Yes. The law provides that a person who stands in loco parentis to a child may ask the court for custody (or parenting time). To be in loco parentis a person must have been treated as a parent by the child and have formed a meaningful parental relationship with the child for a substantial period of time. There are other requirements that must be met before a request may be made to the court. One of the child’s parents must be deceased, the child’s legal parents must be unmarried, or a court case for divorce or legal separation between the legal parents must be pending (see section 25-415, Arizona Revised Statutes).
