Health Care

Ariz. laws seek to protect rights of people deemed incapable of making decisions

The conservatorship overhaul was inspired by a Walt Disney family dispute and Britney Spears.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

Arizona is working to protect the rights of people deemed incapable of making their own medical and financial decisions, with two new laws aimed at overhauling the state’s court-appointed guardian and conservatorship system that advocates hope will become national models. 

Both measures — a bill signed by Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) last week that would create an advisory panel to recommend changes to the system and one signed in May that lays out specific rights for the people whose competency is in question — were passed by the Republican-controlled legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support.

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