Rule 3.916.Guardian Ad Litem

MCR 3.916 is short, but it does four distinct things: it sets the standard for appointing a guardian ad litem, it fixes the form of the appearance, it defines what the appearance buys, and it addresses who pays. A guardian ad litem under this rule is a different appointment from the lawyer-guardian ad litem the court appoints for a child in a child protective proceeding, which MCR 3.915(B)(2) governs.

The appointment standard

Subrule (A) is permissive and open-ended. The court may appoint a guardian ad litem for a party if the court finds that the welfare of the party requires it. Two features of that sentence carry weight. The appointment runs to a party, not only to a child, so an adult party whose welfare calls for it falls within the rule. And the appointment is never automatic — the rule conditions it on a finding by the court.

A written appearance that discloses interests

Subrule (B) requires the appearance to be in writing and in a manner and form designated by the court, which leaves local practice room to set the format. The substance is not left open. The appearance shall contain a statement regarding the existence of any interest that the guardian ad litem holds in relation to the minor, the minor's family, or any other person in the proceeding before the court or in other matters.

That disclosure requirement is broader than it first looks. It reaches three categories of relationship:

• an interest in relation to the minor;
• an interest in relation to the minor's family; and
• an interest in relation to any other person in the proceeding.

It also reaches beyond the case at hand, since the statement covers interests arising in the proceeding before the court or in other matters. The point of putting the disclosure in the appearance itself is that it lands on the record at the moment the guardian ad litem enters, before anyone has to ask.

What the appearance provides

Subrule (C) ties access to the appearance rather than to the appointment order. Filing it entitles the guardian ad litem to be furnished copies of all petitions, motions, and orders filed or entered, and to consult with the attorney of the party for whom the guardian ad litem has been appointed. Those two entitlements match the role. Copies of the filings supply the paper record; consultation with the party's attorney supplies everything the paper does not show.

Cost

Subrule (D) applies only in a child protective proceeding. There, the court may assess the cost of providing a guardian ad litem against the party or a person responsible for the support of the party, after a determination of ability to pay, and may enforce the order of reimbursement as provided by law. The ability to pay finding comes before the assessment, not after.