The rest of what we have written about Kentucky. Every figure is quoted from Kentucky’s own statute or its courts’ own published schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.
Guardians ad litem and child representation in Kentucky: who they are, what they owe your child, and who pays
If custody is contested in Kentucky, the court can appoint someone to look into your family and report to the judge. This page is what Kentucky’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 Kentucky’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 — We looked for an official Kentucky fee schedule for privately appointed guardians ad litem and custody evaluators, and did not find one.
- Custody evaluations — Kentucky governs court-ordered custody evaluations and investigations separately from the appointment of a guardian ad litem.
- The thing worth knowing about Kentucky
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 — We looked for an official Kentucky fee schedule for privately appointed guardians ad litem and custody evaluators, and did not find one.
- Custody evaluations — Kentucky governs court-ordered custody evaluations and investigations separately from the appointment of a guardian ad litem.
- The thing worth knowing about Kentucky
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
A parent or custodian may move for, or the court may order, one or more of the following, which may be apportioned at the expense of the parents or custodians: … (e) Appointment of a guardian ad litem for a child(ren);
Source: FCRPP 6(2) and 6(2)(e), in the text that replaced the Family Court Rules in full by Supreme Court of Kentucky Order 2020-01, effective 1 February 2020. Read 31 October 2026 · FCRPP 6, in the Supreme Court’s own order (PDF)
What duty they owe your child
best interests
Whether appointed pursuant to this statute or pursuant to a provision of the Kentucky Unified Juvenile Code, the duties of a guardian ad litem shall be to advocate for the client’s best interest in the proceeding through which the guardian ad litem was appointed.
Source: KRS 387.305(5). Read 31 October 2026 · KRS 387.305, on the Legislative Research Commission’s own site (PDF)
Who can be appointed
The Kentucky Supreme Court in Morgan v. Getter (2014) confirms ‘the presumption remains… that the guardian ad litem shall be a practicing attorney, CR 4.04(3)’ and that KRS 387.305 requires ‘the guardian ad litem must be a regular, practicing attorney of the court.’
Who pays
which may be apportioned at the expense of the parents or custodians [FCRPP 6(2)]; The court shall allow to the guardian ad litem a reasonable fee for his services, to be paid by the plaintiff and taxed in the costs [KRS 387.305(4)]
Source: FCRPP 6(2), as replaced by Supreme Court of Kentucky Order 2020-01 effective 1 February 2020; KRS 387.305(4). Read 31 October 2026 · FCRPP 6 (PDF) · KRS 387.305 (PDF)
none found — the Kentucky Supreme Court in Morgan v. Getter expressly notes that when Kentucky adopted the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act in 1972, the General Assembly ‘omitted that Act’s section 310,’ which would have provided that if the responsible party is indigent, GAL costs, fees, and disbursements shall be borne by the state; no substitute indigency provision for private-custody GAL fees under KRS Chapter 403 or FCRPP 6 could be located and verified.
We looked for an official Kentucky 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
Kentucky 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: KRS 403.300; KRS 403.290, in the version printed as effective until 1 January 2027; and the FCRPP 6 Commentary, which states that “Nothing in this rule is intended to limit the scope of the court’s authority under KRE 706, KRS 403.290, or KRS 403.300.” Read 31 October 2026 · KRS 403.300 (PDF) · KRS 403.290 (PDF) · FCRPP 6 Commentary (PDF)
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 Kentucky
Kentucky’s General Assembly deliberately declined, when adopting the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act in 1972, to enact the Act’s Section 310 (the standard ‘attorney for the child with fee allocation and indigency provision’ clause most UMDA states have); as a result Kentucky’s guardian ad litem role in private custody cases rests not on a Family Code appointment statute but on a 2011 court rule, FCRPP 6, borrowing its ‘must be an attorney’ and duty standard from the older civil-procedure guardian-ad-litem-for-infants statute, KRS 387.305 — a lineage the Kentucky Supreme Court traced at length in Morgan v. Getter, 441 S.W.3d 94 (Ky. 2014).
Other states
Related
- Guardians ad litem, child’s attorneys and custody evaluators — the four roles, the science, and what to ask
- Kentucky child custody — how custody is decided here
- Getting your finances in order — including who pays the lawyers
- Co-parenting — after the order is made