Re: Guardian ad litem, custody investigations...anyone have experience? Crystal_Blue_024: Yeah, I think you're right that the court has to appoint the GAL so there is no bias. Well, I'll keep my fingers crossed that mediation might help, if not let us all know how it goes with the GAL. ((( HUGS )))
Re: Guardian ad litem, custody investigations...anyone have experience? doctorjoel: I have been through all of this in a big way. In my state the GAL is an attorney, and the custody investigator is typically a mental health professional. The GAL got another person appointed who was a "trained volunteer" who spent a lot of time with my son getting to know him and seeing how he was living, and occasionally supervising a visit with his mother. The investigator came later, and did a very thorough job interviewing everyone before making a series of detailed recommendations. In the end the judge followed those recommendations very closely in the final orders.
We did not have any issues regarding removal from the state.
As far as mediation goes, the role of the mediator is to find middle ground on which an agreement can be made. If it is not going to work out, that ought to be obviously pretty quickly to both parties and the mediator, and there is no point in sitting around all day if there is no progress to be made.
In my case both the GAL and the investigator were appointed by the court. However, the GAL thing was largely a hallway negotiation before the first hearing, and the investigator was selected by my ex and her attorney from a list prepared by my attorney, and the judge approved it. However, in both cases they work for the court and not either party (thougy my ex refers to the investigator as my "expert" based on the report and testimony).
Good luck with this; it is a painful and expensive process.
