The rest of what we have written about Alaska. Every figure is quoted from Alaska’s own statute or its courts’ own published schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.
Guardians ad litem and child representation in Alaska: who they are, what they owe your child, and who pays
If custody is contested in Alaska, the court can appoint someone to look into your family and report to the judge. This page is what Alaska’s own statutes and court rules say about who that person is, what duty they owe, and — the part almost nobody asks in time — who pays for them.
See a different stateAlaska
Everything below is traced to Alaska’s own statute or court rule, quoted where the wording matters. Where we could not verify something from a primary source, the page says so in plain terms rather than filling the space. This is information, not legal advice. Corrections go up at thecusp.app/corrections.
The short version7 points · tap one to jump to it
- What the role is called here — A guardian ad litem generally argues for what they judge is best for your child and is not your child’s lawyer.
- How an appointment happens
- What duty they owe your child
- Who can be appointed
- Who pays — If a parent responsible for the attorney/GAL costs is indigent, AS 25.24.310(b) shifts that share of the costs to the state.
- Custody evaluations — Alaska governs court-ordered custody evaluations and investigations separately from the appointment of a guardian ad litem.
- The thing worth knowing about Alaska
In this subject 9
What the role is called here
The short version7 points · tap one to jump to it
- What the role is called here — A guardian ad litem generally argues for what they judge is best for your child and is not your child’s lawyer.
- How an appointment happens
- What duty they owe your child
- Who can be appointed
- Who pays — If a parent responsible for the attorney/GAL costs is indigent, AS 25.24.310(b) shifts that share of the costs to the state.
- Custody evaluations — Alaska governs court-ordered custody evaluations and investigations separately from the appointment of a guardian ad litem.
- The thing worth knowing about Alaska
In this subject 9
Names matter more than they look. A guardian ad litem generally argues for what they judge is best for your child and is not your child’s lawyer. An attorney for the child argues for what your child actually wants. Those are opposite duties. The four roles, explained in full.
How an appointment happens
the court may, upon the motion of a party to the action or upon its own motion, appoint an attorney or the office of public advocacy… [and] shall require a guardian ad litem when, in the opinion of the court, representation of the child’s best interests, to be distinguished from preferences, would serve the welfare of the child
Source: AS 25.24.310(a) and (c) · Alaska State Legislature, AS 25.24.310
Read on its own, AS 25.24.310 sounds as though either parent can ask and the court can act on its own. Alaska Civil Rule 90.7(a) narrows it: in a custody, support or visitation action the court may appoint a guardian ad litem ‘only when the court finds separate representation of the child’s best interests is necessary, such as when the guardian ad litem may be expected to present evidence not otherwise likely to be available or presented, or the proceeding is unusually complex’. Rule 90.7(c) requires the appointment order to include findings saying why it is necessary — and requires findings explaining a denial too, which is the part worth knowing if you asked and were refused.
Courts should not routinely appoint guardians ad litem in custody, support, and visitation proceedings. In most instances, the child’s best interests are adequately protected and presented by the parties. In most contested proceedings in which professional input is warranted, a child custody investigator should be appointed instead of a guardian ad litem.
So if you are asking for someone to be appointed, the appointee Alaska’s own rule points to first is a custody investigator, not a guardian ad litem.
Source: Alaska R. Civ. P. 90.7(a) and (c) and commentary · Alaska Court System, Rules of Civil Procedure (document dated 29 April 2026)
What duty they owe your child
best interests
the court shall require a guardian ad litem when, in the opinion of the court, representation of the child’s best interests, to be distinguished from preferences, would serve the welfare of the child
Source: AS 25.24.310(a) and (c) · Alaska State Legislature, AS 25.24.310
Who can be appointed
A guardian ad litem in Alaska does not have to be a lawyer, and the statute says so rather than leaving it open. AS 25.24.310(c) lets the court appoint ‘an attorney or other person or the office of public advocacy to provide guardian ad litem services’. Civil Rule 90.7(e) then assumes exactly that, giving the court power to ‘appoint an attorney to advise or represent a non-attorney guardian ad litem if the court finds that legal advice or legal representation of the guardian ad litem is necessary’.
