A Guardian Ad Litem Is a Third-Party Attorney Appointed by the Court
Video Transcribed: Hello, my name is Jason Lile and I am a Dad’s attorney in Tulsa. I wanted to talk to you today about a topic that becomes very important in many litigations where I’m representing fathers in family law cases, such as divorces or paternity cases. And that is a guardian ad litem. Now often fathers will come to me and they will say, “My children or child wants this, or they want that or want this.”
Unfortunately in Oklahoma, a child is not allowed to express a preference about where they live and what visitation they have until they’re 12 years old. On the other hand, it is important that their wishes or desires, or perspectives are taken into account when it comes to making an informed decision about what’s best for them. One way to do this that I often utilize in my practice is a guardian ad litem.
What is a guardian ad litem? A guardian ad litem is a third-party attorney appointed by the court. That guardian ad litem should be an experienced family law attorney, and they should be able to interview the father and the other parent and the children, and then be able to inform the court what it is that in their opinion would be in the best interest of the children with regard to visitation, custody, et cetera. One reason that you want to hire an experienced attorney in this regard is that that guardian ad litem will be another attorney.
It’s often incumbent upon me as an attorney when I represent fathers, to represent somebody that I know can be trusted, be fair, have an objective perspective, and not be skewed typically towards just the mother’s position.
I have been practicing for a long time in this area of the state and in this area of law, and I know many, if not all of the guardian items that are often appointed in this area. If you’d like to know anything else about this, feel free to contact me the Tulsa Child Custody Attorney for Men at dads.law.
