Should I get a GAL?
A reader asked:
I filed for more custody of my children. I already have 50/50. My ex is pushing now for a guardian ad litem [GAL] since she likely will lose custody.
Do you have any experts you know who are completely against GALs I can speak to?”
RESPONSE:
You may lose all, if you get a GAL. With the appointment of a GAL, you lose control over the most important decisions regarding the children.
A GAL might look quite average at first glance
GALs are never neutral. They act friendly until you sign the retainer agreement. Then, once you sign, they are in charge. They have de-facto custody. They will do your wishes only if there is a tacit understanding that you will allow them to bill as much as they want on your case and that you will pay them.
Do NOT Consent to a GAL Ever
Remember, GALs DO NOT represent you, though you pay them. They do not represent ‘the best interest of the children,’ though that is their hypocritically deceptive front.
GALs represent themselves, the lawyers who refer them, and the therapists they refer.
Your family law attorney will ‘innocently’ recommend the solution is getting the court to appoint a GAL.
The GAL will begin by recommending to the judge that your custody dispute requires a custody evaluator. The evaluator will find either “parental alienation” or “abuse,” depending on whom she has been instructed to flip custody to: you or your spouse.
The GAL will endorse the custody evaluators determination, and the court will go along with the GAL.
It will cost a lot of money.
If you have a lot of money and like to abuse your children, a GAL may be helpful, otherwise not.
The custody evaluator always finds a need for therapy for the family and the kids, maybe you and your spouse, and will recommend her and the GAL’s associates, who will provide therapy and more therapy, and report to the GAL to reinforce the desired result.
The custody evaluator is usually connected to the close-knit network of GALs and family law attorneys.
Family law attorneys are connected to the family court judges.
You will soon find everyone owns your kids for profit, and they will own your pocketbook too.
If you don’t pay, the judge will order you to pay and if you don’t find you in contempt, and put you in jail [debtors prison] without a jury trial.
The judge always sides with the GAL.
You might reconsider not going for more than 50-50 if it requires a GAL—unless you have more money than your spouse, a lot more.
If the fight is intense, or they can stoke it to be intense [high-conflict], GALs can find ways to bill for $200k or more and get the result an affluent spouse is willing to purchase.
The GAL flipping custody to the abusive parent
I will say it again:
- You and your spouse lose parental control of your children once a GAL is appointed.
- GALs trump parents in family court on determining “the best interest of YOUR children.”
- GALs are paid by the hour. The more trouble they make, the more money they make.
- The inherent conflict is so obvious, yet honest parents don’t see it.
- The GAL is not a trained expert in children’s health, and wellbeing.
- GALs are usually lawyers trained in adversarial law and how to make money off of strife.
GALs are calculating, usually sinister animals, who may spend less than a few hours with your kids and make decisions for them based on what brings the GAL more money, even if it traumatizes your children.
The therapist comes in to support the GALs profit-making decision.
They often calculate to flip custody away from the children’s primary attachment figure to the abuser with money, since the protective parent will fight and this will require the abuser to pay—pay for lawyers, therapists, and the GAL to intervene and prove the protective parent is an alienator, is mentally unwell, is dangerous, is the real abuser and should have no contact with the children [unless the protective parent sees the children with a paid visitation supervisor referred by the GAL].
Slick abusers often convey a much better image to the court, especially when they are paying the court actors.
Women can also be abusive parents too and often make false claims of abuse against the protective parent.
GALs drive protective parents to the poorhouse and insane with grief, while they enable the abusers—for a price—to take devilish delight in harming the other spouse and the kids.
The therapist trained in parental alienation syndrome is trained to repudiate valid child sex abuse claims and call it parental alienation.
Sometimes this is a good investment for the abusive parent. If they are a child molester, for instance, the GAL can help prove the protective parent is insane and manipulated the kids to make up their claims. The GAL then can tell the court that the protective parent alienates the children, coercing them to lie about the sexual abuse.
The molester gets the children and does not go to prison, and the GAL, the lawyers, the therapists, and other court actors, make more money — a win, win – for everyone but the children and the protective parent.
The GAL almost always has cases where there is true child abuse, which must be ignored and denied and flipped on the accuser to make the most money. They do not think much of it, for that is almost the sole purpose for the existence of the GAL, – to deny abuse and support the convert other families’ assets to their own families.
