Guardian Ad Litem
Purpose: To become acquainted with court-appointed advocates forchildren (minors) and vulnerable adults (mentally disabled,elderly, etc.)
Outcome: You will demonstrate a working knowledge of basicfamily law procedures.
What is a Guardian Ad Litem?
A Guardian Ad Litem is a court appointed official (usually anattorney) who represents an individual that cannot legally defendor represent himself/herself in a legal action. This could be alawsuit, family law issue, settlement negotiation and, in somecases, inheritance issues.
Children under 18 years of age, adults with dementia, mentallychallenged individuals, etc. are all considered vulnerable by thecourt. So, during a nasty custody battle a Guardian Ad Litem (GAL)is appointed to represent the child.   If there ismore than one minor child in a family law issue then each child isappointed their own GAL to represent them. The GAL will make homevisits, talk to the child, family friends, etc. and be a part ofany settlement negotiation. The Judge will always ask the GAL for areport. The GAL's main goal is to represent the child and settleissues in the child's best interest. The parents have little or nosay in the matter. In family law matters, it was usually theirbickering and inability to resolve issues involving their childrenthat required the appointment of the GAL in the first place.
GAL's also investigate issues of child abuse, when one parent isaccusing the other, to see if there is any validity to the claims.Sometimes parents just accuse the other of horrendous acts just sothey get custody and child support. The children are the silentvictims in these cases and the GAL's are there for thechildren.
GAL's are not only appointed in family law issues. Years ago, mychildren were a part of a personal injury lawsuit and each of themhad a GAL appointed to them to be a part of the monetary settlementnegotiations. They also had a say in where and how the settlementwould be placed and when it could be given to them (at age 18 orlater). Parents do not have any legal right to a child's settlementmoney and the laws were changed to enforce that issue yearsago.
Assignment:
I want you to research how to find a Guardian Ad Litem in KingCounty and in a two to three paragraph paper tell me how you findone, what are the requirements and when would one be necessary.
