Rule 17 - Plaintiff and Defendant(a)Definitions.(1) Adult in need of protection" means a person 18 years of age or older for whom the court could appoint, or has appointed, a conservator or entered another protective order under A.R.S. § 14-5401(A)(2).(2) Conservator" is defined in A.R.S. § 14-1201.(3) Guardian" is defined in A.R.S. § 14-1201 and includes a guardian appointed pursuant to A.R.S. title 8, chapter 4, article 12.(4) Incapacitated person" is defined in A.R.S. § 14-5101(3).(5) Joint legal decision-making" is defined in A.R.S. § 25-401.(6) Legal decision-making" is defined in A.R.S. § 25-401. A parent has legal decision-making, whether joint or sole, for that parent's minor child only if a court of competent jurisdiction has awarded that parent legal decision-making.(7) Legal parent" is defined in A.R.S. § 25-401.(8) Personal representative" is defined in A.R.S. § 14-1201.(9) Sole legal decision-making" is defined in A.R.S. § 25-401.(b)Real Party in Interest.(1)Designation Generally. An action must be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest. The following may sue in their own names without joining the person for whose benefit the action is brought: (A) a personal representative;(E) a trustee of an express trust;(F) a party with whom or in whose name a contract has been made for another's benefit; and(G) a party authorized by statute.(2)Action in the Name of the State for Another's Use or Benefit. When a state statute so provides, an action for another's use or benefit must be brought in the name of the State of Arizona.(3)Joinder of the Real Party in Interest. The court may not dismiss an action for failure to prosecute in the name of the real party in interest until, after an objection, a reasonable time has been allowed for the real party in interest to ratify, join, or be substituted into the action. After ratification, joinder, or substitution, the action proceeds as if it had been originally commenced by the real party in interest.(c)Actions by or Against a Decedent; Setting Aside Judgment. A personal representative may commence or maintain any action that a decedent could have commenced or maintained, and an action may be brought against a personal representative if it could have been brought against a decedent. The judgment in such an action is as conclusive as if it was rendered in favor of or against the decedent. An interested person may apply to set aside the judgment on the ground that it resulted from fraud or collusion by the personal representative.(d)Actions by or Against a County, City, or Town. An action brought by or against a county or an incorporated city or town must use its corporate name when identifying it as a party.(e)Public Officer's Title and Name. A public officer who sues or is sued in an official capacity may be identified as a party by the officer's official title rather than by name, if it is sufficient to identify the particular public officer being sued, but the court may require the officer's name to be used or added to identify the officer as the party.(f)Actions Against a Surety, Assignor, or Endorser. A plaintiff may sue a contractual assignor, endorser, guarantor, surety, or the drawer of a bill that has been accepted, without joining the maker, acceptor, or other principal obligor if: (1) the latter resides outside Arizona, or in a part of Arizona where it cannot be served under Rule 4, 4.1, or 4.2;(2) the latter's residence is unknown and cannot be ascertained through reasonable diligence;(3) the latter is dead; or(4) the latter is insolvent.(g)Actions by or Against a Minor, an Incapacitated Person, or an Adult in Need of Protection.(1)By or Against a Minor. An action may be brought by, or defended against, a minor as follows. (A) Conservator or Guardian. Notwithstanding any provision of this rule to the contrary: (i) if the minor has a conservator, only the conservator may bring, or defend against, the action unless the court that appointed the conservator orders otherwise; and(ii) if the minor has a guardian, but not a conservator, only the guardian may bring, or defend against, the action, unless the court that appointed the guardian orders otherwise.(B) Guardian Ad Litem Appointed in Dependency Proceeding. Notwithstanding any provision of this rule to the contrary, if a court of competent jurisdiction has adjudicated the minor to be dependent as to both of the minor's legal parents, and if the minor does not have either a conservator or a guardian, but that same court has appointed a guardian ad litem and granted the guardian ad litem the authority to do so, only the guardian ad litem may bring, or defend against, the action.(C) Parents Married to Each Other and Not Legally Separated. If the minor's legal parents are married to each other and not legally separated, an action may be brought, or defended against, only by both legal parents jointly. One of the parents may bring, or defend against, the action only if one or both parents file with the court a written agreement signed by both parents authorizing it, or if the court in which the action is pending enters an order authorizing it.