Opinion ID: 1495397
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Removal of the Guardian ad Litem

Text: Relator also urges that she was improperly dismissed as ad litem. While much has been written about the standards for such appointments, there is little guidance on the standard for removal. Relator contends that the appropriate standard is one based on best interest of the child, and the record reveals that Relator may well have acted in that interest, sometimes bringing issues to the court's attention which might not have otherwise been considered. Under the Probate Code a best interest of the ward standard is applied in determining the circumstances under which a guardianship can be moved to another county and a guardian replaced. Tex.Prob. Code § 123. Other states have applied a similar standard to removal of ad litems in general. [70] Under our current procedural rules, however, the sole circumstance in which a guardian ad litem can be appointed is when a minor is represented by a next friend or guardian who appears to the courts to have an interest adverse to such minor. Tex. R.Civ.P. 173 (emphasis added). This rule as written seems to contemplate only a conflict of interest standard. Since the trial court's September 1991 dismissal order specifically determined that there was no conflict of interest, and since the record reflects no such conflict, we find no abuse of discretion.