without contacting the court.

The Nine Things the Report Must Cover

ARS 14-5315(C) sets out nine categories of information. Miss one and the clerk may reject the report or the court may question whether you are meeting your duties as guardian.

The type, name, and address of the home or facility where the ward lives, and the name of the person in charge of that home.
The total number of times you saw the ward over the past twelve months.
The specific date you last saw the ward.
The name and address of the ward’s physician or registered nurse practitioner.
The date the ward was last seen by that physician or nurse practitioner.
A copy of the doctor’s written report on the ward’s current physical and mental condition, or a summary of the doctor’s observations if no formal report exists.
Any major changes in the ward’s physical or mental health that you observed during the year.
Your recommendation on whether the guardianship should continue.
A summary of services the ward receives from any government agency, and the name of the person at that agency responsible for the ward’s case.

That last item catches guardians off guard. If the ward gets Medicaid through AHCCCS, services from the Department of Economic Security, or benefits from any other government program, identify the agency, describe the services, and name your contact.¹

Your recommendation on continuing the guardianship carries real weight. If the ward has improved enough to manage their own affairs, or if a general guardianship should be narrowed to a limited one, this report is the place to say so. The court relies on your firsthand observations to decide whether to modify or terminate the arrangement.

Getting the Physician’s Statement

The doctor’s report is the attachment most likely to hold up your filing, so start early. There is no standard court form for it. The Maricopa County Superior Court tells guardians to ask the doctor to write something about the ward’s current physical and mental condition on their own letterhead or office stationery.²

If the doctor cannot produce a written report, the statute lets you include a summary of the doctor’s verbal observations instead. In practice, a short letter covering the ward’s diagnoses, current treatments, functional abilities, and any decline or improvement over the year meets the requirement.¹

Schedule the ward’s annual medical visit well before your filing deadline. Doctors’ offices can take weeks to produce a letter, and that wait is the single most common reason guardians file late.

Where and How to File

File the original with the Clerk of the Superior Court in the county where your guardianship case is assigned. Each county publishes its own version of the Annual Report of Guardian form, all built around the nine statutory requirements. In Maricopa County the form is PBGCG92F, available from the Superior Court’s self-service center website.² Other counties provide their own forms and instructions; Yavapai County, for example, publishes a packet with line-by-line directions.³

You can file in person at the Probate Registrar’s office or by mail. Some counties also accept electronic filing through the statewide eFiling system, but availability varies. If you are not sure whether your county supports eFiling for probate matters, call the Clerk of the Superior Court to confirm before the deadline.

Who Gets a Copy

Filing with the court is only half the job. Mail a copy of the completed report to each of the following:

The ward.
The ward’s conservator, if one has been appointed.
The ward’s spouse, or the ward’s parents if the ward is not married.
Any court-appointed attorney for the ward.
Any other interested person who has filed a demand for notice with the court.

After mailing, complete an Affidavit of Mailing listing each person’s name, address, and the date you sent the copies. The person who physically drops the envelopes in the mail must sign the affidavit. File the signed affidavit with the court alongside your report or shortly afterward.¹³

If You Are Also the Conservator

The annual guardian report covers personal welfare only. If you also serve as conservator for the same person, you owe a separate annual accounting under ARS 14-5419 that details every dollar received, spent, and held for the protected person. It has its own form and its own deadline tied to the anniversary of your conservator Letters. Filing one does not satisfy the other.

What Happens If You Miss It or File Something False

Arizona courts treat missing or late reports as a serious problem because the annual report is the primary tool for protecting the ward from neglect or abuse. Courts typically start with an Order to Show Cause, a formal directive to appear and explain why you have not complied. Ignore it, or fail to provide an adequate reason, and the court can impose fines.

The court also has authority to remove you as guardian and appoint someone else. Repeated non-compliance is treated as evidence that the guardian is not fulfilling their fiduciary duty, and removal can move quickly once the court loses confidence in you.

Filing a report with false information is worse. A false sworn statement qualifies as perjury under ARS 13-2702, a class 4 felony in Arizona.⁴ A first-time class 4 felony conviction carries a presumptive prison term of two and a half years, with sentences ranging from one year mitigated to three and three-quarter years aggravated.⁵ Interfering with judicial proceedings is a separate class 1 misdemeanor under ARS 13-2810, punishable by up to six months in jail.⁶

Federal Filings the State Report Does Not Cover

The Arizona report covers personal welfare. It does not cover the ward’s tax or federal benefit reporting. If you manage any aspect of the ward’s finances or tax affairs, file IRS Form 56 to notify the Internal Revenue Service that a fiduciary relationship exists, once when you are appointed and again when the relationship ends. With Form 56 on file, you are treated as the taxpayer for the ward’s accounts and are responsible for filing returns and paying taxes on their behalf.⁷

If the ward receives Social Security benefits and you serve as representative payee, the Social Security Administration requires its own annual accounting on Form SSA-6230. Veterans’ benefits carry a similar requirement through the VA’s fiduciary program. These federal reports run on their own timelines and are independent of the Arizona court filing. Falling behind on one does not buy you more time on any other.

1
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 14-5315 – Guardian Reports; Contents
2
Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County. How to File an Annual Report of Guardian in Maricopa County
3
Superior Court of Arizona in Yavapai County. Instructions: Completing and Filing the Annual Report of Guardian(s)
4
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-2702 – Perjury; Classification
5
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-702 – First Time Felony Offenders; Sentencing; Definition
6
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-2810 – Interfering with Judicial Proceedings; Classification
7
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 56, Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship