The rest of what we have written about Connecticut. Every figure is quoted from Connecticut’s own statute or its courts’ own published schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.
Guardians ad litem and child representation in Connecticut: who they are, what they owe your child, and who pays
If custody is contested in Connecticut, the court can appoint someone to look into your family and report to the judge. This page is what Connecticut’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.
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Everything below is traced to Connecticut’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 — Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-54(f) directs counsel or a guardian ad litem to consider the best interests of the child; your child’s informed preferences are one of seventeen factors, and no weight has to be given to any of them.
- Who can be appointed — Practice Book § 25-62(a) states plainly, “The guardian ad litem is not required to be an attorney” — a GAL may instead be a qualifying mental health professional or, unless the court orders otherwise, a family relations counselor by default.
- Who pays — The parties, split by the court. No statewide dollar rate is published, but Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-12(c) requires the retainer, the hourly rate and the split between you to be ordered in writing within twenty-one days of the appointment.
- The thing worth knowing about Connecticut
- What we could not verify
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 — Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-54(f) directs counsel or a guardian ad litem to consider the best interests of the child; your child’s informed preferences are one of seventeen factors, and no weight has to be given to any of them.
- Who can be appointed — Practice Book § 25-62(a) states plainly, “The guardian ad litem is not required to be an attorney” — a GAL may instead be a qualifying mental health professional or, unless the court orders otherwise, a family relations counselor by default.
- Who pays — The parties, split by the court. No statewide dollar rate is published, but Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-12(c) requires the retainer, the hourly rate and the split between you to be ordered in writing within twenty-one days of the appointment.
- The thing worth knowing about Connecticut
- What we could not verify
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 judicial authority may appoint a guardian ad litem for a minor involved in any family matter. Unless the judicial authority orders that another person be appointed guardian ad litem, a family relations counselor shall be designated as guardian ad litem. The guardian ad litem is not required to be an attorney. … The judicial authority may appoint an attorney for the minor child in any family matter.
Source: Conn. Practice Book §§ 25-62(a), 25-62A(a) · source
Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, prior to appointing counsel or a guardian ad litem for any minor child in a family relations matter, the court shall provide the parties to the matter with written notification of fifteen persons who the court has determined eligible to serve… Not later than two weeks after the date on which the court provides such written notification, the parties shall provide written notification to the court of the name of the person who the parties have selected… In the event that the parties (A) fail to timely provide the court with the name of the person to serve… or (B) cannot agree on the name of the person to serve… the court shall appoint counsel or a guardian ad litem for the minor child by selecting one person from the fifteen names provided to the parties.
Source: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-12(a); the exceptions are § 46b-12(b) (the parties file a written agreement naming their choice, or an emergency requires an immediate appointment), and § 46b-54(c) adds that absent agreement the court appoints only once reasonable efforts to resolve the dispute have been made · chapter 815, chapter 815j
An evaluator is not an appointee under the rules above. Conn. Practice Book § 25-60A, headed Court-Ordered Private Evaluations, provides that where the court orders a private evaluation of a party or a child “in a family proceeding where custody, visitation or parental access is at issue,” a qualified, licensed health care provider shall conduct it, and that the order must name the provider, the estimated cost, each party’s responsibility for the cost, the provider’s credentials, the deadline, and the provider’s estimated fee for testifying. The statutory basis is Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-6 (“Investigations”), which lets the court order an investigation including “evaluation of his mental or physical condition”; § 46b-6a, which requires the court to find first that the parties can pay for an evaluation and to file the report within thirty days, sealed; and § 46b-7, under which the case “shall not be disposed of until the report… has been filed” and counsel and the parties have had a reasonable opportunity to examine it.
Source: Conn. Practice Book §§ 25-60A, 25-61 · Practice Book; Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 46b-6, 46b-6a, 46b-7 · chapter 815
What duty they owe your child
When recommending the entry of any order as provided in subsections (a) and (b) of section 46b-56, counsel or a guardian ad litem for the minor child shall consider the best interests of the child, and in doing so shall consider, but not be limited to, one or more of the following factors: (1) The physical and emotional safety of the child; (2) the temperament and developmental needs of the child; (3) the capacity and the disposition of the parents to understand and meet the needs of the child; (4) any relevant and material information obtained from the child, including the informed preferences of the child… Counsel or a guardian ad litem for the minor child shall not be required to assign any weight to any of the factors considered.
Source: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-54, captioned “Appointment of counsel or guardian ad litem for a minor child. Duties. Best interests of the child.” — seventeen factors in all · source
So the standard is best interests, and your child’s own view is one factor inside it rather than the thing the appointee is bound to carry. Read § 46b-54(f) closely: the child’s “informed preferences” are the fourth of seventeen factors, and the subsection ends by saying the appointee need not assign any weight to any of them. Two things about Connecticut are worth holding onto. First, that subsection is addressed to “counsel or a guardian ad litem” together, so the duty to consider best interests is not the guardian’s alone. Second, the Judicial Branch’s own published guide draws the line this way: “The GAL represents the child’s best interests while the AMC represents the child’s legal interests and supports the child’s best interests,” and of the attorney for the minor child, “the AMC represents the child’s wishes and advocates on the child’s behalf.” Asking your appointee which standard they are applying is still a fair question; it is no longer an unanswerable one.
