AZ SB1517

Amends Arizona Revised Statutes section 25-409 regarding third-party petitions for legal decision-making authority or placement of a child.

Adds a rebuttable presumption that awarding legal decision-making to a legal parent serves the child's best interests, which third parties can only overcome with clear and convincing evidence.

Clarifies that visitation rights granted under this section automatically terminate if the child is adopted or placed for adoption, with exceptions if the child is adopted by a spouse of a natural parent after remarriage.

Establishes that an adopted child may be treated as if born in lawful wedlock only if jointly adopted by married parents as specified in section 8-103, subsection A.