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My husband and I are going through the step parent adoption process currently and we received the paper work the other day that the Guardian ad Litem has been assigned, I read the paper work and within it it states " "upon presentation of an attested copy of this order to any agency, hospital, organization, school, person or office, including the clerk of this court, pediatrician, psychologists, psychiatrists, or police department, the aforementioned shall permit the Guardian ad Litem to inspect and copy any records relating to the minor child and his/her parents. The Guardian ad Litem shall maintain any information received from any such source as confidential, and it shall not be disclosed except in reports to the court, to the parties to this case and their counsel, or as directed by the court". What exactly does all this mean? When I spoke with our attorney about the Home Study he just stated they would come out to check the house, he never said anything about medical records, ect. I already know we have to have a criminal background check done because we have paper work to take down to get our finger prints done. Has anyone been through this process before and have any advice or know what I should expect? Do they just obtain all our medical records on their own or do they just ask us questions and then we sign a release for the records? Just curious because I've been seeing a therapist for the past year because I have anxiety and its controlled by medication but I don want that to affect the adoption process. I'm certainly not going to lie about it if asked but I'm just wondering how that all works. Please help. I've posted on other sites and have just got rude responses.
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A guardian ad litem is, essentially, an advocate for the child. You have an attorney to protect your interests in court; your child has a guardian ad litem to protect his/her interests in court.In an uncontested stepparent adoption, the GAL designation is probably just a formality. As long as a competent social worker does your homestudy and you are approved to adopt, there's really no need for him/her to get involved.The GAL isn't really part of the homestudy. A homestudy is designed primarily to determine whether a certain adult can provide a safe and welcoming environment for a child and to educate the person and his/her spouse about the special challenges of being in a stepparent relationship.The GAL is most likely to play a significant role in finalization proceedings if the divorced biological parent opposes the stepparent adoption and makes accusations that he/she has created an undesirable situation for the child, despite what the homestudy report indicates. Just as your attorney will advocate for you, to say that you should be allowed to adopt your stepson, the GAL will advocate for your child, advising the judge of what he/she believes is in the child's best interests. If the divorced biological parent alleges that, despite what the homestudy report says, the new spouse is a violent person, a drug user, or a person whose controlling personality is damaging the child's psyche, the GAL may want to make a report indicating what he/she found after interviewing the child and looking at, for example, emergency room records to see if the child really did break his/her arm falling off a bicycle or whether the type of fracture suggested possible abuse, and so on.In most cases, the GAL winds up with the same conclusions as the homestudy report, if the social worker was reasonably thorough, and if it is pretty clear that the bio parent's assertions were the product of unresolved anger about the divorce. When the GAL observes a very relaxed child enjoying his/her new Mom or Dad, and hears the child say, spontaneously, some positive things about the stepparent, it's going to be hard for him/her to support a vindictive ex-spouse's claims.If possible, get to know your child's GAL before any hearings take place. You may find that he/she is very knowledgeable and very supportive of granting the stepparent adoption.Sharon
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