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:

1) The parties can not afford a professional GAL;
2) There are allegations of safety concerns for the child (.191 issues); or
3) 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:

1) Both parties’ combined income must not exceed $128,160.
2) 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.