Source: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-54(e), (f); Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-12b requires the Judicial Branch to “develop and implement a professional code of conduct applicable to any counsel or guardian ad litem for a minor child appointed in a family relations matter” · chapter 815j, chapter 815; the quoted guide is the Judicial Branch’s JDP-FM-224 (Rev. 11/21), the publication § 46b-12a requires it to issue
Who can be appointed
Practice Book § 25-62(a) states plainly, “The guardian ad litem is not required to be an attorney” — a GAL may instead be a qualifying mental health professional or, unless the court orders otherwise, a family relations counselor by default. Under § 25-62(b) anyone other than a family relations counselor must be either an attorney in good standing in Connecticut or a licensed mental health professional, must show no criminal record and no entry on the Department of Children and Families’ central registry of child abuse and neglect, and must complete at least twenty hours of preservice training. By contrast, § 25-62A(b)(1) requires that a person appointed as attorney for the minor child “[i]s an attorney in good standing, licensed to practice law in the state of Connecticut.”
Source: Conn. Practice Book §§ 25-62(a), (b), 25-62A(b) — § 25-62 as amended 12 June 2025, effective 1 January 2026 · source
Who pays
The judicial authority may order compensation for services rendered by a court-appointed guardian ad litem. … The judicial authority may order compensation for services rendered by a court-appointed attorney for the minor child.
Source: Conn. Practice Book §§ 25-62(d), 25-62A(d) · source
The Practice Book says only that compensation may be ordered. The statute says a great deal more. Under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-12(c), within twenty-one days of the order appointing counsel or a guardian ad litem the court must enter a further order setting out the specific nature of the work, the date the appointment ends, the deadline to report back, and “the fee schedule of such counsel or guardian ad litem that shall minimally set forth (A) the amount of the retainer, (B) the hourly rate to be charged, (C) the apportionment of the retainer and hourly fees between the parties, and (D) if applicable, all provisions related to the calculation of fees on a sliding-scale basis.” The same subsection requires a schedule of periodic court review of both the work and the fees, “not less than every three months,” which only a written agreement of the parties and the appointee can waive. And within thirty days of final judgment the appointee must file an affidavit giving the hourly fee charged, the total hours billed, expenses and the total charged — and “shall not charge the parties for the preparation of such affidavit.”
Source: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-12(c) · source
There is a state-paid route, and the Judicial Branch states the test. Its own guide reads: “In some cases, the parties may qualify for the appointment of a GAL that is paid for by the state. The parties must submit their financial affidavits to the court for review. If the parties meet the eligibility requirements of the Division of Public Defender Services, the court will appoint a GAL who is paid for by the state.” The guide says the same of an attorney for the minor child. On the supply side, Practice Book § 25-61A(d) lets the Office of Chief Public Defender maintain its own application process for people willing to serve “at state rates,” and Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-12a requires the Judicial Branch’s publication to carry “detailed information describing the process by which a party who is indigent may apply to the court for the appointment of counsel or guardian ad litem.” If an appointee is not doing their job, § 46b-12c gives any party standing to move for their removal.
Source: Judicial Branch JDP-FM-224 (Rev. 11/21); Conn. Practice Book § 25-61A(d) · Practice Book; Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 46b-12a, 46b-12c · chapter 815
We looked again for an official Connecticut dollar rate for privately appointed guardians ad litem and custody evaluators, and there is none. 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. Connecticut regulates the disclosure of the price rather than the price: the rate is whatever the appointment order under § 46b-12(c) sets, which is why that order is the document to read.
The numbers circulating online come from law-firm marketing pages. We will not repeat those as though they were sourced. Ask for the § 46b-12(c) order in your own case — the retainer, the hourly rate and the split between you are required to be in it, in writing, within twenty-one days of the appointment. That is better than an average, because it is the number you will actually be billed.
The thing worth knowing about Connecticut
Connecticut runs a formal Standing Committee on Guardians Ad Litem and Attorneys for the Minor Child in Family Matters (Practice Book § 25-61A), a 9-member body (including the chief public defender, a mental health professional, two Superior Court judges, and a legal-services representative) that vets and maintains the statewide eligibility roster and training curriculum (minimum 20 hours preservice, 12 hours every 3 years) for anyone appointed to either role.
What we could not verify
For Connecticut we could not confirm the following from a primary source, and we would rather say so than guess:
- the dollar amount of the “state rates” the Office of Chief Public Defender pays a contracted guardian ad litem or attorney for the minor child — Practice Book § 25-61A(d) authorizes the arrangement but prints no figure, and the standing committee’s own pages on the Judicial Branch site returned HTTP 403 to us
- the financial-eligibility thresholds the Division of Public Defender Services applies when deciding whether the state pays for your child’s guardian ad litem — the Judicial Branch guide names the test but does not state it
- the text of the professional code of conduct that Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-12b required the Judicial Branch to adopt by 1 October 2014 — the statute mandating it is clear, the document itself we could not retrieve
If you practice in Connecticut and can point us at the right provision, tell us. Corrections are published with the date, what changed, and how long the error was live.
Other states
Related
- Guardians ad litem, child’s attorneys and custody evaluators — the four roles, the science, and what to ask
- Connecticut child custody — how custody is decided here
- Getting your finances in order — including who pays the lawyers
- Co-parenting — after the order is made