Opinion ID: 1222148
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Appointment of Guardians Ad Litem

Text: AS 09.65.130 gives the trial court discretion to appoint an attorney or guardian ad litem for a child in a proceeding with respect to his custody, support, and visitation or in any other legal proceeding involving his welfare. See also Civil Rule 17(b); Children's Rule 11(a). The frequent need for an attorney or guardian ad litem to represent the child or children in their parents' divorce proceeding is the subject of a rapidly growing body of literature, unanimously favorable to such appointments. [3] The threshold question of when it is appropriate for the trial court to appoint a guardian is not before us. Here the court and counsel for both parents agreed to the appointment of Mr. Gruenberg as guardian ad litem. But there will be many custody cases in which a guardian will not be needed, and in such cases neither the statute, the court rules, nor our decisions compel the court to waste its time and money, as well as that of the parties and counsel, in employing one. Some of our previous opinions have dealt with the exercise of trial court discretion on this question. In Lacy v. Lacy, 553 P.2d 928, 930 (Alaska 1976), we suggested some of the factors which are relevant in deciding whether a guardian ad litem is necessary. The decision whether to appoint a guardian ad litem would appear to depend in large measure on the age of the children and the nature of the claim being advanced by the parent or parents. Id. (footnote omitted) On the facts of that case, we held it was not an abuse of discretion to fail to appoint a guardian. The children were teenagers who expressed a strong preference to live with their father. Neither parent claimed the other was unfit, nor sought to introduce expert medical or psychiatric testimony. On the other hand, in Carle v. Carle, 503 P.2d 1050 (Alaska 1972), the judge was required to decide between placing a seven-year-old boy in his father's home with his extended family in a native fishing village, or placing him in the mother's urban home. In remanding, we suggested that the multicultural element might make a guardian ad litem useful in the court's further consideration of the case. We cannot lay down a definite rule for guiding the trial courts in their decision whether to appoint guardians ad litem. No two child custody cases are alike. Of necessity, the trial court has a considerable amount of discretion in making this decision. The fact that one or all of the custody claimants favor or oppose the appointment is not necessarily conclusive. In Lacy and Carle, supra, and In re P.N., 533 P.2d 13, 17-18 (Alaska 1975) (dependency proceeding), we have offered the trial courts some guidance on the question.