Discretionary appointment of counsel for child in arbitrated custody dispute
While a state may have many statutes, court decisions, or court rules governing
appointment of counsel for a particular subject area, a "Key Development" is a
statute/decision/rule that prevails over the others (example: a state high court
decision finding a categorical right to counsel in guardianships cases takes
precedence over a statute saying appointment in guardianship cases is
discretionary).
07/11/2017,
Legislation, Custody Disputes - Children
For private custody proceedings, Hawaii in 2017 enacted the Uniform Family Law Arbitration Act, which provides at Haw. Rev. Stat. § 658J-13(c)(12) that when parents agree to arbitrate a custody dispute, the arbitrator has the power to appoint an attorney or guardian ad litem for the child at the expense of the parents.
If "yes",
the established right to counsel or
discretionary appointment of counsel
is
limited
in some way, including any of: the only authority
is a
lower/intermediate court decision or a city council,
not a high court or state legislature; there
has been
a subsequent case that
has
cast doubt; a statute
is
ambiguous; or the right or discretionary appointment
is not
for all types of individuals or proceedings
within that category.
discretionary
yes
