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Guardians for Minor Children

Quick Facts

Court has authority to appoint GAL to protect children's interests.
Court will appoint GAL if abuse or neglect suspected.
GAL advocates for child and reports to court.
GALs can be paid by court.
GALs are subject to background study.

Permissive Appointment of Guardian Ad Litem

In dissolution proceedings, including child custody or legal separation, where custody or parenting time is disputed, the court has the authority to appoint a guardian ad litem. The guardian ad litem is selected from a panel and is independent of any party or lawyer. The guardian ad litem acts in the best interest of the child. The guardian ad litem advises the court and gives his or her opinion of the custody and parenting time issues.

Required Appointment of Guardian Ad Litem

If custody is an issue, and the court suspects that the child was a victim of domestic abuse or neglect, the court will appoint a guardian ad litem.

Responsibilities of Guardian Ad Litem

A guardian ad litem should conduct an independent investigation, with the goal of determining the facts relevant to the situation. To do so, the guardian ad litem will have the authority to obtain any relevant documents; meet with and observing the child in the home setting; and interview parents, caregivers, and others.

A guardian ad litem advocates for the child's best interests by participating in appropriate parts of the case and advocating for appropriate community services when necessary.

At all times, a guardian ad litem must maintain the confidentiality of information related to the case, except when sharing information as permitted by law to promote cooperative solutions that are in the best interests of the child.

Throughout the court proceedings, the guardian ad litem will always represent the best interests of the child.

As necessary, the guardian ad litem will present written reports on his or her conclusions and recommendations regarding the child's best interests.

Fees

A guardian ad litem may be appointed either as a volunteer or as a paid position. If a guardian ad litem is appointed on a fee basis, the court enters an order for costs, fees, and disbursements in favor of the child's guardian ad litem. The order may be made against either or both parents, except that any part of the costs, fees, or disbursements that the court determines the parents are incapable of paying are borne by the state courts.

Background Study of Guardian Ad Litem

The court will initiate a background study through the commissioner of human services on every guardian ad litem appointed if a background study has not been completed on the guardian ad litem within the past three years.

The background study must be completed before the court appoints the guardian ad litem, unless the court determines that the best interest of the child is to appoint a guardian ad litem before a background study can be completed by the commissioner. The court will initiate a subsequent background study once every three years after the guardian has been appointed as long as the individual continues to serve as a guardian ad litem.

The background study includes criminal history data from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, other criminal history data held by the commissioner of human services, and data regarding whether the person has been a perpetrator of substantiated maltreatment of a minor or a vulnerable adult. When the information from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension indicates that the subject of a study is a multistate offender or that the subject's multistate offender status is undetermined, the court will require a search of the National Criminal Records Repository and will provide the commissioner with a set of classifiable fingerprints of the subject of the study.

The Minnesota Supreme Court pays the commissioner a fee for conducting a background.

Procedure, Criminal History, and Maltreatment Records

When the court requests a background study, the request is submitted to the Department of Human Services through the department's electronic online background study system.

When the court requests a search of the National Criminal Records Repository, the court must provide a set of classifiable fingerprints of the subject of the study on a fingerprint card provided by the commissioner of human services. The proposed guardian ad litem takes the fingerprint card to a police station for fingerprinting.

The commissioner of human services provides the court with information from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's Criminal Justice Information System, other criminal history data held by the commissioner of human services, and data regarding substantiated maltreatment of a minor, and substantiated maltreatment of a vulnerable adult, within 15 working days of receipt of a request. If the subject of the study has been determined by the Department of Human Services or the Department of Health to be the perpetrator of substantiated maltreatment of a minor or vulnerable adult in a licensed facility, the response must include a copy of the public portion of the investigation memorandum, or the public portion of the investigation memorandum.

When the background study shows that the subject has been determined by a county adult protection or child protection agency to have been responsible for maltreatment, the court shall be informed of the county, the date of the finding, and the nature of the maltreatment that was substantiated. The commissioner provides the court with information from the National Criminal Records Repository within 3 working days of the commissioner's receipt of the data. When the commissioner finds no criminal history or substantiated maltreatment on a background study subject, the commissioner makes these results available to the court electronically through the secure online background study system.

If the commissioner or county lead agency has information that a person on whom a background study was previously done has been determined to be a perpetrator of maltreatment of a minor or vulnerable adult, the commissioner or the county may provide this information to the court that requested the background study.

Rights of the Study Subject

The subject of a background study has the following rights:

the right to be informed that the court will request a background study on the subject for the purpose of determining whether the person's appointment or continued appointment is in the best interests of the child;
the right to be informed of the results of the study and to obtain from the court a copy of the results;
the right to challenge the accuracy and completeness of the information contained in the results to the agency responsible for creation of the data except as precluded by Minnesota law.