Civil Rule 90.7(b)(1) sets the qualification as ‘knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education’ sufficient to investigate impartially and advocate the child’s best interests, and lists what the appointee should understand — child development, the impact of separation on a child, domestic violence and substance abuse, and Alaska custody law among them. Under 90.7(b)(2) you can ask a guardian ad litem or a proposed one for a written summary of their education and experience, and they must provide it.
The separate role under AS 25.24.310(a) — an attorney, or the Office of Public Advocacy, appointed to represent the minor — is a lawyer’s job. Which of the two you get changes who the appointee answers to, so it is worth reading the appointment order rather than the title.
Source: AS 25.24.310(a) and (c) · Alaska State Legislature, AS 25.24.310; Alaska R. Civ. P. 90.7(b), (e) · Alaska Court System, Rules of Civil Procedure (document dated 29 April 2026)
Who pays
order for costs, fees, and disbursements shall be made against either or both parents, except that, if one of the parties responsible for the costs is indigent, the costs…shall be borne by the state
Source: AS 25.24.310(b) · Alaska State Legislature, AS 25.24.310
If a parent responsible for the attorney/GAL costs is indigent, AS 25.24.310(b) shifts that share of the costs to the state. If the parents are only temporarily without funds, the same subsection routes the work to the Office of Public Advocacy instead — which is not the same thing as the cost going away: the order for costs runs in favour of the state, and the attorney general is responsible for enforcing collection. AS 25.24.310(b) also tells the court to avoid loading the whole cost onto one party, by ordering it paid out of the proceeds of jointly or individually owned property before the property is divided.
Alaska Civil Rule 90.7(m): ‘Fees and costs for a private guardian ad litem will be divided equally between the parties unless the court finds good cause to change this allocation.’ Equal division is the default and moving off it takes a finding. Rule 90.6(i) says the same for a custody investigator.
Source: Alaska R. Civ. P. 90.7(m), 90.6(i) · Alaska Court System, Rules of Civil Procedure (document dated 29 April 2026)
We looked for an official Alaska fee schedule for privately appointed guardians ad litem and custody evaluators, and did not find one. That is true of most states — only a handful publish figures at all, among them Arkansas, Massachusetts and Minnesota, and those are subsidized program rates rather than market ones.
The numbers circulating online come from law-firm marketing pages. We will not repeat those as though they were sourced. Call your county family court clerk and ask what appointees there actually charge. It is local, current, and free.
One thing Alaska does publish is where the number has to appear. Civil Rule 90.7(m) sets the standard as ‘a rate that the court determines is reasonable’ and requires the appointment order — or an order authorising expert witnesses — to specify the hourly rate, the maximum fee that may be incurred without going back to the court, how the fee is allocated between the parties, and when payment is due. Bills must be submitted monthly and must state the total billed to date. So there is no statewide schedule to look up, but the rate in your case is a figure your own appointment order is required to contain, and extraordinary expenses such as expert witness fees need court approval before they are incurred.
Source: Alaska R. Civ. P. 90.7(m) · Alaska Court System, Rules of Civil Procedure (document dated 29 April 2026)
Custody evaluations
Alaska governs court-ordered custody evaluations and investigations separately from the appointment of a guardian ad litem. An evaluator is a witness, not an advocate — and their recommendation is a recommendation, not a ruling a judge is bound by.
Source: Alaska R. Civ. P. 90.6, ‘Appointment of Child Custody Investigator’ · Alaska Court System, Rules of Civil Procedure (document dated 29 April 2026; rule adopted by SCO 1377 eff. 15 April 2000, amended by SCO 1591 eff. 15 January 2006 and SCO 1955 nunc pro tunc 1 January 2020)
Before an evaluation begins, it is worth asking which psychological instruments will be used. The peer-reviewed literature is openly critical of several still in circulation — one has interrater reliability reported as ranging from 50% to 100%. The evidence, in full.
The thing worth knowing about Alaska
Custody-investigation compensation under Civil Rule 90.6(i) is divided equally between the parties unless the court finds good cause to allocate it differently, and Rule 90.6(e) enumerates nine specific components (parent interviews, parent-child observation, record checks, etc.) that a full investigation should ordinarily cover.
Other states
Related
- Guardians ad litem, child’s attorneys and custody evaluators — the four roles, the science, and what to ask
- Alaska child custody — how custody is decided here
- Getting your finances in order — including who pays the lawyers
- Co-parenting — after the order is made