Section 12.20 Failure to Appoint Guardian ad Litem

• Library: Family Law Deskbook and 2014 Supp

4. (§12.20) Failure to Appoint Guardian ad Litem

To challenge a court’s failure to appoint a GAL, the party must prove that this failure caused harm to the child. A parent may not protest the nonappointment of a GAL under § 452.423.1, RSMo Supp. 2011, on the basis that the parent’s interests were harmed when there is no harm to the child. Holmes v. Holmes, 878 S.W.2d 906 (Mo. App. E.D. 1994) (citing Van Pelt v. Van Pelt, 824 S.W.2d 135, 139 (Mo. App. W.D. 1992)). In Van Pelt, the mother—the alleged abuser—did not request the appointment of the GAL until she appealed the trial court’s decision awarding custody of the minor children to the father. The appellate court held that, as long as the result reached is supported by evidence as being in the best interests of the child, the alleged abuser cannot complain; therefore, the trial court’s decision was affirmed. Van Pelt, 824 S.W.2d at 139.

In Barancik v. Meade, 106 S.W.3d 582 (Mo. App. W.D. 2003), the court found that the trial court did not err in appointing a GAL. In Barancik, the mother voiced concerns over the child’s roughhousing with the father’s stepson and the child coming home from the father’s house with marks on his face. But the mother did not set forth allegations of abuse or neglect. The court, therefore, concluded that the...