Appointing a Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) for your Divorce Case in Connecticut
Posted By Irene C. Olszewski, Esq. on May 4, 2010
When going through a divorce in Connecticut, couples have to reach agreements on issues such as the division of marital assets (including bank accounts, real estate and personal property). If you are in the process of going through a divorce and you have children, you will also have to consider child support, custody and visitation issues. In many such cases, a judge will appoint a Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) to represent the best interests of the minor children. The GAL may be an attorney or other qualified professional. If the GAL is an attorney, he or she does not represent you or your children and will not provide legal advice.
The GAL’s job is to investigate the family’s circumstances and dynamics and to make recommendations to the court as to what parenting plan (custody and visitation, among other issues) will serve your children’s best interests. A GAL may investigate claims of abuse or neglect by a parent, issues between siblings, substance abuse by a parent, and numerous other issues.
It is important that you cooperate fully with a GAL in order that he or she can truly assess what will be in your children’s best interests at a time when you and your spouse may not be objective due to the stress (and grief) associated with the divorce.
Disclaimer: The information, comments and links posted on the blog do not constitute legal advice. I will not respond to any specific legal questions in the comments section of this blog. Read my entire disclaimer.
copyright 2010 Irene C. Olszewski
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4 Responses to “Appointing a Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) for your Divorce Case in Connecticut”
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My divorce went on (and on and on) for almost 2 years. I can honestly say that the only person who ever seemed to understand what was going on was the GAL. She was an attorney who obviously had a lot of experience in these types of matters. As much as I balked when the judge first appointed her (and told us we’d have to pay for yet another lawyer to work on our case), I don’t think we would ever have resolved this without her.
Poppy,
It’s not uncommon for parties to a divorce to balk at the idea of a GAL (or having to pay for one). In my experience, though, GALs can really help to move things in the right direction. I’m glad you had such a positive experience with the GAL appointed for your case.
Thank you for a great post
We used a gal in our divorce also. Ours was a psychologist. He was pretty fair most of the time but I didn’t agree with everything he said to the judge. In the end, it was okay though. We did not have an easy divorce.