A guardian ad litem in a Washington parenting plan case investigates the child's circumstances and files a report with recommendations, and responding to a GAL report is a right the statute gives each parent. On October 13, 2026, Division Three of the Court of Appeals affirmed an order striking a mother's response because it was built largely on hearsay, which the court held a parent's response may not contain.
A parent may file a written response to the report, and the court must consider it. That response is held to the ordinary rules of evidence, while the guardian ad litem may rely on what other people said in preparing the report. In In re Marriage of Rubin, the response was struck in full and the mother's attorney was ordered to pay fees to the guardian and to the father's lawyer, though the sanctions part of the order went back for findings.
Sara Kim and the family law attorneys at Blair Kim Moeller represent parents in custody and parenting plan cases in Seattle, Bellevue, and across King County, including cases where the court has appointed a guardian ad litem.
What a Guardian ad Litem Does in a Parenting Plan Case
A guardian ad litem is a person the court appoints to investigate a child's circumstances and report to the court on the child's best interests. The appointment is authorized by RCW 26.12.175, which says the guardian ad litem "shall always represent the best interests of the child." The guardian ad litem is not a party to the case and serves as an officer of the court.
The statute sets the basic rules for the report. The guardian ad litem investigates the issues the court assigns, may make recommendations, must report any preference the child expresses along with whether it was expressed voluntarily, and must file the report at least 60 days before trial. In preparing it, RCW 26.09.220(2) allows the guardian to consult any person who may have information about the child. The report addresses the same best-interest standard the court uses to set the residential schedule under RCW 26.09.187.
Each parent may then file a written response under RCW 26.12.175(1)(c), and the court is required to consider it along with the report's facts and recommendations. That right to respond is what was tested in Rubin.
Responding to a GAL Report Without Relying on Hearsay
The guardian ad litem in the Rubins' Spokane County dissolution filed her report under seal in April 2024. About six months later, the mother filed a response that contained confidential information and was not sealed. The guardian asked both attorneys to seal it the next day, and the court entered an agreed sealing order the same day. The guardian then asked the court to strike the response and sanction the mother's attorney.
The mother's attorney argued that a response may include hearsay because the report itself did. The Court of Appeals rejected that argument. The statute lets the guardian consult anyone, which allows hearsay as the basis for a recommendation, but it says nothing permitting hearsay in a parent's response. The ordinary evidence rules therefore applied, and the guardian's use of hearsay did not open the door for the parent.
A written response is the statute's way for a parent to answer the report before trial. Call us at (206) 622-6562 before the next hearing date, and we will go through your options with you.
Local Rules, Sanctions, and Fees
Two parts of the case depended on Spokane County's own rules. The statewide guardian ad litem rule, GALR 4(h), gives a guardian the power to file motions in dependency and parentage cases, and the court said it would not ordinarily reach a dissolution. Spokane's local rule extends that power to all cases. The same local rule required the response to be filed under seal. King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties have their own local rules, so the filing requirements for a response depend on where the case is.
The appellate court sent the money questions back. A court imposing sanctions under CR 11 must say whether a filing lacked a basis in fact or law or was filed for an improper purpose, and the trial court said neither. It also had to address the attorney's objections to the amount of fees, and it could not order the attorney to forgo charging his client without finding a specific professional-conduct violation. A court-rule violation alone was not enough.
Several lessons follow for a parent preparing a response:
- Respond to facts you can prove through admissible evidence, such as documents or your own firsthand knowledge.
- Avoid relying on what a teacher, relative, or the child told you as proof that something happened.
- Check the county's local rules on sealing before anything is filed.
- Point out where the report's facts are wrong or incomplete rather than restating your whole case.
A parent who believes a report rests on bad information can also raise that through witnesses and cross-examination at trial, where the evidence rules apply to both sides.
Talk to a Seattle Family Law Attorney About a GAL Report
The court weighs a guardian ad litem's recommendations alongside each parent's written response, and a response that is struck is one the court does not consider. Blair Kim Moeller, PLLC represents parents in custody disputes in Seattle, Bellevue, and throughout King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties, and Sara Kim represents parents in contested parenting plan cases. We are glad to meet with you in Seattle or Bellevue. Call (206) 622-6562 or schedule a consultation to get started.
