Guardians ad litem and child representation in Idaho: who they are, what they owe your child, and who pays

If custody is contested in Idaho, the court can appoint someone to look into your family and report to the judge. This page is what Idaho’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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How this page is sourced

Everything below is traced to Idaho’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.

Duty owed
Hybrid
The duty depends on which role is appointed, or the statute blends the two.
Who can serve
Must be an attorney
Who pays
The parties, by court order
Allocated between you at the court’s discretion.
Official rate
No published rate
No official fee schedule exists that we could find.

What the role is called here

guardian ad litemattorney for the childchild advocate

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

Idaho Code § 32-704; Idaho R. Fam. L. P. 118
The court may appoint an attorney or guardian ad litem to represent the interests of a minor or dependent child with respect to his or her support, custody, and visitation.

Source: Idaho Code § 32-704; Idaho R. Fam. L. P. 118 · source

What duty they owe your child

hybrid/dual role — Idaho recognizes two distinct roles with different duty standards under the same rule

In the statute’s own words
The attorney for the child must represent the child’s interests based on the child’s wishes… The guardian ad litem must represent the best interest of the child as specified in Idaho Code § 32-717.

Source: Idaho Code § 32-704; Idaho R. Fam. L. P. 118 · source

Who can be appointed

Rule 118(b) provides that the court may appoint ‘an attorney who is qualified through training or experience’ as the child advocate (whether serving as attorney for the child or guardian ad litem); Idaho’s child-advocate role under Rule 118 is attorney-only.

Who pays

Idaho Code § 32-704; Idaho R. Fam. L. P. 118(c)(3)
The court shall enter an order for costs, fees, and disbursements in favor of the child’s attorney or guardian ad litem. The order shall be made against either or both parents.

Source: Idaho Code § 32-704; Idaho R. Fam. L. P. 118(c)(3) · source

If you cannot pay

Idaho Code § 32-704: if both parties are indigent, the costs, fees, and disbursements shall be borne by the county in which the action is pending.

There is no published price

We looked for an official Idaho 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.

Custody evaluations

Idaho 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: Idaho R. Fam. L. P. 118(d)(2); Idaho Code § 32-717 · 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 Idaho

Idaho’s Rule 118 (‘Child Advocate’) expressly splits the role into two attorney-staffed positions with opposite duty standards operating under the same rule: an ‘attorney for the child’ who must follow the child’s wishes, and a ‘guardian ad litem’ who must follow the child’s best interest — the court chooses which one to appoint, and both must be attorneys.

Other states

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Related

Sources last checked29 August 2026
Page published29 August 2026
What this means. This is when the sources on this page were last read against their originals — statutes, court rules, official schedules — taken from the date this page was built from its sources. It is not the date the page was last edited. Adding a link or fixing a typo does not move it; re-reading the statute does. Law changes without notice, so treat anything time-sensitive as needing a fresh check. Where we get something wrong we publish it at thecusp.app/corrections with the date, what changed, and how long the error was live.