• When may a GAL be appointed?

• What does a GAL do?

• What information will the GAL need?

• How do I find a GAL?

• How do I request appointment of a GAL?

When may a GAL be appointed?

A guardian ad litem (GAL) may be appointed when a court case involves custody or visitation rights.  In dissolution (divorce) actions, a GAL may be involved when the parties are divorcing or when an action has been filed to modify the parenting plan established previously as part of a dissolution action.  Any party to a dissolution proceeding or the judge, may request appointment of a GAL.  A GAL may be an attorney, a mental health professional, or a volunteer. [In some counties the GAL may go by a different name such as "Investigator" or "Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)."] There may be a fee for the GAL's services.

You will probably want to ask the court to appoint a GAL if you or your children have been physically or sexually abused.  Even when there has not been abuse but there are serious issues as to the other party's ability to be an adequate parent, it is often necessary to appoint a GAL.

In addition, the court may appoint an attorney to represent the interests of a child with respect to provisions in a parenting plan in a dissolution action, legal separation action, or action to declare the marriage invalid.  The court may enter an order against both or one of the parents, or if they are both indigent the costs will be paid for by the county. 

What does a GAL do?

The GAL is responsible for investigating the situations of all the parties and the children, and then making a recommendation to the court about what type of custody and visitation arrangement would be in the best interest of the children. The GAL must receive notice of all hearings, copies of papers provided to the court, and must approve any agreed court orders related to the children's custody.  The GAL may investigate past criminal records, court records, and other important papers. The GAL will also interview you and the other parent and, may talk to, or ask for written statements from your friends or other members of the family.  The GAL should also interview any professionals (such as counselors), that are involved with the children or the parties.  The GAL may also observe you and the children at your home and at the other parent's home, or in their office or another setting.  GALs are required to have training on issues related to the welfare of children, and must meet standards set by law.

What information will the GAL need?

Most judges take the GAL's recommendations very seriously so it is important to cooperate as best as you can with the GAL. You should give the GAL the names and current phone numbers of people who will tell the GAL that you are a good parent, and you should make sure that those people know that the GAL may be contacting them.  You should also be prepared to show the GAL what steps you have taken to overcome any problems you have had or continue to have which affect your ability as a parent. It is important to let the GAL know what the other parent has done or might do to your children which places them at risk. In doing so, do your best to focus on how the other parent's problems will adversely affect the children. You should also provide the GAL with names, addresses, and phone numbers of people who can back up your concerns.  You should tell these people to expect the GAL to contact them and that it is important for them to cooperate with the GAL.

For more information, please see our publication called "Working with GALS and Parenting Evaluators: Tips for Parents in Family Law Cases," also available at www.washingtonlawhelp.org.

How do I find a GAL?

If you can afford to pay a GAL, and your county allows parties to choose their GAL, you should look at several different GALs before you decide.    Each superior courthouse should have a list or roster of possible GALs who have met the training requirements of the court.  You should go to the court clerk's office and ask for this list.  You should be able to review the resumes of the possible GALs as well.  If you have time, you may want to call a few of them to find out how much they charge, whether they are available, and whether you like them.  Because GALs are often required to spend several hours working on a case, they may require a retainer fee that can range from $500 to $3000.  The final cost can be much higher.

If you cannot afford to pay a GAL, you may still have options available. Some courts have a Family Court Services or other county-funded social service agency that performs parenting or custody or domestic violence evaluations.  Some courts have a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program, which provides volunteer GALs for free.  You should check with your family law facilitator, or the clerk's office, to see if your county has these resources.

In some situations, you may not be able to choose who serves as your GAL.  In some counties, the court appoints GALs off the court's list, and will give you the next GAL on the list whether you have requested that GAL or not.  Finally, when an evaluator or GAL is appointed from a court agency (such as Family Court Services or CASA), the agency chooses the person who will serve as GAL.  Once the GAL is appointed, that person is mandated by law to provide the parents with a background statement describing his or her training, information regarding whether they had been removed from a case or from the GAL registry in any other county, and any criminal history or record.

How do I request appointment of a GAL?

If you want to request the appointment of a GAL, you must file a motion to appoint a GAL.  To do this, you must complete the following three documents, file them, and serve them on the other parties in your case.

