Arizona
- The form
- The agency's own form and instructions were read, not just the statute. The form governs what the office will accept, and it can require more than the statute says: Arizona's statute never mentions a notary, and its form requires one.
- Read on October 5, 2026:
- The law
- The statute was read on a government website during the current verification pass.
- How this page was checked
- statute read on azleg.gov, AND checked against the agency's own Notice of Claim of Paternity form and instruction guidance (one PDF, revised 04/04/2025, on azdhs.gov), which is where the notarization requirement, the mailing address, the no-fee statement and the confirmation letter come from. First checked 2026-09-13; every fact re-confirmed word for word on 2026-10-05. The statute alone would have given the wrong answer on notarization.
Putative Father Registry (Notice of Claim of Paternity)
Arizona Department of Health Services, Bureau of Vital Records
After the Bureau of Vital Records receives the form, it sends the father a letter confirming his name has been added to the registry.
Questions: 602-364-1300
What Arizona requires
File a notarized Notice of Claim of Paternity with the Arizona Bureau of Vital Records
Required by statute- What the statute requires
- May be filed before the birth of the child but shall be filed within thirty days after the birth of the child.
- A.R.S. 8-106.01
- When it counts as filed
- Neither the statute nor the form says whether it counts when mailed or when received. The safe reading is that it counts only once the office receives it.
- Notarization
- Required
- The state's own form
- Notice of Claim of Paternity (revised 04/04/2025)
- Fee
- No fee
- Where it goes
By mail
Bureau of Vital RecordsAttn: Notice of Claim of Paternity, P.O. Box 6018Phoenix, AZ 85005Certified mail with a return receipt is not required, but it gives the sender a dated record that the envelope arrived.
- What the form itself requires
- The father must sign the form in the presence of a notary public, then file it with the Bureau of Vital Records.
Who gets notice of an adoption
A father who filed within the window is entitled to notice of any judicial hearing regarding the child's adoption. Failure to file waives that right, and his consent is not required, unless he proves by clear and convincing evidence that timely filing was impossible. The Bureau sends a letter confirming the filing once it is on the registry. A father who has filed must report any change of address to the registrar, or notice can be sent somewhere he no longer lives.
What filing does, under this state's law
- Filing bears on an adoption only. It does not stop another man from signing an acknowledgment of paternity.
The state's own page
Arizona Department of Health Services, Putative Father Registry
Sources
This page states what the law and the state agency say. It is not legal advice about any particular situation and is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. See which states could decide a case.