A "guardian ad litem" was appointed for only that particular legal
proceeding. It is a person to protect the interests of the minor in a
specific law or chancery matter. It should NOT be interpreted as the child's
guardian in daily life. In Virginia, I have seen instances where the clerk
of the court was appointed the guardian ad litem. A longer, fuller
explanation of various kinds of guardians can be found in Black's Law
Dictionary which is available in paperback. Hope this helps.  John Hopewell

-----Original Message-----
From: Virginia E Hench [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Saturday, June 22, 2002 1:08 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: ad litem


On Sat, 22 Jun 2002, Diana Bennett wrote:
...
> I have some information about a Chancery Court case. She asks the
> sheriff to summon John Glass guardian "ad litem" of the children's
> names. This took place in Lawrence Co., AL in 1828.
>
> What does ad litem mean? ...
> Diana Kercheval Bennett
----------------------------------------------------------

 Hi Diana - a "guardian ad litem" is a person appointed by a court
 to protect the interests of the ward - in the case you mention, the
 wards would be the children.

 In a divorce case, for example, the children's interests might
 well be different from the interests of either of  the parents.
 I have not run across a guardian of a child's name, but I would
 guess that it was a petition in chancery (a court of equity)
 to change the children's names. Perhaps their mother was widowed
 or divorced, has remarried, and wants to change their names.
 Their father, if living, or his relatives if he was not living
 at the time, might have been contesting the name change.

 Virginia E. Hench

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