The seminal case in Rhode Island concerning guardian ad litems in Rhode Island family Court is D’onofrio v Donofrio, 738 A.2d 1081 (R.I. 1999) The Rhode Island Supreme Court gave wide discretion to the trial judge to appoint a Guardian ad Litem in Child Custody cases in Family Court. The GAL constitutes an officer of the Court. State V Demers 576 A2d 1221 (R.I. 1990) The obigations of a GAL are provided in R.I.G.L 15-5–16.2 (c) (v). 15-5–16.2 set forth in 2003 which addresses:
- appointments of guardian ad litems,
- specialized training and qualifications,
- fees,
- communications,
- duties of a GAL,
- Gal reports,
- admissibility of GAL reports
- Access to confidential health care info
- GAL appearance at hearings.
“(c)(1) The court may, if in its discretion it deems it necessary or advisable, appoint an attorney or a guardian ad litem to represent the interest of a minor or dependent child with respect to his or her support, custody, and visitation.” Id.
“(v) The guardian ad litem shall meet with the child, conduct an investigation, and upon request of the court, shall prepare an oral or written report that contains the procedural background of the case, identification of all persons interviewed and other sources of information, a statement of the child’s emotional, medical, educational, and social service needs, the child’s wishes, and other factors relevant to the court’s determination regarding the best interests of the child;” Id
2018 rules and standards for GAL in Rhode Island
In 2018 Chief Justice Michael Forte issued an administrative order which vacated and superseded a 2006 admin order on the same subject. The 2018 order is Family Court Administrative Order 2018-3, “Standards for Appointment as Guardian ad litem for Domestic Relations Cases.”
Judge makes final decisions not guardian ad litem
The Rhode Island Supreme Court made it very clear that ultimately it was the trial justice who makes the Final Decision Concerning custody, visitation and placement in Rhode Island.***** Please Consult with a Child Custody Lawyer Concerning your Rhode Island Family Court Case
Below you will find some important excerpts from the D’onfrio Decision
“In this state no statutory mandate requires the appointment of a guardian ad litem in child-custody disputes. See G.L.1956 § 15-5-16.2(c) (“[t]he court may, if in its discretion it deems it necessary or advisable, appoint an attorney or a Guardian Ad Litem to represent the interest of a minor or dependent child with respect to his or her * * * custody”). Rather, a “trial justice has the inherent power to appoint a guardian ad litem whenever it appears that there are interests of minor to be protected.” Parrillo v. Parrillo, 495 A.2d 683, 686 (R.I.1985) (citing Zinni v. Zinni, 103 R.I. 417, 421, 238 A.2d 373, 376 (1968)).
“This Court‘s review of a child-custody award is limited to whether the trial justice abused his or her discretion. Pettinato v. Pettinato, 582 A.2d 909, 914 (R.I.1990)” “In this state, no law requires that a guardian’s recommendations and/or report should carry greater weight than any other evidence presented. On the contrary, here, as in other jurisdictions, “The recommendations of the guardian ad litem do not, and should not, carry any greater presumptive weight than the other evidence in the case. The guardian ad litem is appointed to represent the best interests of the child, not to make a conclusive or presumptive determination; that is the province of the court or master.” Richelson v. Richelson, 130 N.H. 137, 536 A.2d 176, 180 (1987).
“In our opinion “[t]his conclusion does not undermine or minimize the role of the guardian ad litem, not does it suggest that the guardian ad litem’s representative capacity is insignificant to the determination of custody arrangements.” Id. It should be noted, however, that the State of Rhode Island does not require any special training, background, qualifications, or particular expertise of a guardian-ad-litem candidate before such an individual can be selected to serve in this capacity. In this case, even though the court-appointed guardian was an attorney with experience in family law, she was not a child psychologist or some other child-care expert. And whereas some guardians ad litem may possess special expertise that might lend greater evidentiary weight to their testimony and reports, no such result follows as a matter of law.”
In Ayriyan v. Ayriyan, 994 A.2d 1027( R.I. 2010) the Court determined that the trial justice did not give too much weight to the Guardian’s report under the facts of the case. The Supreme Court reasoned that the trial justice was careful and thorough and evaluated all of the witness testimony appropriately as well as a review of the Pettinato custody factors.
Editor’s notes
*****Editor’s Note: In the real world of RI family Court Child Custody, Visitation and Placement battles, the RI Family Court trial justice adopts the Guardian’s decisions in the vast majority of the Rhode Island Child Custody Cases. It is very difficult to convince a justice to do otherwise. However, in some cases, the trial justice does not agree with the Guardians’ recomendations.