Appointment of Guardian Ad Litem?

[sil]

Just basically, what does this mean?

On the public record of divorce proceedings, the BM has filed a motion for appointment of Guardian Ad Litem.

The BM has said she will let the two eldest girl continue to live with their BF whilst the youngest continues to live with her.

Does this 'Guardian Ad Litem' have anything to do with this interest of BM to relinquish custody to BF? Or should BF be concerned that BM is pulling yet another trick?

I read up a little online about it, but still not really understanding what it means.

[sherrie ohio]

Why would there be a need for one if all are in agreement.Sounds like another trick to me.Watch your back,i may be rong.Good luck...

[wysiwyg]

I agree, watch your back, even if it was you that asked for the GAL.  We petitioned the court for one, the court granted it, GAL called and we made appointment, then BM and her attorney refused to return GAL's calls for an appointment for SIX MONTHS.  

We thought this ws a prime example of her non communication tactics to us, and the GAL said she would not report favorably on that in her report.

Her report was 20+ pages of BS, stating things like the child lied but then would believe him when he would report something to the GAL.  Her report also stated she talked to childs other ha;f siblings, when she clearly did not (one was in another state that same day) and was very unfavorable towards BF and just a fleeting passage of how BM took so long to return the calls, it was all glossed over.

Long story short, we found out that the more people that get involved in your case the more risk you run into letting them control your lives and screw you over.  This includes the courts and the attroney's.  No disrespect to them at all, just they are third parties that have no idea what you your x or the kids need want or desire or how yor household runs.  Parents typically know what is best for their kids and I take exception to the courts "best interest"statement."

Sorry so windy here, buy good advice is to watch out for yourself and comply wiht the courts orders.

[4honor]

A Guardian Ad Litem is a person appointed by a judge (they can be picked off a rotating list, or they can be agreed upon by the two parties) who is the investigating eyes and ears for the judge.

Whether they think something is right or fair has nothing to do with what is the law and they are bound within the law to do certain things.

They cannot continue in a case where they have a conflict of interest unless the parties waive their rights.

They must act solely in the interest of the child and the court -- which means one party or the other in a high conflict case is about to feel royally screwed.  

They do not have to report anything that is not backed up with credible evidence.  If you tell them SS says, " XXXXXX" and when she talks to SS he says, "YYYYY", even if YYYY is not the opposite of XXXX she will not believe XXXX.

Many GALs are lazy... in my county they get a retainer of $500 and can bill at $75 an hour. They must have 5 years detailed experience to become a GAL. What is more cost effective, to GO to Chehalis from Seattle and interview 6 individuals, or to do it over the phone and SAY you did?  Between sloth and the other parent SLANTING things, how is the truth supposed to come out?

In your situation, couldn't you countermotion that since there are no material facts at issue, that the use, cost and the delay caused by using a GAL are unwarranted... quoting the BM's statements she is willing to let OSD and MSD live with you and YSD with her ... and asking for an order as such. Then include the order all written out (judges like things all written out) and ready to sign. Don't forget the order for CS changed as well, since you will have 2 and she will have one.

[wysiwyg]

Our GAL program is all volunteer and based upon a 20 hour class participation.

They are simply to report their findings, but what they are supposed to do and what they do do is something entirely different.  Our GAL was an attorney.  

When we finally went to court it was a freakin circus,  Dad on the stand being interogated by BM attorney then the attorney for the GAL, and then the GAL standing up and testifying while not a witness.  They had BF on the stand for 11 hours.  

It was a horrible situation for all of us, I believe solely becasue they did not appoint a GAL that was not within the legal system and the mindset was already prevelant and she could not get out of that legal mode to actually see the forest through the trees.  oh yea, she also did not have any children herself in order to even have a feeling of parenthood.

[wendl]

Not all GAL's are good ones either, many don't have kids and they are determining what is in the best interest of children, also some I know of our ex CPS workers (and we all know how great CPS has been for kids, returning them to unsafe homes and they die in the hands of that parent, sad sad sad.

You don't have to have much training or education in same counties, states to become one either.

