Rule 17.03.Infants and persons of unsound mind.

Rule 17.03 protects unmarried infants and persons of unsound mind by making sure someone competent represents them in court. To bring a lawsuit for one of them, the case goes through the party's guardian or committee; if there's no guardian or committee, or the guardian or committee won't or can't act, a next friend may bring the action instead. Defending a lawsuit works the same way, through the guardian or committee, except when there's no guardian or committee, the guardian or committee can't or won't act, or that person is himself the plaintiff. In any of those situations, the court, or the clerk if no judge is present in the county, appoints a guardian ad litem to defend, unless one was already appointed under Rule 4.04(3) or a warning order attorney has become the guardian ad litem under Rule 4.07(3).

No judgment can be entered against an unmarried infant or person of unsound mind until that person's guardian, committee, or guardian ad litem has either put on a defense or filed a report stating that, after careful examination, no defense can be made. Papers that Rule 5.01 requires to be served on a party are instead served on whoever is bringing or defending the action under Rule 17.03.

The rule also addresses fees. The court allows the guardian ad litem a reasonable fee for services, taxed as costs. In dependency, abuse, or neglect cases, and in parental rights termination cases under the Juvenile Code, fees for counsel representing children or indigent parents or non-parental custodians can't exceed the amounts set in KRS 620.100 or KRS 625.080, and that statutory cap applies regardless of how many people the counsel represents in the proceeding.