The rest of what we have written about Florida. Every figure is quoted from Florida’s own statute or its courts’ own published schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.
Guardians ad litem and child representation in Florida: who they are, what they owe your child, and who pays
If custody is contested in Florida, the court can appoint someone to look into your family and report to the judge. This page is what Florida’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 Florida’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 — Under § 61.402(1), a guardian ad litem may be certified by the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office, certified by a not-for-profit legal aid organization, OR be an attorney in good standing with The Florida Bar — so the GAL need not be a lawyer.
- Who pays — For the court-ordered social investigation/evaluation under § 61.20, a parent who files a certification of indigence under § 57.081 incurs no costs for that investigation ('except as to persons who obtain certification of indigence… for whom no costs are incurred').
- Custody evaluations — Florida governs court-ordered custody evaluations and investigations separately from the appointment of a guardian ad litem.
- The thing worth knowing about Florida
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 — Under § 61.402(1), a guardian ad litem may be certified by the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office, certified by a not-for-profit legal aid organization, OR be an attorney in good standing with The Florida Bar — so the GAL need not be a lawyer.
- Who pays — For the court-ordered social investigation/evaluation under § 61.20, a parent who files a certification of indigence under § 57.081 incurs no costs for that investigation ('except as to persons who obtain certification of indigence… for whom no costs are incurred').
- Custody evaluations — Florida governs court-ordered custody evaluations and investigations separately from the appointment of a guardian ad litem.
- The thing worth knowing about Florida
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
In an action for dissolution of marriage or for the creation, approval, or modification of a parenting plan, if the court finds it is in the best interest of the child, the court may appoint a guardian ad litem to act as next friend of the child, investigator or evaluator, not as attorney or advocate. The court in its discretion may also appoint legal counsel for a child to act as attorney or advocate; however, the guardian and the legal counsel shall not be the same person. In such actions which involve an allegation of child abuse, abandonment, or neglect as defined in s. 39.01, which allegation is verified and determined by the court to be well-founded, the court shall appoint a guardian ad litem for the child. The guardian ad litem shall be a party to any judicial proceeding from the date of the appointment until the date of discharge.
Source: Fla. Stat. § 61.401 · source
What duty they owe your child
best interests
A guardian ad litem when appointed shall act as next friend of the child, investigator or evaluator, not as attorney or advocate but shall act in the child’s best interest.
Source: Fla. Stat. § 61.401 · source
Who can be appointed
Under § 61.402(1), a guardian ad litem may be certified by the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office, certified by a not-for-profit legal aid organization, OR be an attorney in good standing with The Florida Bar — so the GAL need not be a lawyer. The separate ‘legal counsel’ role that § 61.401 authorizes to ‘act as attorney or advocate’ is, by definition, an attorney appointment.
Only a guardian ad litem who qualifies under paragraph (1)(a) or paragraph (1)(c) may be appointed to a case in which the court has determined that there are well-founded allegations of child abuse, abandonment, or neglect as defined in s. 39.01.
That narrows the pool in exactly the cases where the appointment is not optional. Where the court has determined there are well-founded allegations of abuse, abandonment or neglect, only a guardian ad litem certified by the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office or a member in good standing of The Florida Bar may be appointed; the not-for-profit legal aid certification route in § 61.402(1)(b) is not available in those cases.
Source: Fla. Stat. § 61.402 · source
Who pays
the parents involved in a proceeding to determine a parenting plan where the court has ordered the performance of a social investigation and study are responsible for paying the costs of the investigation and study… the agency, staff, or person performing the study shall include a bill for services, which shall be taxed and ordered paid as costs in the proceeding.
Source: Fla. Stat. § 61.20(2)-(3) · source
For the court-ordered social investigation/evaluation under § 61.20, a parent who files a certification of indigence under § 57.081 incurs no costs for that investigation (‘except as to persons who obtain certification of indigence… for whom no costs are incurred’). No separate indigency provision specific to guardian ad litem or child’s-counsel fees under § 61.401-61.404 was located in the sections reviewed.
We looked for an official Florida 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.
Custody evaluations
Florida 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: Fla. Stat. § 61.20 · source
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 Florida
Florida statute expressly bars the same person from serving as both the child’s guardian ad litem and the child’s legal counsel/advocate in the same case (§ 61.401), and appointment of a guardian ad litem becomes mandatory — not discretionary — whenever a verified, court-determined well-founded allegation of child abuse, abandonment, or neglect (as defined in § 39.01) arises in the dissolution/parenting-plan action.
Other states
Related
- Guardians ad litem, child’s attorneys and custody evaluators — the four roles, the science, and what to ask
- Florida child custody — how custody is decided here
- Getting your finances in order — including who pays the lawyers
- Co-parenting — after the order is made