Once a Guardian Ad Litem has been assigned to your case, find out in advance what the evaluator's procedures will be so that you can prepare yourself emotionally as well as with any collateral information you wish to introduce into the evaluation. An example of such information is a list of people with whom you'd like the evaluator to speak. Once you know what to expect, you will be more comfortable with the process. Generally, evaluations will consist of some combination of the following:

• Meeting with each parent and each child alone to learn family history, individual developmental histories, concerns, and desires for the outcome of the dispute, strengths and weaknesses and how each parent thinks about the child individually.

• Observing parent and child interactions to ascertain their relationship. The evaluator often makes observations in each home so that the child is comfortable and the situation is as realistic as can be given the anxiety-filled circumstances.

• Speaking with others who know the parties, especially the children.

• Psychological assessment using standardized and open-ended questionnaires.

• Assessing extended family and community networks of family members through discussion with family members, community sources and/or observation.

  The methods used in an evaluation are designed to provide the Court with information it needs to determine a child's best interests when the parents cannot make the decisions for themselves. The concept of child custody evolved over the years from a presumption in favor of fathers to one in favor of mothers throughout the 1800's, with the term "Best Interests of the Child" introduced in 1881. In response to changing social conditions that have brought more parity in social roles between men and women, gender is no longer viewed as the basis for deciding child custody.

  Judges now give different weight to several factors that have been delineated as important. The Court will consider any and all of the following factors: the quality of the emotional ties between each parent and child, the capacity of each parent to love, educate, guide and raise the child; the capacity of each parent to provide food, clothes and medical care; each parent's special abilities and particular disabilities, the psychological functioning and developmental needs of the child, whether you're dealing with an angry child, the child's need for stability and continuity with regard to past living conditions, the parent's values regarding parenting, the potential for inappropriate behavior or misconduct that might negatively influence a child, a parent's capacity to encourage the other parent's relationship with the child and the wishes of the child when the child is of sufficient age to articulate a well-reasoned preference.
  

  Posted by Irwin M. Pollack, Esq. at 5:07 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0) | Comments (0)

Whenever a child is involved in a family law court case, it is common for everybody to be represented by an attorney except for the child. The Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) is a person appointed by the court to represent the child in court and to make specific recommendations to the court regarding the best interests of the child. The role of GAL is not exactly the same as being an attorney for the child. The GAL has to consider the child's wishes, but also is required to make an independent judgment of what is in the best interest of the child, even if that is not what the child wants.

Generally, the GAL has a duty to familiarize himself or herself with the case prior to the trial or hearing; to find out the child's wishes by meeting with the child (or by meeting with others involved in the case if the child is too young to express wishes); to gather information and arrange the presence of necessary witnesses for the hearing; to represent the child in court at the hearing, and to advise the Court as to the child's wishes and the GAL's recommendations (if asked for).

As attorneys, we're frequently asked what the GAL tends to look for. Here's a list of what we've been told is the beginning of their checklist:

Children who are acting out or withdraw, refusing to go to school, caretaking and filling adult roles, constantly seeking attention (often labeled as ADHD), bedwetting, nightmares, difficult to set limits, hitting adults, regressing...those who are full of guilt, shame, fear, anger, confusion, grief, insecurity, etc.

On a social note, GALs often look for those children who have patterns of isolation, those who are overly social, have difficult in trusting others, poor conflict resolution skills, may be passive or bullying with playmates, or those with poor images or anything that is stereotypically female.

Posted by Irwin M. Pollack, Esq. at 10:30 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0) | Comments (0)