Legal Question in Family Law in Florida

Re: guardian ad litem

There are no delineated grounds for the appointment of a GAL. They are appointed whenever it is in the child's best interest to have a separate representative. However, as the Court-provided programs have a limited budget, Court-provided GAL's are usually only appointed in dependency cases--where both parents are alleged to have either neglected or abused a child. In a private, family law case (divorce, paternity, time-sharing), if the Court grants a motion for a GAL, it will be at the expense of the party requesting one, and will essentially result in that party being told to hire a private attorney to act as the child's GAL.