Guardians ad litem and child representation in Delaware: who they are, what they owe your child, and who pays
If custody is contested in Delaware, the court can appoint someone to look into your family and report to the judge. This page is what Delaware’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 stateDelaware
Everything below is traced to Delaware’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.
What the role is called here
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, in the interest of the child, appoint an attorney to represent the child in the proceedings. A fee for an attorney so appointed shall be allowed as part of the costs of the proceeding.
Source: 13 Del. C. § 721(c) · source
What duty they owe your child
Delaware authorizes the appointment but we could not find statutory language stating whether the appointee follows your child’s wishes or their own view of your child’s best interests. That distinction decides what they will tell the judge. Where the statute is silent it is usually settled by case law or local practice — so ask the appointee directly, at the first meeting, which standard they are applying. It is a fair question and a revealing one.
Who can be appointed
Section 721(c) authorizes the court to ‘appoint an attorney to represent the child’ — the role as codified is explicitly an attorney appointment; no lay guardian ad litem role was found in this subchapter.
Who pays
A fee for an attorney so appointed shall be allowed as part of the costs of the proceeding.
Source: 13 Del. C. § 721(c) · source
We searched and found no provision in Delaware waiving or shifting these fees for a party who cannot pay them. That does not prove none exists — courts have general fee-waiver powers — but there is no dedicated protection we could point you to. Raise it early if it applies to you.
We looked for an official Delaware fee schedule for privately appointed guardians ad litem and custody evaluators, and did not find one. That is true of almost every state — only Minnesota and Massachusetts publish figures, and both are subsidised 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.
The thing worth knowing about Delaware
Delaware’s own former custody-investigation statute, 13 Del. C. § 725 (‘Investigations and reports’), was repealed outright in 2004 (74 Del. Laws, c. 200, § 1) and left blank in the code, so the custody chapter currently contains no statutory provision specifically authorizing court-ordered custody evaluations/investigations.
What we could not verify
For Delaware we could not confirm the following from a primary source, and we would rather say so than guess:
- what duty the appointee owes
- the custody evaluation provision
If you practice in Delaware 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
- Delaware child custody — how custody is decided here
- Getting your finances in order — including who pays the lawyers
- Co-parenting — after the order is made