Texas Family Law Courts: The role of an ad litem in your divorce

Many of the subjects that we've discussed so far in our discussion of Texas Family Law Courts are very well known. Child support, property division upon divorce, and child custody are all concepts that immediately come to mind when considering the implications of filing a divorce or child custody case in Texas. They may even be issues that have kept you awake at night due to not knowing exactly how everything will fall into place for your particular case.

On the other end of the spectrum are circumstances that occur in many family law casesin Texas but do not immediately jump to mind for most folks. One of those issues is ad litem representatives being appointed to your lawsuit.

It is possible that not only have you not considered this subject much but that you've also never even heard the term before. The purpose of today's blog is to explore this subject in greater detail and to help you process how an ad litem can impact the lives of you and your family.

Ad litem defined for a family law case in Texas.

The word "ad litem" may have multiple definitions if you were to go online and look up all the different contexts for which it is applicable. However, for our purposes, we can think of an ad litem as a person who is appointed by a judge (either by the request of a party to a lawsuit or at the motion of the judge him or herself) whose role in the case is to protect the interests of a child or other party that is involved in the case.

For the most part, it is children that the ad litem ends up representing, but this is not always the case. Persons declared mentally incompetent are represented by an ad litem in many instances due to their inability to understand and process the proceedings of a claim themselves.

In many CPS cases, ad litem attorneys are appointed to search for a missing parent who has not answered the court's notification of a legal issue that involves them. The ad litem would utilize whatever contact information is available to them and seek to locate and inform the parent of the proceedings.

If the parent cannot be located, the ad litem reports back to the judge with that information.

Amicus attorney vs. Ad litem attorney

An amicus attorney functions in some of the same ways as an ad litem attorney but acts more so as the eyes and ears of the court outside of the courtroom. The amicus attorney conducts interviews of the parties, children, and other relevant persons involved in your divorce or child custody case and reports directly to the judge with their opinions.

A judge is tasked with making decisions in the best interests of the children involved. The amicus attorney does their job with this responsibility in mind and will assist the court as much as possible in this endeavor.

The amicus attorney does not work for either party individually or as a case child. The amicus is an independent practitioner appointed by the judge to help decision-making.

Grandparent Visitation in Texas Family Law Cases

Let's jump around some and discuss grandparents' rights in Texas to visitation with their grandchildren. The idea of the "nuclear family," as portrayed in such famous television shows as "Leave it to Beaver," is fast becoming a structure of the past.

Today, blended and multi-generational households are becoming much more commonplace. With grandparents living with grandchildren more and more, it would make some sense that they would have a unique role to play in the upbringing of children. You may even be under the impression that as a result of that "special" relationship, grandparents are afforded special rights to visitation with their grandchildren no matter if the child's parents remain married.

The fact is that grandparents do not have special rights carved out for visitation in Texas. The law in Texas is such that if a parent denies a grandparent visitation, it is assumed that the parent is acting in the child's best interest.

However, grandparents can file their lawsuits to gain visitation or can even see to modify prior orders that were already in place. The law is such that grandparents will not have an easy time winning a case. Let's discuss some of the circumstances where a grandparent could successfully attempt to gain visitation with their grandchildren.

First and foremost, a grandparent must be a child's biological or adopted grandparent to proceed with a lawsuit. This means that if you are a step-grandparent, you are out of luck and cannot be awarded visitation due to a family lawsuit in Texas. Your child's parental rights to your grandchild must remain in place to proceed with a case as well.

A judge will need to determine that you're being denied visitation with your grandchild will impair your grandchild's physical health and emotional well-being. The last requirement that you must meet is that it is necessary to show the court that you are the grandparent of a child whose parent (your child) has been:

Incarcerated during the three months before your having filed the lawsuit
Found to be incompetent by a court
Is Deceased
Does not have court-ordered possession or access to your grandchild

With this number of requirements in mind, it is critical to make sure you have a strong case before proceeding to court. I would advise you to meet with an attorney to learn about your rights and circumstances before filing a suit.

Questions on ad litem attorneys, grandparent rights, or any other subject in family law? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC, today.

If you have additional questions on any subject matter we've discussed today, please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC. One of our licensed family law attorneys is available six days a week to meet with you to answer questions in a free-of-charge consultation.

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The Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC, routinely handles matters that affect children and families. If you have questions regarding divorce, it's essential to speak with one of our Houston , TX, Divorce Lawyers right away to protect your rights.

Our d ivorce lawyers in Houston, TX, are skilled at listening to your goals during this trying process and developing a strategy to meet those goals. Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC by calling (281) 810-9760 or submit your contact information in our online form. The Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC, handles Divorce cases in Houston, Texas, Cypress, Klein, Humble, Kingwood, Tomball, The Woodlands, Houston, the FM 1960 area, or surrounding areas, including Harris County, Montgomery County, Liberty County, Chambers County, Galveston County, Brazoria County, Fort Bend County, and Waller County.