Filling Out the Motion Papers

You will need the following forms:

• NOTE FOR MOTION DOCKET (This form varies from county to county.)  You can request a copy of your county's Note from your county court clerk and/or the courthouse facilitator;
• MOTION AND DECLARATION FOR TEMPORARY ORDER; and
• ORDER APPOINTING GUARDIAN AD LITEM/LAWYER/INVESTIGATOR ON BEHALF OF MINOR.

The second and third documents are mandatory forms that are sometimes revised by the court each June.  You should contact your county court clerk or the courthouse facilitator to get the forms that are being used in your county.  If the forms are not available from the county court clerk or they are using the state court mandatory forms, you may use the forms attached to this publication (current as of 6/2006).  You can also obtain them free from the Office of the Administrator of the Courts, Temple of Justice, AV-01, Olympia, WA 98504 [Phone number: (360) 753-3365] or download them off of the internet at http://www.courts.wa.gov/forms. 

Detailed instructions on filling out the necessary forms for appointing a guardian ad litem can be found in our do-it-yourself packet titled "Filing a Motion for Temporary Orders for Dissolution Actions" at www.washingtonlawhelp.org.  Click on the Family Law topic area and then click on Dissolution of Marriage.

Although the mandatory forms assume that a lawyer will be filling them out, you may substitute "Moving Party" wherever "Attorney" or "Lawyer" is used.   You may also want to write "pro se" under your name to let the court know you are representing yourself, and you should include a mailing address and telephone number on each court paper so that the court can get in touch with you.

You should use the declaration part of the Motion and Declaration for Temporary Order form to explain to the court why you believe a GAL should be appointed.   If you cannot afford to pay a GAL, you should also explain that in your declaration.  You may also attach any documents that support your request to your declaration as exhibits.

Also, there is a place on the Motion and Declaration form for you to propose someone to be appointed as the GAL. If you do not know who can serve as GAL, in the blank for the name of the GAL you should write "a person acceptable to the court".

Serving the Motion Papers

Once you have filled out all the papers and signed them, make one copy of each document for each of the other parties, a copy for the judge, and a copy for yourself. You should file the original of the Note for Motion Docket and the original of the Motion of Appointment of GAL with the superior court clerk's office in your county.  You also need to mail a copy of the Note for Motion Docket and a copy of the Motion for Appointment of GAL and your proposed Order Appointing GAL to each of the other parties before the date of your hearing. You should check with the court clerk's office, family law facilitator, or your local court rules (available in the law library) to find out how many days in advance of the hearing the other parties and the court must receive your motion.  If you mail the materials to the other parties, you should add three (3) days to the notice required. 

You should also check your county's local rules to determine if the Judge or court commissioner that will be hearing your case needs a copy of these documents a few days before the hearing, and if so, when.  The copies for the judge and other parties are called "working papers."  If you must provide "working papers" to the judge, it is often best to hand-deliver them to the courthouse by the same date that you are required to serve the other parties.  Working papers are usually to be delivered to a different place in the courthouse than the place where the originals are filed; ask the clerk or courthouse facilitator for information about where the working papers should be delivered.  If you cannot go to the courthouse to file your originals and to deliver your working papers, call the clerk to see if you can mail them to the judge.

In most counties, you must file and mail the motion papers at least 9 days before the date you set for your hearing.  However, some counties, such as King County, require more than 9 days' notice.  You must contact the family law facilitator, clerk's office, or law library, to find out how much notice you must give for a family law motion.  Keep in mind that you always must add three days for mailing. 

Consult with your family law facilitator or court clerk for the specific rules that apply to filing family law motions in your county.
You do not file the original copy of the Order Appointing Guardian Ad Litem.  Instead, you take this order with you when you go to court.  You need to go to court at the time and on the date stated in your Note for Motion Docket.  When your case is called, you should go in front of the Judge and tell him or her that you want a GAL appointed.  If the other party does not want a GAL to be appointed, the other party will also have a chance to tell the judge why.  If the Judge agrees to appoint a GAL, you then give the judge the original of your Order Appointing Guardian Ad Litem to sign.  You should make sure the GAL gets a copy of the order after the judge signs it.

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