Guardian Ad Litem Not Required to Discuss Ramifications of Case With Child

Tennessee child custody case summary on Guardian Ad Litem and termination of parental rights.

In re S.S.-G.

In this Tennessee termination of parental rights case, the trial court had terminated the father’s parental rights after trial.  The court had concluded that the father had sexually abused the child, that this constituted grounds for termination of parental rights, and that termination was in the child’s best interests.

The father appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals, which reversed the order and sent the case back to the trial court.  The primary grounds for reversal was that the lower court had not spelled out its findings of abuse.  Instead, the lower court had merely cited the statutes without specifying what acts constituted the abuse.

One of the issues on appeal was the actions of the guardian ad litem. Under Tennessee court rules, the guardian ad litem is to represent the child’s best interests by gathering facts and presenting those facts to the court.  Among other things, the father argued that the guardian ad litem never spoke to the child and only met with the child one time to observe the child’s interaction with the father.  On appeal, the father argued that these actions did not meet the requirement of effective assistance.

In particular, the father argued that the guardian ad litem should have spent more time with the child, advised her of the ramifications of the termination proceeding, and ascertain her wishes or wants.

However, the appeals court examined the record and concluded that the guardian ad litem had acted appropriately.  The trial court had ruled on the guardian’s motion for fees, and at that time had determined that she acted appropriately.  The appeals court found nothing in the record indicating that the guardian ad litem had breached her duty to represent the child effectively.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals reversed the lower court’s ruling and remanded the case for specific findings of fact and conclusions of law.

No. M2015-02055-COA-R3-PT (Tenn. Ct. App. Nov. 16, 2015).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Child Custody Laws in Tennessee.

See also Tennessee Parenting Plans and Child Support Worksheets: Building a Constructive Future for Your Family featuring actual examples of parenting plans and child support worksheets from real cases available on Amazon.com.