Guardian Ad Litem Law Needs Reform

Guardian Ad Litem Law Needs Reform — This story is from Berks County.

The protagonists are Holly and Erik and their now 17-year-old son.

Well, it’s Erik’s son but Holly considers him her child too and the boy has been the subject of a custody battle with the boy’s biological mother since 2018.

Holly has been an active part of the child’s life for 17 years.

Erik acknowledged paternity soon after birth and allowed the mother primary custody with the understanding that as the boy grew and sought more time with the father his request would be respected.

This was not granted he says. Further the boy developed a medical condition which Erik only learned about after issues developed with the boy’s schooling.

Erik says they attempted to work with the mother regarding increased visitation and medical treatment only to be rebuffed.

They brought the matter to Berks County’s family court system. The mother hired a lawyer who ho convinced the court to appoint a guardian ad litem (GAL) to “represent” the son, then 12

Issues immediately began with the GAL, says Erik. These included a report featuring opinions in specialty areas that she did not possess.

“The GAL is supposed to be neutral,” says Erik. “But her claims and recommendations invariably backed the mother and went against the recommendations of privately obtained medical professionals and the child’s wishes.”

Erik notes that the behavior of GALs have become controversial.

“I’m not the first or only parent complaining publicly,” he said.

He said one of the parents has said that if this GAL is crossed “somehow, someway your case will suddenly involve CYS.”

The issues of children youth services departments has been a pointed subject here.

Further, this GAL is accused of dragging out proceedings to increase here paycheck. This is not an uncommon criticism of the system.

The GAL only spoke with him once in the five years she had been tasked as the son’s guardian and that she billed for meetings and hearings that never happened, says Erik.

Erik noted that they filed the petition in 2019 but it wasn’t until July 2022 that a custody trial happened during which Erik was granted shared custody.

The mother, however, did not quit.

She brought the matter back to the courts in 2023 and this time things went her way and she won primary custody.

Erik says he was willing to give up and limit his time with his son to what the court’s allowed.

The mother, however, filed a contempt petition against him.

This was dropped but the battle had been re-ignited.

This time it did not go well for the mother. Discrepancies were found in the stories by the mother and GAL, Erik says.

Most damning was the claim by the GAL that she had text messages from the son backing up the mom’s version of events, and the Holly and Erik sent her threatening emails.

The GAL was asked to produced the texts and emails in court but consistently refused, says Erik.

A trial was held April 2.

The GAL said the boy wanted to engage in a week on/week off schedule with the father who now lives six hours from the mother.

The boy asked to speak to the judge directly. The GAL objected, the judge overruled her, and the boy rebutted the GAL’s claims.

The judge ruled that the boy can the summer with his dad.

The custody battle will end in September when the boy turns 18.

Pennsylvania’s guardian ad litem system is broken. Major reform is needed if not outright replacement.