What is a Guardian Ad Litem?

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What is a guardian ad litem? Hi, I'm Zachary C. Ashby at Pacific Northwest Family Law. I get this question a lot from my clients. A guardian ad litem is a person that the court assigns to a case in two situations.


 One is under custody dispute between two parents. So, if the parents are either accusing each other, of misbehavior or otherwise can't see eye to eye on what a parenting plan should be. Often the court will assign a guardian ad litem, to interview both parents and report back to the court. In addition, give a recommendation on what the parenting plan should be.


 The other kind of guardian ad litem is for either a juvenile court or for guardianship. These guardian ad litems have a slightly different investigating prerogative. They're focused on fitness of the parents because if the parents are unfit, then a guardianship should be in place.


 They're also looking to see the potential home where the child will be to make sure that the home is a safe place for them, and that the potential guardians will follow the court's directions and maintain the safety of the kids in terms of any kind of visitation from the parents.


 Now, this term can get a little bit confusing because we hear often about guardians for estate plans. So, you have to be careful. This is not a guardian who is going to be there to take your kids or watch the kids. It has a similar name, but a very different function.


 Oftentimes they'll have credentials and that's something to look for in a guardian ad litem to see what their credentials are, what their history with the court is, how many they've investigated. But at the end of the day, you should really talk to your attorney about whether any one guardian item would be good for your case or not. Because not all guardian items are as qualified as any other ones. And so, you want to make sure that, given the facts in your case, that you're able to handle it okay.


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