(D) Parents Married to Each Other but Legally Separated.(i) Joint Legal Decision-Making Authority. If a minor's legal parents are married to each other, but are legally separated and have joint legal decision-making authority for the minor, an action may be brought, or defended against, only by both legal parents jointly. One of the parents may bring, or defend against, the action only if one or both parents file with the court a written agreement signed by both parents authorizing it, or if the court in which the action is pending enters an order authorizing it.(ii) Sole Legal Decision-Making Authority. If the minor's legal parents are married to each other, but are legally separated, and one legal parent has sole legal decision-making authority for the minor, only the legal parent with sole legal decision making authority for the minor may bring, or defend against, the action.(E) Parents Not Married to Each Other.(i) Joint Legal Decision-Making Authority. If the minor's legal parents are not married to each other and have joint legal decision-making authority for the minor, an action may be brought, or defended against, only by both legal parents jointly. One of the parents may bring, or defend against, the action only if one or both parents file with the court a written agreement signed by both parents authorizing it, or if the court in which the action is pending enters an order authorizing it.(ii) Sole Legal Decision-Making Authority. If the minor's legal parents are not married to each other and one legal parent has sole legal decision-making authority for the minor, only the legal parent with sole legal decision making authority for the minor may bring, or defend against, the action.(iii) Without Court Order for Legal Decision-Making Authority. If the minor's legal parents are not married to each other, and a court of competent jurisdiction has not entered a legal decision-making order for the minor, an action may be brought, or defended against, by both legal parents jointly. One of the parents may bring, or defend against, the action only if one or both file with the court a written agreement signed by both parents authorizing it, or if the court in which the action is pending enters an order authorizing it.(F) One Living Parent. If the minor has only one living legal parent, only that legal parent may bring, or defend against, the action.(G) Termination or Suspension of Parental Rights. Notwithstanding any provision of this rule to the contrary, a parent whose parental rights have been terminated by court order, or suspended by the appointment of a guardian for the parent's minor child, may not bring, or defend against, the action.(H) Judgment in Minor's Favor. If an action results in a judgment in favor of a minor in an amount greater than $10,000.00, the minor's parent or guardian may not receive any part of the judgment in an amount greater than $10,000.00 per annum unless a court of competent jurisdiction has either appointed the parent or guardian as the minor's conservator or entered another protective order under A.R.S. §§ 14-5408 or 14-5409.(2) By or Against an Incapacitated Person or an Adult in Need of Protection. An action involving a party who is an incapacitated person or an adult in need of protection may be brought, or defended against, only by the party's conservator, or, if no conservator has been appointed, by the party's guardian. If the incapacitated person or person in need of protection does not have a conservator or guardian but has a valid durable power of attorney that authorizes the agent to bring, or defend against, an action on behalf of the incapacitated person or person in need of protection, only the agent may bring, or defend against, the action on that person's behalf(3) Determining When a Person May Be an Incapacitated Person or an Adult in Need of Protection. If the court has reasonable grounds to believe that a party is an incapacitated person or an adult in need of protection, and that party does not have a guardian or conservator, the court may appoint a guardian ad litem as prescribed in Rule 17.1.(4)No Liability for Costs. Unless the court orders otherwise, neither a minor's parent, a conservator or guardian of a minor, an incapacitated person or adult in need of protection, a guardian ad litem appointed in a dependency proceeding, nor a guardian ad litem appointed under Rule 17.1 is personally liable for the taxable costs incurred by any party in an action by or against the minor or adult in need of protection.(h)Partnerships. A partnership may sue and be sued in the name that it has adopted or by which it is known.Amended effective 1/1/2017; amended Aug. 29, 2022, effective 1/1/2023.State Bar Committee Note
Comment to 2023 Amendment
The 2023 amendments are not intended to disturb "the usual rule-that parents who are not attorneys may not bring a pro se action on their child's behalf . . . ." See Byers-Watts v. Parker, 199 Ariz. 466, 471 ¶ 19 (App. 2001).