If you fight too hard, experts will come in to testify you are mentally unwell and an alienator.
As GALs say, ‘this is the business we have chosen.”
Never use a GAL. Work it out with your spouse before it is too late.
[…] talking about the guardian ad litem system, where courts appoint attorneys to take control of the destiny of children often recommending the […]
Parental alienation is only a topic brought up within the court walls. If the information is brought up out side of divorce procedsing it’s abuse. Narrasist family dynamics. It’s called splitting. There are children who don’t fall pray and don’t run after the abuser. It’s a misleading concept parental alienation used all to often conveniently in the court house.
https://youtu.be/uoab_AulvyQ
You might have heard that parental alienation is a controversial topic. It is not. Parental alienation theory is good science, and this is a review of a book that spreads disinformation about parental alienation. The authors of this video book review are fighting for the retraction of this book by the publishers, and 45 international organizations have endorsed their efforts. You can help! For those of you who are interested in this topic, please share this video so we can stop the false controversy once and for all and help our courts find justice for alienated parents and children! #thelawcenter #parentalalienation #parentalalienationawareness
Partner is abused, children are abused. People don’t want to be abused. Children don’t want to be abused. People reporting abuse and providing evidence are not crazy. That’s not only good science it’s common sense.
Wrong. So wrong. There is literally no legitimate science supporting this defense technique used by abusers. Other counties have even banned the use of this unscientific terminology. This ridiculous claim was literally invented by a guy who promoted pedophilia and committed suicide. Really? You still believe in this disgusting and extremely abusive tactic?
More importantly why do you need more than 50% custody. Don’t you understand that your children love both of you and want both of you wqaully in your life. This is the start of an alienation case and custodial interference when a one parent insists they deserve more than 50/50 custody. Children want both of their parents in their lives.
Joan, At what point do you take responsibility for the significant damage you personally have caused the family court system? You have been teaching judges that 99 percent of domestic abuse reported is false. That’s statistically incorrect. You have been pushing parental alienation and the removal of children from parents asking for the courts to help protect children. The abusive parents getting no treatment. You refuse to acknowledge false claims of parental alienation.
Parents do need two healthy parents. You have gone on slam the gavel and attempted to provide parental alienation as a murderer defense. You continue to engage in behavior to inflame your stepchildren. Posting on social media that your stepson is mentally damaged. You have no license to practice. At what point does the three strikes rule apply to you?
For once in your life sit down and shut up. Let Frank report. He’s on to everything. He’s a neutral person. Stop pushing the alienation industry. As you can see it’s causing catastrophic damage! Look at Catherine’s case. You don’t want to hear about an individual experience. One who is trying to give a voice to people who would be punished because they are still in court.
Then you are incapable of helping to fix the problem. For once sit down and let the men and women victims of the court speak. More than 3 strikes. An uncorrupt family court legal system is the only answer to the problem.
Bravo, anonymous
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Virginia…
Theresa Bishop
Debraca Arrington
AnneMarie Pagel
In my jurisdiction, AFC are paid for by the city with fixed reduced fees. In my opinion, it is a better system, with fewer opportunities for bias against one or the other parent, and this financial limitation seems to attract attorneys with ethics who work in the system because they actually care. On the other hand, I have seen that the court appointed mental health professionals, including forensic psychologists and ‘parenting coordinators’ (a made up, nonsense job), are hacks who attach themselves to the parent who creates the most conflict, generating the most fees, often ignoring clear patterns of abuse to do so. Many of these so called professionals hide behind ‘not for profit’ organizations who depend on court referrals like FAMILY KIND to create an image of doing good, while generating large fees for themselves.
29 complaints. You can file to have these people taken off the list. Even file to have their license to practice law revoked for what looks like fraud and malpractice. They don’t have to adhere to the code of conduct. It’s just for show. Their immunity covers them. They don’t have to provide an accurate account of billable hours. You can provide as much evidence as you want. They are immune period. . A danger to the public. It’s definition is undefined. There is no statistical data being tracked. When a GAL is caught with hold information from the court, demonstrates clear bias and violates general status of the state. A blind eye is turned. It’s not on court records so the judge can make a ruling in favor of the desired outcome with out possible disapline The GaL will be given more cases. Presented as an honest and fair GaL Assigned to your case. There is not enough GALs to provide you with a choice. That’s likely the answer given by the judge. At least 2 cases. Same judge, same gal, same psychologist and same claims of alienation. Assigned at least 4 cases with out choices. . All cases with aligations of some kind . . Refutted with alienation claims. The court system declares these people a hero. Gets them on as many cases as possible. Eventually in all likely hood will be looking to get appoined as a judge. They are well versed in how to play the game in family court. Well trained by the AFCC. The top gals request by the same attorneys with the same claims. If an attorney passes under interesting circumstances, the almost exclusive gal will be given their entire case files to tidy things up.
