In Arizona civil cases, findings of fact are not required when a jury returns the verdict, when a judge rules on a motion to dismiss, summary judgment, or most other motions, when a defendant defaults, when the parties submit a consent judgment or an agreed statement of facts, and even in a bench trial if no party asked for findings before the trial began. Understanding when findings of fact are not required in Arizona starts with Arizona Rule of Civil Procedure 52, which puts the burden on the parties to request findings in the narrow situations where the rule applies at all.
Miss that pre-trial request and the judge can decide your bench trial without issuing any formal findings. That single detail trips up more litigants than any other part of the rule.
The Pre-Trial Request Is What Triggers the Duty
Rule 52(a)(1) requires detailed factual findings and separately stated legal conclusions in a case tried without a jury or with an advisory jury only “if requested before trial.”1New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 52 – Findings and Conclusions by the Court; Judgment on Partial Findings No request, no obligation. This differs from the federal rule, which requires findings in every bench trial automatically. Arizona does not.
If you are heading into a bench trial and might appeal, ask for findings before the trial starts. Asking afterward does not retroactively trigger the duty, though a narrow post-judgment motion exists to amend findings the court did issue. When a judge does make findings, they can appear on the record after the evidence closes, in a minute entry, or in a formal memorandum of decision. The format is flexible; what matters is that the factual findings and legal conclusions are stated separately.
Jury Trials
When a jury decides the case, the judge does not issue separate findings of fact. The verdict is the factual determination. Rule 52 applies only to actions “tried on the facts without a jury or with an advisory jury,” so a standard jury trial sits outside the rule entirely.1New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 52 – Findings and Conclusions by the Court; Judgment on Partial Findings
Advisory juries are the one wrinkle. There, the jury’s answer is non-binding and the judge remains the fact-finder, so Rule 52’s findings requirement applies if a party requested findings before trial.
Motion Rulings
Rule 52(a)(3) says the court is not required to state findings or conclusions when ruling on a motion to dismiss under Rule 12, a motion for summary judgment under Rule 56, or any other motion, unless another rule specifically says otherwise.1New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 52 – Findings and Conclusions by the Court; Judgment on Partial Findings A motion to dismiss tests the legal sufficiency of claims on their face. Summary judgment asks whether any genuine factual dispute exists. Neither involves the judge weighing testimony and deciding whom to believe.
This exemption covers most of what a trial court does. Discovery disputes, evidentiary rulings, scheduling issues, motions for reconsideration: the written order is enough. A judge may explain the reasoning voluntarily, but Rule 52 does not require it.
The Interlocutory Injunction Exception
One pre-trial ruling does require findings. When a court grants or denies an interlocutory injunction, it must state findings and conclusions supporting the decision in the same format Rule 52(a)(1) uses for bench trials.1New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 52 – Findings and Conclusions by the Court; Judgment on Partial Findings Injunctions can impose real burdens before any trial has occurred, so the rule requires the court’s reasoning to be documented.
Defaults, Consent Judgments, and Agreed Facts
When a defendant fails to respond after being properly served, the court can enter default judgment under Arizona Rule 55 without Rule 52 findings.2New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 55 – Default; Default Judgment A hearing may be needed to set damages or verify specific allegations, but the defaulting party’s silence effectively admits the factual claims. There is little for the court to find.
Consent judgments and stipulated agreements work the same way in principle. The judge ratifies what the parties have negotiated rather than independently weighing evidence. No separate findings document is required.
Rule 52(d) covers a related path: the parties can submit a dispute to the court on an agreed statement of facts, filed with the clerk, and let the judge apply the law to those facts.1New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 52 – Findings and Conclusions by the Court; Judgment on Partial Findings Because the facts are not in dispute, the judge decides on the agreed statement unless it is insufficient to resolve the case. The whole mechanism avoids the fact-finding that Rule 52 is built around.
Justice and Municipal Courts Follow Different Rules
Arizona’s justice courts and municipal courts operate under their own simplified procedural rules rather than the Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure that govern superior court. The Justice Court Rules of Civil Procedure include Rule 135 on findings in a trial without a jury, but these rules are designed for smaller-dollar disputes and are less formal than the superior court counterparts.3Arizona Supreme Court. Introduction to the Justice Court Rules of Civil Procedure If your case is in one of these courts, check that court’s rules directly rather than assuming Rule 52 controls.
What to Do If You Want Findings or Need Them Fixed
Two deadlines matter. Before the bench trial begins, file a written request for findings of fact and conclusions of law. That is what obligates the judge to issue them. If the court then issues findings that are incomplete or contain errors, Rule 52(b) gives you 15 days after entry of judgment to move to amend the findings or make additional ones.1New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 52 – Findings and Conclusions by the Court; Judgment on Partial Findings That 15-day window is hard. Parties cannot extend it by agreement, and the court cannot extend it except under the narrow circumstances of Rule 6(b)(2). The motion can be filed alongside a motion for a new trial under Rule 59.
If you never requested findings, you are not completely locked out on appeal. Rule 52(a)(5) preserves the right to challenge whether the evidence was sufficient to support the court’s conclusions, regardless of whether findings were requested, objected to, or amended.1New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 52 – Findings and Conclusions by the Court; Judgment on Partial Findings In practice, though, appealing without a findings record is much harder. With no findings in the record, the appellate court often presumes the trial judge found every fact needed to support the judgment. The pre-trial request and the 15-day post-judgment motion are the two moves that give you something concrete for an appellate court to review.