How to Appoint Family Law CASA To A Case
If you are a lawyer or a Pro Se party, and you have a pending family law custody case in King County involving low-income households: You can request an appointment of a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) from Family Law CASA of King County on the motions calendar with the family law commissioner.
The CASA acts as a volunteer Guardian ad Litem (GAL) to represent the best interest of the child. This service is free to low-income families.
A Family Law CASA appointment is appropriate if any one of the following factors exist in your case:
- The parties can not afford a professional GAL;
- There are allegations of safety concerns for the child (.191 issues); or
- The case is high conflict.
We also take a limited number of interpreter cases. There are only two formal qualifications that must be met for Family Law CASA to be appointed:
- Both parties’ combined income must not exceed $128,160.
- The family law custody case must be filed in King County.
The family law commissioners have access to the Family Law CASA Order of Appointment; therefore, you do not need to provide a proposed order to the commissioner at the hearing. However, if you would like to present a proposed order or you have an agreement with the opposing party/counsel to appoint Family Law CASA, we may be able to provide the Order of Appointment template to you. However, please note, there is a limited number of CASA appointments available each month.
Contact the Program Attorney, Ann-Marie Croy, at annmarie@familylawcasa.org with any questions about appointing Family Law CASA.