"Attorney for the Child"???
Steptalkers, DH and I received a packet in the mail yesterday- a summons from BM, who has filed suit for a change of custody. She would like sole legal custody of the children so that she can make all important decisions regarding how many times a day (and the times of day) she calls, what DH can and cannot sign them up for when it's our custody time, etc.....on and on. DH is excited that finally her instability may be shown to other people. BUT, we have one question:
At the bottom of the first sheet, BM's attorney's name is followed by "Attorney for the Child".
This seems to imply that this attorney has been retained by BM on behalf of the children. However, this is the same attorney who handled BM's side of the divorce, and with whom BM later had a falling-out (and had worked with another attorney during the interim). Now she has apparently convinced original lawyer to work with her again. Wouldn't it be a conflict of interest for this attorney to represent the children? Would a court allow her to use the same lawyer for the kids, who represented her in her divorce almost two years ago?
Thank you- we are newbies at the court system and are grateful for your advice. Bet we'll be learning fast.....
Would this mean the guardian
Would this mean the guardian ad litem? The court often assigns an attorney to advocate for a child. But I think it would still be a conflict of interest if this was someone that represented her in the divorce.
In my court battle, each of
In my court battle, each of us had our own attorneys and the court appointed a guardian ad litem (GAL). I have to tell you, these GAL's carry a lot of weight. During our battle, she spoke to my bios twice and formed an opinion.
Good luck
Double check the name. If it
Double check the name. If it is a GAL AND it is the same attorney who represented her before, then tell the court there is a conflict and they can assign a different GAL.
GALs are great - they are an unbiased third party that can talk to every single person involved and get an accurate (or at least close to accurate) idea of what is happening in your lives and the life of the child.
We had one because my XH was insane during our custody battle and kept pushing and pushing no matter how much I tried to work with him on an agreement we could both live with - he was great. He interviewed me, him, the people who lived with us or interacted with us regularly (SOs, parents, etc) and our daughter. He then wrote a very well thought out report and the judge took it into consideration.
In the end, we were able to reach an agreement, but only after XH realized that what I was offering him was much better than what the GAL recommended (for him anyway, sometimes I wish I hadn't settled).