**These are my opinions, they are not legal advice**

[gipsy]

Here's My take on the GAL ; First the GAl system was put into effect because the Atty's represent the parent's interest , And the GAl is supposed to be there for the childs best interest ,
   SOOO My first GAl was a female atty, And basically did her job : Wich was to check the situation out, visit my home < Mom's home ,and talk to three witnesses on My behalf < And three on the mothers : This went just fine and Her report has to be filed with the court before the judge really will make any decisions ,
   GAl was put into place because the Mom Made numerous allegations about me , And  the Court has no way to know if this was true or not . The Commissioner just hears the case < they don't go out and investigate , But then again as every one else say's some of them aren't exactly on the level, and some of them I even believe are oddballs that are doing it because they have some wierd agenda becuase of their own pschological issues , SOOOO
   
 The case continued on and I got another GAL , And the second GAL was a disgrace to the profession , And has had her reports thown out of the court
  And this GAL picked and chose what she wanted to report to make the case look as she felt pleased to do so . Let me give an example
   I had to evict a single mom tenant , And My son heard part of the telephone conversation , And went home to mom and apparently said that I said single moms are bad ! So Mom twists it all around , And Supposeably My son was brought to the GAl office and he reported that I said this , He was three and one half at the time , And the GAl asked me what My story was , And I told My half . And offered the GAl copies of the eviction and a letter from the rental agency stateing the reason I could prove  I did not say single moms are bad is because the  woman at the rental agency was a single mom and would have taken notice of anti single mom statement.
 The GAL refused the letter and reported to the court that I was talking bad about the mother in front of My son ,
  SOOOO Take the high road if you get the GAl and spend your time talking about the things you do with your Kids , And all the good stuff you do , If you talk bad about the mom they are sick of this , And it opens the door ,
 As one other response states the more people from the court that are involved the more of a chance you have of prolonged bullshit ,
 And you And your family are way better off with the agreement you may come to , Except Mom prtobably knows that there will be some question about separating the kids , And  I would say she has some agenda . So my take is
    FOR NOW try to get a decent temporary parenting plan in ,as things are agreed for now , The court will be more unlikley to change the sitation as time goes on ,
  But if you wind up with the GAL then Here In Wash state , Pierce county , You will cross off one of three GAL,s And the mother will cross of one , And the remainder will be one GAl And that the one you get , If you get the GAL Post again and ask about how to deal with a GAl
  , My attitude is explained by my atty ,
  It goes like this ,
  He say's " Cop pulls you over for a tail light " You DON'T Say Hey your not pulling me over for the bag of pot in the trunk are you "?
 The moral of the story
  Don't give them any info to get any thing started ,
 It was VERY difficult to understand when I was all upset  and in the case .
 But I see it now , As My atty said : Why don;t you just tell how good it is at your house and say " I don't know why mom has these troubles " And let the GAl conclude that you are a good parent and wonder what moms problem is ?
 This makes very clear sense to me now , And its difficult to follow when the mud slinging is prevalent , But I say I see it soo clearly now ,
  think of this < You be on the outside looking in ,
 One parent say's good things about their relationship with the kids and the other parent is a problem .wich do you favor ?
 another thing to remmember is the GAL does not have to verify any thing and it gets written down and reported to the court , they can even pick and choose what they want to put into the report , My atty explains . " the GAl can't possibly put all that info in the report "
  But the thing to remmember is The GAL does not have to comform to the rules of evidence and unless they make some serious flaw , It doesn't seem to be much the atty's will contest at trial " Basically don't trust that you have a good GAL . And don't trust them with any ifno except that you are a good parent and don;t even know what mom is doing this for , Thats what I would do if I went through this again ,
  And thats basically how I handled the first GAl And it went well , Post again if you get the GAl and post the state and county so people can help you ,
 I did not read the reason for the GAl . Usually its because some one is saying the other parent is unfit , or a detriment to the childs welfare , So if she isn;t making that allegation whats the purpose of the GAl ? And that may very well be what you say to the judge ! Like Your honor " she has not stated the reason for the GAl being appointed and I agree with the current parenting plan "! Just try to get a decent temp parenting plan submitted and signed by the judge at this hearing ,
 But then again did she file the MOTION TO APPOINT GUARDIAN AD LITEM ON BEHALF OF MINOR CHILDREN    . Or are we just freaking each other out , And is there a parenting plan in place already that is stamped and signed by the court ? If so whats the beef?
 

