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Our New Office Location Is: 2607 Lee Street, Greenville, Texas 75401
Call Now To Schedule Your Initial Consultation
Virtual Appointments Available As Needed
Virtual Appointments Available As Needed
In this article, you will discover:
An amicus attorney provides the court with legal services necessary for the court to evaluate and make rulings designed to protect your child’s best interest.
The Texas Family Code essentially defines an amicus attorney’s role in Texas child custody cases. If there’s any specific service a court is looking for in a matter, they may include specific tenets of that appointment in the order appointing the amicus attorney. This arrangement stands in contrast to an attorney ad litem, who provides legal services directly to the child.
An amicus attorney is essentially focused on your child’s best interest and providing evidence and argument to the court to make sure that the rulings protect that.
Section 107.003 of the Texas Family Code defines the powers and duties that are necessary for an amicus attorney to meet the requirements of their representation effectively. They must be licensed as an attorney in Texas, which means that they’ve graduated from an accredited law school. They must pass the bar exam and have a license in good standing.
Additionally, they must have some training with respect to child advocacy and the experience necessary to represent your child’s best interests. This experience may include:
Much like every other attorney who’s representing a party in a case, an amicus attorney can send out subpoenas, conduct depositions and send discovery to obtain document production if there are documents that some parties hold.
An amicus attorney will send subpoenas primarily if there are third parties, such as doctor’s offices or counselors. Sometimes, Child Protective Services records are needed to thoroughly investigate what is happening in the family unit and specifically concerning your child.
Essentially, amicus attorneys can send out the same sort of discovery and subpoena process to gather necessary information.
Both you and the other party can request an amicus attorney. Many attorneys involved in family law cases will do so if they feel as though it’s necessary to have an attorney who’s specifically just advocating for your child’s best interest. They’ll file a motion, set it for a hearing if there’s not an agreement, and have the court determine whether or not an amicus attorney should be appointed.
In cases that don’t involve the State of Texas, amicus attorney appointments are discretionary. In cases that do involve the State of Texas, where a governmental entity has removed the child from their home, an amicus attorney may not be appointed.
These matters are at the discretion of the court that’s overseeing the family law matter. If you refuse the appointment of an amicus attorney, you should be warned that the other party requesting the amicus attorney is likely to request a hearing and have the judge make the ultimate determination as to whether an amicus attorney should be appointed.
If neither of you ask for an appointment and the court decides in its discretion that an amicus attorney should be appointed, they can do that on their own without your agreement. In that case, you cannot refuse their appointment. If the court appoints an amicus attorney, they’re going to be involved in the litigation with your family.
Attorney Christina Wade Perrone is a skilled lawyer based in Greenville, TX, who has helped clients like you with family law issues such as divorce, child support and child custody. With her experience handling family law matters and complex litigation, she is prepared to assist you by protecting your rights and your family.
Still have questions? Ready to get started? Contact Perrone Law Firm today to schedule an initial consultation.
Yes, you can challenge an amicus attorney’s findings. Many times, parents have the misconception that the amicus attorney is going to make a recommendation or finding, and the court is going to adopt it.
That’s not the way it works. An amicus attorney does their independent investigation, collects independent evidence and participates in hearings and even final trials. They argue the evidence, make recommendations in a closing argument and present their evidence through other witness testimony.
It’s not that the amicus attorney comes in like a child custody evaluator would and submits a report of findings that could be challenged. Instead, an amicus attorney actively participates in the litigation, much like your attorney would.
The best method to challenge what the amicus attorney may believe or communicate to the court or the other parties – what they’ll elicit testimony and evidence about – would be to bring counter-evidence. This method would include facts that disprove the amicus attorney’s evidence or put it in a better context. You can also offer challenging testimony that perhaps reframes the issue in question.
There are two main challenges. The first one is the family’s unwillingness to work with the amicus attorney. Perhaps they didn’t agree to the appointment, they objected to the appointment, or they don’t have the funds necessary to pay an amicus attorney.
The family thinks that if they don’t work with or acknowledge the amicus attorney, the attorney will simply go away. Unfortunately, that’s not what’s going to happen. An amicus attorney can file a notice of non-compliance with the court, set that for a hearing, and ask the court to admonish the party that isn’t complying with the amicus attorney’s request.
Perhaps that parent is not willing to come in and meet with the amicus attorney or bring the children in for a meeting. Just like any other attorney in the litigation, an amicus attorney can use the court to get rulings and orders in place in order to assure compliance of a non-cooperative parent.
The second challenge is sometimes an amicus attorney is appointed in a case when one or both of the parties don’t have an attorney representing them. That presents a challenge because the amicus attorney is not there to represent one or both of the parents or the parties to the litigation. They’re simply there to provide legal services that protect the child’s best interest.
The best way for an amicus attorney to address that is to clearly and concisely communicate in writing and orally that they are not there to represent either parent or even the child. They’re there to provide legal services that protect the child’s best interest. Reiterating that on a repeated basis really helps to address that challenge.
This is often the most challenging aspect of being an amicus attorney because we are all human, and family law matters can be very emotionally driven. It’s essential to approach these situations much like I do any other legal matter: gather the evidence and sift through it.
I give myself plenty of opportunity to bring sufficient evidence. If I have a question or a concern about a matter, I’ll take additional time to gather evidence or have meetings with you and the other party to discuss issues that I’m concerned about. It’s better to have ample opportunity to go over the facts and the evidence at length.
Sometimes, there are emotions involved. I may get angry about something I’m seeing a parent do in a particular case because I don’t believe that it’s in the child’s best interest. The best way to address that is to communicate my concerns to that person’s attorney and see if the matter can be addressed outside of the courtroom.
If not, I’ll bring it before the court, without all of the emotion, to get the court to issue an order to get a parent back in line if something is going on that’s not in a child’s best interest.
Still Have Questions? Ready To Get Started?
For more information on What Is An Amicus Attorney’s Role In Texas Family Law Cases, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (903) 964-1122 today.
Attorney Christina Wade Perrone is a skilled lawyer based in Greenville, TX, who has helped clients like you with family law issues such as divorce, child support and child custody. With her experience handling family law matters and complex litigation, she is prepared to assist you by protecting your rights and your family.
Still have questions? Ready to get started? Contact Perrone Law Firm today to schedule an initial consultation.