I’m some states a child who was supposed to be protected by their GAL can sue for damages. We are now in a position where kids are aging out of the family court system fleeing their abusers and suing their GAL’s. I’m hoping enough of these children will stand up and make change.
Nela Laughridge of Greenville, SC has no legal education or experience but was allowed to take a 9 hour GAL course.
This was good enough for family court who began assigning her to cases at the rate of $250/hour.
She has left multiple parents penniless and all with the same story, no investigation into their side and extreme over reach. Many of these parents have no idea what she looks like until she shows up for a court hearing.
Among those claims are gross neglect, misconduct, and intentional harm. Some parents she’s never even met in person but decided their case without asking them about any of the details. How do you perform an unbiased investigation without hearing from both sides?
She consistently works directly with opposing counsel to present one sided reports to the judge as fact. These reports as loaded with her opinion, outright lies, and speculation presented as fact. Often her reports have glowing things to say about one party without one negative comment regarding them while the other party has nothing positive in the report.
In addition to the above, her house is paid off, so are her cars, property in other states and she has several shell companies. Multiple SS#’s and different names.
How did she pass a background check? Or did SC bother?
Since she’s not an attorney and SC doesn’t have any oversight over GAL’s she gets away with anything and everything.
It’s time for good and decent people to design, fund and run a large non-profit parallel family court system in each state. Donations welcome. Separate systems for different religions each section following religious law. Something for atheists. Something for agnostics and a criminal court to properly process and send criminal cases over to the criminal courts. Most have no idea that ALI Model Penal Codes arranged for “family courts” to ignore crimes beginning around the 1950s. Infidelity is wrong. Unauthorized access to electronics is usually a crime.
Totally out-of-control intense emotions so often meant some kind of healthy intervention was needed long before it got so bad. Did no one notice? Why weren’t all those issues properly addressed immediately in a civilized way in New York “family court”? How many sharks swam in that water — and Dr. Stephen Herman wasn’t involved?
Any parent man or woman oh that would withhold the child and intentionally grooms them with psychological manipulation needs to be criminally, held to the highest degree
Add any attorney or psychologist to the list to be changed
Wolf in sheeps clothing.
Oh! Also? Your AI images are really fun! (Please don’t post this comment, though?) Just wanted the creator to know!
Thank you, Frank. Someone I know is considering something like this right now. I appreciate your wisdom and advice.
“Guardian ad litem” sounds like such a noble role and yet, so many GALs do the exact opposite of what most people think they should do. “Best interests” are the standard. Not safety.
Their role as GAL isn’t to protect the health and safety of children. It’s to force children to endure “relationships” with both parents — no matter how criminally insane one or both parents might be.
The photos up there convey the kind of feeling many good people feel the minute they see such polite and professional GALs not doing what decent GALs in a normal world would do. May you and your courageous team continue to be protected as you shine a bright light on some very dark subjects in America and around the world.
GALs are Satan’s soldiers. Trained to promote conflict and generate legal fees prolong litigation and destroy childhood.
Never, ever, ever get divorced in CA or anywhere near a major city. These groups of judges and attorneys pay each other solely from your bank account, and that amount is more than a college education. Even without GAL, you risk a judge going rogue and reassigning custody if you take up too much of “the court’s time” (like it somehow is more valuable because a bunch of con artist human traffickers run the place).
There is zero, zero accountability. Judges will protect everyone from you, and you can’t even sue or bring charges against a lawyer in CA. So, no do not involve a GAL. The LESS the government is involved with your family, the better for your children and bank account. Make peace any way you can, if you can. Don’t be greedy. The judge can decide they don’t like you, or you come in their court giving them work to do and take your custody. With no legal grounds to do so. No evidence. While violating your civil rights, and even while admitting it.
Don’t do it.