Guardianships and Conservatorships Overview (2023 CLE by the Sea)

Hon. Jay M Polk Related Seminars and Products

Maricopa County Superior Court

Jay M. Polk is a judge in the Juvenile Department of the Superior Court of Arizona for Maricopa County. From June 27, 2020 through July 2, 2023, he served as the Presiding Judge of the Probate and Mental Health Department, which since 2012 has experienced the greatest caseload growth of all the departments of that court. He served as the Associate Presiding Judge of that department from April 10, 2017, through June 26, 2020. From November 21, 2011, to April 7, 2017, Judge Polk was assigned to the Family Law Department and served as the Associate Presiding Judge of the Family Law Department for the Northeast Regional Court Center for approximately two of those years. He is the recipient of the Maricopa County Bar Association’s 2022 Judicial Officer of the Year Award. For nearly 20 years prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Polk limited his practice of law to contested and uncontested matters relating to guardianships, conservatorships, decedents’ estates, the abuse or exploitation of vulnerable adults, and estate planning for modest estates. In addition, he served as a mediator and arbitrator, as a guardian ad litem for minor children and incapacitated adults, and as judge pro tempore. Between 1999 and 2011, Judge Polk was an Arizona Licensed Fiduciary and, as such, served as a personal representative or special administrator for several estates, as well as the special conservator for an attorney. Before starting private practice, Judge Polk served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable E. G. Noyes, Jr., of the Arizona Court of Appeals (1993-94) and a law-trained bailiff for the Honorable Robert D. Myers of the Superior Court of Arizona for Maricopa County (1992-93). Throughout his career, Judge Polk has helped draft numerous legislative bills in areas including probate, mental health, criminal, and family law. In addition, he has been involved in drafting court rules and rule amendments in the Rules of the Arizona Supreme Court, the Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure, the Arizona Family Law Rules, the Arizona Rules of Probate Procedure and rules of procedure for court-ordered mental health evaluation and treatment cases and rules of procedure for sexually violent persons cases. He also has been a frequent speaker on probate, mental health, and family law matters. He is an editor of the 2022 and 2014 editions of the Arizona Probate Code Practice Manual, was an associate editor of the 2000 edition of that publication, and has been a regular contributor to the Judicial College of Arizona’s Probate Benchbook. Judge Polk currently is serving his second term on the Judicial Executive Committee of the Judicial Branch of Arizona in Maricopa County. In addition, he is a member of the Strategic Planning Committee of the Judicial Branch of Arizona in Maricopa County. During his tenure on the family law bench, Judge Polk served as a co-chair of the Family Law Department’s Initiatives Committee and a member of that department’s Behavioral Health Committee. Between 2014 and 2015, Judge Polk assisted in creating the Superior Court of Arizona for Maricopa County’s intelligent probate forms, and he presently is in the process of updating all of that court’s Self- Service Center probate forms. Judge Polk also has served on several Arizona Supreme Court committees, including the Steering Committee on Arizona Case Processing Standards (2018 – 2019), the Probate Rules Committee (2006 – 2008), the Committee on Improving Judicial Oversight and Processing of Probate Court Matters (2010 – 2011), the Task Force on the Arizona Rules of Probate Procedure (2017 – 2019), and the Electronic Signatures Workgroup (2022 – present). While serving on those committees, he often chaired subcommittees or workgroups. From July 2018 to June 2019, Judge Polk served as President of the Arizona Judges Association, and he was a member of the Executive Board from June 2014 until June 2020. Since November 2016, Judge Polk has been a member of the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System Advisory Committee, and, since 2011, he has been a member of the Fiduciary Board, which regulates Arizona professional fiduciaries. Judge Polk has served as the Judicial Liaison to the Estate Planning, Probate, and Trust Law Section of the Maricopa County Bar Association since May 2017, and he has served as the Judicial Liaison to the Elder Law, Mental Health, and Special Needs Planning Section of the State of Bar of Arizona since September 2018. Since June 2019, he also has been the Judicial Liaison to the Probate and Trust Law Section of the State Bar of Arizona. While he was private practice, Judge Polk was actively involved in the Arizona Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the Probate and Trust Law and the Mental Health and Elder Law Sections of the State Bar of Arizona, and he served on countless committees of those organizations. Judge Polk received his juris doctorate degree from Arizona State University in 1992. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science, with honors, from the University of Chicago in 1989. Since 2016, Judge Polk has participated in the Latina Mentoring Project, which provides mentoring relationships for Latina undergraduate and law students. Since June 2021, Judge Polk and his wife have been members of the West Point Parents Club of Arizona, which is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to promoting the well-being and continued success of the United States Service Academies. From 2004 to 2006, Judge Polk served as President of The Council For Jews With Special Needs (now known as Gesher Disability Resources). In addition, he was a member of that organization’s Board of Directors from 1998 through 2007. Since 2006, Judge Polk has been a manager of Council Properties, L.L.C., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gesher Disability Resources that owns two other limited liability companies that manage group homes for persons with disabilities. When he was in private practice, Judge Polk volunteered for the Maricopa County Volunteer Lawyers Program. For two decades, he and his wife co-chaired the University of Chicago Alumni Club of Phoenix and the University of Chicago Alumni Schools committee. Judge Polk has been the recipient of numerous professional awards, including the following:
• Judicial Officer of the Year Award, Maricopa County Bar Association 2022,
• Bridging the Gap Award, Maricopa County Bar Association Family Law Section 2017,
• Craig C. Gordon Outstanding Arizona Chapter Member Award, Arizona Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Attorneys 2011,
• Leadership Award, Arizona Fiduciaries Association 2009,
• Eleanor ter Horst Distinguished Service Award, State Bar of Arizona Probate and Trust Law Section 2008,
• Selected for inclusion in 2011 Southwest Super Lawyers and Arizona’s Finest Lawyers, and
• Martindale-Hubbell AV-rated while in private practice.