Legal Question in Family Law in Washington
GAL on task?
I filed for divorce from a domestic violence abuser on 1/2007. My GAL & lawyer missed deadlines. My lawyer and her lied on court papers, saying I had complications in my preganancy. It was extended for 6 more months. My GAL has never contacted any witnesses on either side of the case. She asks about my husband and my relationship all the time. She put him on my property in his motorhome for mid-week visitation. He ended up in my house because he wouldn't hook up, and for the children's sake, I said o.k.
Now she wants more money after 1 year. There is no report, and my husband and I are trying to settle out of court. He wants the DV to be taken out of the papers. It was mainly verbal, come physical. I am willing to do this to settle quick.
The GAL won't give me the recommendations until she sees both of us together in her office. She wants a confrontation of ''he said, she said''. I don't feel comfortable with this. She insists, or she won't give me the recommendations for the children.
Is she on track? What should I do?
Please advise, thank you.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: GAL on task?
What you have written leaves me unable to do more than guess at what your question is. You appear to have several misunderstandings or seriously unclear statements: The GAL is appointed for the children not for you. It appears from your question that you have an attorney. What does "he wouldn't hook up" mean? From your zipcode you would be in King County; it is uncommon for a dissolution case in King County to take over a year, and taking that long would involve a motion to extend the case schedule, was that done. I am not sure what you mean by on track (on time, following correct procedure, doing his/her job?).
Re: GAL on task?
If you are ready to agree and settle by yourselves, it would appear you do not need the GAL. A problem that a lot of these types of people have is they think they need to control aspects of your life once they get involved.
One option you have is to dismiss the divorce case, which you have an absolute right to do in most situations. See, CR 41(a)(1)(B) at http://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/?fa=court_rules.display&group=sup&set=CR&ruleid=supcr41. If your husband also agreed, the right would be absolute. CR 41(a)(1)(A). Your attorney could handle this for you. If you dismiss, the GAL would be gone because there would be no more case.
Once the case was dismissed, you could file again (even in another county by agreement--a lot of people file uncontested divorces in Lincoln county.) And that way you could keep the DV out of the papers. The downside of dismissal would be having to pay another filing fee and waiting 90 days.
Of course, another option is to reconsider the divorce. If you are able to work together and address your problems together and sincerely, your children--and most likely yourselves--would be better off in the long run with their family intact.
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