On July 9, 2015, I blogged about the ongoing saga of the Maya vs Omer Tsimhoni case, currently pending in the Oakland County Family Court (Michigan). This is a high-conflict custody and parenting time case involving allegations that the mother, through brainwashing the children, has so alienated the children from their father that they refuse to have any type of relationship with him, and will not even join him for lunch in the courtroom cafeteria – as ordered by Judge Lisa Gorcyca. To call the Tsimhoni case high-conflict is an understatement.
A high conflict custody case is identified by the sheer amount of time that is spent in court fighting over issues relating to the parent’s children. It can be about physical custody but just as often it results from the inability of the parents to agree about fundamental issues such as vaccination (see my July 19th blog), religious training, extra-curricular activities or school district, to name a few of the disputes that can come before the family court.
What parents do not realize is that the conflict itself may cause great psychological harm to the children. For this reason, high conflict custody cases often require professionals outside the per view of the domestic relations legal practice. For instance, it is common for psychologists and social workers to become involved in such cases, both for purposes of conducting mental health and custody evaluations, substance abuse evaluations, as well as to provide therapeutic services.
Because of the potential harm to the children in these high-conflict cases, a family court judge will often appoint an individual (in Michigan, almost always an attorney) as a Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) to assist the court in determining what is in the best interests of the children. The GAL is empowered to meet with the children, including visiting the children at school, to meet with the parents, both with and without attorneys, access medical and mental health records and professionals, review the children’s school records and otherwise investigate and make recommendations to the court on a variety of issues, from mental health treatment to parenting time and custody and everything in between.
Ideally, the GAL has no bias for or against a parent, but is completely focused on the best interests of the children. However, it should be remembered that, at least in Michigan, most GALs have no training in psychology nor are they social workers. Nevertheless, an effective GAL will have a deep and broad knowledge of community resources, and will recommend those resources, as needed, to assist the family in dealing with the issues causing conflict.
In my experience, an effective GAL can quiet down the level of conflict significantly. I have files in my office that once required constant attention and litigation that remain relatively quiet and stable for a period of years thanks to the effectiveness of the GAL.
Many people feel they must have their day in court. But, as virtually all family court judges will admit, the courts and attorneys are not Solomon and most often, to suggest the splitting of the baby causes irreparable harm in healing the family. If we agree that keeping family matters out of court is best, the value of using a GAL is readily apparent.