Q. What is a Guardian ad Litem?

In certain domestic relations and juvenile court proceedings, a Guardian ad Litem is an attorney or Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) appointed by the court to represent the best interest of the minor child(ren) until discharged by the court.

Q. Do the parents have to request a Guardian ad Litem?

No. A Court can appoint a Guardian ad Litem at the request of either parent, or upon the Court’s own motion.

Q. What are the duties of the Guardian ad Litem?

Generally, a Guardian ad Litem is required to perform certain basic duties. The feasibility of some of the duties will depend upon the age(s) of the children and the specific circumstances of each case. Therefore, many counties allow the Guardian ad Litem discretion to tailor their investigation to the facts of the individual case. The basic duties of the Guardian ad Litem include:

1. Interview the children and observe each parent with the child(ren);
2. Review pleadings and consult with each attorney as to position and issues;
3. Investigate all significant persons and interview independently;
4. Obtain records e.g., school, criminal, medical, psychological, child protective agency;
5. Perform home visits (this may be combined with the interview process);
6. Evaluate the necessity, if any, of psychological evaluations or counseling; and file a motion requesting the same;
7. Communicate with the Protective Services worker, where applicable; and
8. Attend all depositions concerning the best interest of the child(ren).

Q. What are the powers of the Guardian ad Litem?

The Guardian ad Litem has the right to file motions and to review all confidential records involving the child(ren) by request, through deposition, and by subpoena.  The Guardian ad Litem also has the right to conduct discovery and examine witnesses at trial.

Q. Is the Guardian ad Litem required to file a written report?

Usually they are, but they are not always required to do so before trial. Some Courts require the Guardian ad Litem to file a written report, but others allow the Guardian ad Litem to simply state their recommendation to the Court during a court hearing.  Portage County has a court form for a guardian ad litem report which you may find interesting.  Many guardian ad litem reports follow the statutory best interest of the child factors, but this form requires the guardian to specifically identify the amount of work they put into their investigation.  Click here to look at Portage County’s guardian ad litem form. 

Q. Is the Guardian ad Litem going to be at the Court hearing?

The Guardian ad Litem is required to be present at all hearings pertaining to the children. The Attorney/Guardian ad Litem may subpoena and examine independent witnesses.

Q.  Can I get the guardian ad litem fired or removed from my case? 

Once upon a time the answer was, for all practical purposes, no.  However, expectations of Guardian ad Litems in Ohio have changed, and courts are looking more closely at the conduct of guardian ad litems.  Keep in mind that once a guardian ad litem makes a recommendation in a case, there is going to be at least one party who does not agree with the recommendation of the guardian ad litem.  The court knows and expects this.  The court does not consider a guardian biased simply because the guardian finds one party to be more credible than the other. 

That being said, if a party believes that the guardian ad litem should be removed from their case, they must file a motion for removal of the guardian ad litem.  Some of the causes for removal of a guardian ad litem might be:

• failure to investigate
• failure to report a conflict between the wishes of the guardian ad litem and the child
• bias
• fraud
• misconduct

For more guardian ad litem resources, see the local rules for your county and our resource page entitled Ohio’s Ultimate Family Law Resource.  See the section about guardian ad litems.  There is information there from several different state and national resources.

The information provided in this web site is applicable in the state of Ohio and is provided as a public service. Although Virginia Cornwell is a Columbus Ohio Divorce Lawyer and Columbus Custody Attorney, viewing the information in this web site does not constitute an attorney-client communication, and acting upon information obtained from this web site does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you would like to discuss the application of the law to your fact situation, or if you would like additional information, please call the Law Offices of Virginia C. Cornwell at 614-225-9316 to schedule a consultation.