I had never heard of such a thing - a court-appointed attorney representing the children in a messy custody case - until quite recently. Maybe I’ve known people who used one and I didn’t know about it, but it sounds like something like this is not done unless some really serious things have happened, or are at risk of happening.
For people who have worked in the field, how often, percentage-wise, would you say this is done?
My wife had signed up to be a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate - in my state a guardian ad litem is an attorney) after she retired, but was never actually called to serve.
It’s not necessarily just because something serious is happening. Both ithe CASA and GAL are assigned to represent the child’s interest throughout the process. They’re charged with familiarizing themselves with the background of the case and working in the best interests of the child. They can be especially useful if the child is too young to express themselves clearly or if there’s a suspicion that one parent has manipulated the child.
Here’s the relevant section of Missouri law.
“the legal representative of the child at the hearing, and may examine, cross-examine, subpoena witnesses and offer testimony.” The statute also requires the GAL to “conduct all necessary interviews with persons having contact with or knowledge of the child in order to ascertain the child’s wishes, feelings, attachments and attitudes.”
When I was reading about them doing things like home visits, I thought that this is some VERY serious business.
Does having a guardian ad litem (or similar) mean the protection of the child has been assumed by the state and removed from the parents (e.g. the guardian makes decisions in lieu of either parent as regards their child)? If so, I would think it is somewhat rare.
Really asking though. IANAL
It appears that the GAL dives deep to get all THREE sides of the story, and then gives that information to the other attorneys, and the judge, when the parents cannot come to any kind of reasonable compromise, and/or there is reason to believe the children may be in danger from at least one parent.
Not exactly. A guardian ad litem is the legal representative of the child, but doesn’t have responsibility for day to day care of the child. That may or may not still be the responsibility of the parents, depending on the situation.
The OP’s question seems to be more in regards to a Minor’s counsel, which is fairly common. The court generally appoints those when the kid is of a certain age and the judge feels it’s appropriate to incorporate the child’s wishes in the custody matter.
Guardian ad litem - heard of it, rarely seen it employed.
Speaking from personal experience in Texas, I married a woman who had a child from a previous relationship. After a few years of marriage, I wanted to adopt the child as my own (this was always the plan, it just took a while to afford it). There were two attorneys involved. One attorney represented me and my interests in getting the adoption done. The other attorney was an ad litem appointed to represent the interests of the child. The child’s bio-dad could have been represented, but he chose to wash his hands of the whole thing.
The ad litem merely made sure that the child’s interests were being protected. There was also a person appointed to visit our home, see that it was appropriate for a child her age, that it was clean, and to watch me interact with the child. We could use anyone we wanted that was approved by the court, or the court could have appointed a social worker (paid for by me) to do it. We chose to use a Baptist minister of our acquaintance.
There was never any concern about abuse, manipulation, or anything like that among any of the people involved in this case.
I had one in my divorce (she was the devil and a moron and I still question if I had reported her for grossly unprofessional behavior if anyone would have taken me seriously). There were … complications…in my divorce but I got the sense that it was pretty common, just not universal, to have them.
A few weeks ago I watched a Netflix crime documentary that took place in England. When there were kids talking to the police or testifying in court, they had an Appropriate Adult with them, which from what I can gather was similar to a GAL. Wiki mentions a GAL in the US being there for the court part of things while the Appropriate Adult seems to get involved much earlier on. In fact, wiki states that “In England and Wales, an appropriate adult must be called by police whenever they detain or interview a child”.
Yes, as I understand it, it occurs when the parents’ legal interests can not be assumed to align with the child’s interests.
There a TV series about a woman who was a family court judge (and whose mother worked for CPS) (Judging Amy) and the term guardian ad litem came up often in that show.
The case I saw was a local public figure whose divorce records were public on a case-date level. (Yeah, I’ve seen links to the whole record; IMHO that doesn’t need to be online.) Anyway, this woman had, at some time in the proceedings, tried to play the sexual abuse card and dropped those charges when she found out she would have to pay several thousand dollars for a full evaluation, and I thought, “You just kissed your chances of custody bye-bye by doing that!”
My state has law guardians rather than guardians ad litem for most cases involving children - there’s a difference. Guardians ad litem are supposed to advocate for the child’s best interest , not the child’s wishes. They are not necessarily lawyers (depends on the state) . Law guardians in my state are attorneys have a three-part role - they act as a guardian ad litem in that one of their duties is to look out for the chil’s best interest. They act as an attorney for the child in the same way that an attorney for an adult advocates for what their client wants , not what is best for the client. Those two duties may conflict. If the child is mature enough to know their wishes , that’s what the law guardian is supposed to go with unless the child’s wishes are likely to result in a substantial risk of serious harm and even then they must inform the court of the child’s wishes. And they also may act as an investigator for the court - that would be where home visits come in.
Although I never worked with divorce cases , I was involved in custody cases in Family court at a former job. Law guardians only get involved in custody cases when there is a fight - if the father and mother agree on who should get custody, no law guardian. If they agree to give custody to grandma ( for whatever reason) , no law guardian. Abuse/neglect cases,always a law guardian.
My guess is that few divorces involve law guardians/GAL - first of all, most couples come to an agreement on custody and even in lots of the ones that can’t agree, it’s not a matter of one parent accusing the other of abuse/neglect. You don’t need a law guardian if the issue is whether the non-custodial parent gets two weeks in the summer or four or whether 50/50 custody will alternate every week or every month.