Your personal attorney can greatly sway what the courts feel is best for that child. They will help you gather documentation. They will help you avoid making mistakes before your case is heard or concluded that may seriously affect the court’s decision.
While a judge will listen seriously to a GAL’s recommendations, the court is not bound to abide by them. A lawyer is essential in responding to the GAL’s report, crafting a response that contains any objections or opinions on info left out.
GALs are as infallible as any other human beings, and if a parent truly feels that the other parent presents a danger to the child, they should not rest easy in the notion that the GAL will correctly perceive what is best for the child. Particularly if you live in a less populated area, the GAL could be friends with your spouse’s attorney and thus be biased in their favor. There are tons of reasons to be careful to have an attorney to guide your interests here.
(I am not a lawyer, do not work for one, etc. I am simply of the opinion that in our judicial system, a lawyer is as essential for a custody case as it would be for a criminal or civil case.)
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Originally Posted by amandalouise
Im assuming since the courts are already involved they may already have lawyers,
I dont agree that the sharkiest lawyer would help in something like this. child custody and visitation cases are not based on which parent gets the meanest , smartest or sharkiest lawyers here, its based on what the courts feel is best for a child..
here in america the courts assign the children their own lawyers, the parents dont get the children the lawyers, the parents have no say who their childrens lawyers are in court cases...
these lawyers (called Guardian ad litem) are not associated with either parents side of the case. they are strictly there to talk with the children, find out what the children want, whether the children want to see their mother or father, and talk with the childrens doctors, talk with the childrens therapists/ psychiatrists, observe the children with each of the parents then report back to the court on what is best for the children.
depending on the childrens ages the judge may also talk with the children.
if abuse allegations are made the children will be court ordered to go through a medical and psychological exams to find out whether physical, emotional or sexual abuse has happened. the exams will even address whether one or the other parent coached the children in any way.
in other words it wont be up to the parents getting the sharkiest lawyers. parents can have the meanest, cleaverest lawyers and loads of money and still lose their side of the case.
Why because the children have their own .........court appointed....... not parent appointed lawyers and the courts do whats best for the children not the parents in custody/ visitation cases.
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