A legal parent is a biological or adoptive parent whose parental rights have not been terminated and whose parentage is legally recognized. Legal parent status determines who has the right to seek legal decision making and parenting time, who has the obligation to pay child support, and who has constitutional parental rights that the court must respect.

Biological connection alone does not always create legal parent status. A man who is the biological father but who has never established legal paternity is not a legal parent for purposes of Arizona family court proceedings.

Two legal parents with conflicting positions on parenting issues receive equal weight from the court starting from the same legal baseline unless the case falls within the protections of the Alec and Lydia Act.