[sil]

Yes she has filed the motion, but has elected not to mention it (found it on the circuit court website when I checked for any updates).

There is no parenting plan in place - the original temp custody order 18 months ago expired in January - that was for BM to take care of all 3 girls. She gave the two eldest to BF stating she could not handle them, a month after the temp custody order.

Divorce papers are in the works. BM filed them recently, asking for full custody of all three girls. BF has filed response re custody etc but has yet to go to mediation etc.

BM has filed 3 restraining orders now (All thrown out) and despite getting chewed out by the judge for filing frivolous orders really looks like she is up to something again. Managed to get BF in jail for 11 days for violating a restraining order by picking the two elder girls up despite not being served (relevant thread is on this board earlier). We are not talking a 'with it' individual here and I believe she is getting desperate to have something to show she is a fit parent.

[gipsy]

 
    My response is concerning what I think here In Pierce county washington, You need legal advice and ,this is what I think , I am fairly sure I am correct ,you have to recieve legal notice , She can't just not mention it , BUT!!! This happens , and the court won't just ignore something that is presented as the best interst of the child , They won't just toss the GAL because you didn't recieve proper notice ,
    And if the kids have been living with you for A certain amount of time  ,There is some time frame where you can file a custody paper based on that , And your response should say they have been living with you , But then again any thing can happen at court , If you are not useing an atty , Here, you can go talk to a court house facilitator , And they are pretty good on telling you what you can do ,
  Also you can call the court and ask if there is any time when attys help people fill out documents for court ,
   What ever the deal is you need to have some Idea of what your legal position is ,  What  seemed to be the situation for me is, the court usually won't go change any situation or child living arrangements with out a GAL report , And that may be what she is up to , If the GAL recomends the children stay with you , the court will do that ,but on the other hand the GAl may reportin her favor , So again, if the GAL gets appointed Keep asking questiions ,
 Do you have an atty?
   Maybe you need to see if you can file a temp parenting plan saying the arrangement should be as you all agrreed , Because if the court has no other options then they may go with her request's
   I think you need to talk to several attys , Never just hire an atty! And Keep asking if they help pro se litigants  get there  papers in order so you can show up ,
   a good atty doesn;t have to be the dream team . This is fairly simple , You just need an atty that will tell you what you can do , Or should argue at court , As In , Your argument could be , The two girls living with Dad have been the agreement , And there is no reason to change it ,
   The problem I see is, if the mother is not fit then why would you not challenge the fact that the other child still resides with her ,
   I really think you need to get some good advice ,
  There is a board called Socrateaser on this site and it answers some legal questions , hope this helps a bit . But many things we think are not what you argument at court is and thats why you need an atty that can tell you if the current arrangments are a valid argument for < no change in the current living situation ,
  I don't know anything about what could happen when the parenting plan expires , And I have not heard of that , Except maybe  they never followed through with the divorce and the entire divorce proceeding was dismissed ,wish i could be more help , But I think you need to at least talk to like 4 or 5 atty's , there are a few that don't charge for an interview , And enevitably you will come across at least 1 , that Will be cool enough to give you a idea of where you stand , I see this as simple , and any atty that tries to complicate it or not give you direct answers is just trying to get momey from you by getting you to hire him ,there should be simple answers like this " I know because I had fired a couple of atty's and ended up with a good one , And he made this clear to me
   ATTY : ' we can try to argue XYZ at this hearing , " And the court will or will not do what you want " the point is the atty should be able to tell you what you can use as an argument right off ! I know this because I have had a few simple legal issues .And the argument Is usually pretty easy in family law . Based on this ,
  My good atty told me " Family law is not some complex law " And the court can find any reason they want to do what they want " " Because there is a lot of room for the court to make any decision they want " Based on the best interest of the children " that is written , And best interst of the children is pretty broad "
  He also told me : "thats why you want the court and all the people to like you " " And think this is a good parent "
  That makes it more likely to swing your way then some specific law that you can quote "
   Of course there are laws that limit parental access to the children , But They are fairly extremme ,
  Like child abandonement , Or being a pedophile , Of course the court won't let a pedophile take the kids ,
   
 Hope this helps . Talk to as many atty;s as you have time to <