In an article for Washington Times Communities, Lovefraud reader Anne Stevenson writes that Connecticut parents allege they are being forced to hire court appointed vendors such as psychologists and guardians.
In 2013, a group of parents complained to the Legislature that these vendors were bankrupting them through their questionable billing practices. One guardian ad litem allegedly charged $40,000, but billing records indicated she spent very little time with the child she represented.
A task force established to assess Connecticut’s family courts disagreed with the parents and determined that an audit of the court’s books and contracts would be unnecessary.
Anne invites Lovefraud readers to comment on the article on the Washington Times website. More comments will mean more exposure for the article and the problem.
CT task force spars with parents over billing fraud in family court, from The Washington Times Communities.
onmyown
On the advise of my attorney, I hired a guardian ad litem for my children during a custody dispute with my ex-husband, who is a very narcissistic alcoholic. It cost $2000.00 up front for a retainer @ 200.00 an hour for his services, and I was supposed to be reimbursed if he didn’t use all the time. Never happened. My attorney told me that the GAL would come to my home to talk to me and my kids, and also visit my ex’s home. Never happened. My kids each got 1/2 hour with the GAL in his office, 3 days before our court hearing. I talked to him for maybe 10 minutes. There was a report submitted and I never once even saw a copy of it. The end result was that my children were split up – my son to the ex, daughter to me. My daughter is doing great now, but no thanks go to the courts. She was very depressed and suffered anxiety during the entire process. She rarely sees her father these days. He was never interested in her anyway, he just didn’t want to pay child support anymore. My son, on the other hand, is doing very poorly. His father makes him feel guilty for visiting me. He also has psychological issues that aren’t being addressed and I have no authority to get help for him.
The GAL split my family up, and it has had devastating effects. And the cherry on the top is that I got ripped off.
Donna Andersen
onmyown – that is an absolute travesty. I have heard many horror stories about GALs. More people need to be aware of these issues.
jmmira
This is absolutely not surprising! During your time of complete emotional distress which was likely years in the making, your own lawyer may see nothing but dollar signs! Court appointed psychologists and guardian ad litems are lucky enough to have the court appoint their fees but then look to maximize their income by loading up on these cases. Second, all legal representatives make up their mind about a case or person before they have all the facts. And a process that presumably is all about the children usually does little more than bankrupt the parents or primary financial caretaker, wiping out the child’s education funds!