Child Custody Article
What is a Court-Appointed Advisor and what is his or her function in a Family Law case?
You have a dispute with your child’s parent. One of you filed a petition or motion with the Court. The Court scheduled a Resolution Management Conference and at the conference, the Court tells you it is appointing a Court Advisor. Why? What happens now?
The Rules of Family Law Procedure provides for the appointment of a Child’s Attorney, Best Interest Attorney, or Court-Appointed Advisor. Each serves a different purpose. A Child’s Attorney or Best Interest Attorney act in a representative capacity – both participate in the case to the same extent as an attorney. On the other hand, a Court-Appointed Advisor is prohibited from taking any action that would only be permitted by a licensed attorney. However, a Court-Appointed Advisor can be especially helpful to the Court, in resolving disputes.
An order appointing a Court-Appointed Advisor must specifically state the reason for appointment, as well as the terms. For example, an Advisor is typically appointed in order to interview each party at their homes, review records – such as medical reports, school reports, emails or text messages, and police reports – speak to other interested parties, and often interview the minor child. The order will also state how the Court-Appointed Advisor will be compensated. Typically, the parties will be ordered to each pay 50% of the Court-Appointed Advisor’s fee, subject to reallocation. Therefore, the Court may order a party to pay a larger portion of the fee based on their unreasonable position, lack of cooperation, or other reason.
The Court-Appointed Advisor must have an opportunity to testify or to submit a report stating their recommendations regarding the best interest of the child and the basis for the recommendations. A Child’s Attorney or Best Interest Attorney are not allowed to testify or submit recommendations to the Court.
In order to qualify as a Court-Appointed Advisor, an individual must have received training or have experience in the type of proceeding in which they are appointed. Specifically, a Court-Appointed Advisor acts as more of a witness rather than a representative. The duties of a Court-Appointed Advisor are generally viewed as a witness or one who provides counsel or input. It is extremely important for you to cooperate with the Court-Appointed Advisor or comply with any requests of the Court-Appointed Advisor. You should treat the Court-Appointed Advisor with deference and respect. The recommendations of the Court-Appointed Advisor will be influenced by your cooperation and your honesty (or lack of) will likely be noted in the Court-Appointed Advisor’s report.
You, or your attorney, may question or cross-examine the Court-Appointed Advisor. However, it is important to remember that the Advisors appointed by the Court, appear before the judges often and are known to the Court. The Court views the Court-Appointed Advisor as an expert witness and relies on their recommendations.
A Court-Appointed Advisor may be especially helpful in a case where there are many factual disputes, an inability for the parties to cooperate, or the minor child is old enough to voice an opinion. Would a Court-Appointed Advisor be useful in your case? Possibly. It is important to consult with an attorney.
Contributing Attorney: Billie Tarascio litigates family law and domestic violence cases at Modern Law.
Comments:
QUESTIONS
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We have a custody order that is 9 years old and never been abided by the child suppose be with me on weekends and dad in the week but has lived with me for couple years now we have never went by the order now I’m engaged he is trying to enforce it is the order still good
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I have a court date coming up in a few days for a petition for Emergency custody my wife has asked her attorney for. I am looking for a paid attorney for myself, I think I have found one but she wont be able to do so for about a week or two, so she said to request the courts grant a continuance to give her time to prep for my defense. I am wondering how I can go about requesting this without a lawyer present? Will the judge be able to do this?
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Post Decree Modificiation for Legal Decision Making and Parenting time: The court vactated a BIA attorney hearing due to a report not being available and moved to dismiss the entire Petiton and place the case on the inactive calander. Opposing party requesting trial with no new evidence? Can I object? Or request a evidentiary hearing as we just had trial Oct 2017 (10 months ago).
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We are divorced and both relocating to Phoenix--what do we need to do in order to have our child custody agreement be under Arizona jurisdiction once we've established residency?
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All, I have a 3 yrs old boy that was born when I was 24 and his mom was 16; I'm 28 now and she is 19. I pay her a weekly amount for child support (casual arrangement, have notarized letter with terms), and we had a verbal agreement that I would take him Fri night-Sun night and every other Wednesday. We got into an argument and now she will not let me see my boy; I have been a part of his life since the beginning. Can I take her to court to make custody and support legal? Will her being a 16 yr old mother be reason for criminal charges? Thanks in advance.
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how do i request for joint custody? if i pay child support and the mother of my children does not let me see my kids at all
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Does military service put you at a disadvantage for custody disputes?
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What are emergency temporary orders and how long are they in effect?
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Can I file for back child support for a child I raised for eight years if I did not originally ask for child support? Custody changed to the mother about a year and a half ago where she did not ask for child support and now she is filing for it.
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My ex husband and have been divorced since 2008 we both have joint custody and the children have primarily lived with me and have had the same parenting plan in place since, however this past December my ex husband asked for a modification and the judge awarded him as the "primary residential parent" since parenting time was modified and the children are now staying with him more than me. We both still have jjoint custody. My ex husband changed the kids school with out me knowing or agreeing dose he have the right to do this? The order dosnt say he can make educational decision on his own.
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