Definition of "Ad litem"

Pam & Jason Maples<br>(The Maples Team) real estate agent

Written by

Pam & Jason Maples
(The Maples Team)
elite badge icon

Grinnell Realty

Need to know the Ad Litem definition after coming across this weird term?

Ad litem is short for “Guardian Ad Litem” or “Attorney Ad litem”, a legal term that refers to the person appointed by the court to investigate what results would be of best interest to the child (or a grownup that is legally incapacitated of representing himself) in the lawsuit at hand. The Guardian Ad Litem (GAL), then, represents that person and fights for that outcome.

The most common use for it is in divorce lawsuits. But in Real Estate it can also have many uses:

  • Say a kid becomes an orphan – a GAL will be appointed to act on his or her behalf in court regarding the kid’s rights to inheritance.
  • If a situation arises for a non-verbal person with special needs and no relatives that leads to a Homes for the disabled lawsuit, the court will also appoint a GAL.
  • It can even be used in a property litigation: to act on behalf of an estate if the owners are unavailable or unwilling to do so.

Lastly, in case you’re wondering: The root of the Ad Litem definition comes from Latin. The word Ad Litem means “for the suit”, or “for the proceeding”.

Real Estate Tips:

Have a Real Estate Agent as your guardian, protecting your best interests at all times!

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

Standard days when an organization is open and conducts business. Business days exclude weekends and holidays. ...

Short-term leases are leases that run its completion in a faster time than regular ones.In real estate, short term-leases usually refer to temporary housing; that is: rent.The length of a ...

Act occurring after the fact. ...

Through the master plan definition, we can understand it’s a plan describing both through narrative and maps the overall land use of a designated urban area. It includes both present ...

Also called an installment sales contract or contract foe feed. A type of creative financing in real estate allowing the seller to finance a buyer by allowing him or her to make a down ...

Expenditures paid for in advance such as property insurance, rent, and interest. Prepaid expenses are not used or consumed until later. They are typically of a recurring nature. ...

An acre is defined as a land unit that is commonly used in the US customary and imperial systems of 66 by 660 feet (one chain by one furlong). An acre is a measure of volume used in many ...

The method for splitting a commission between a registered real estate sales person and the sponsoring real estate broker, and between the listing broker and the selling broker, or any ...

So, after you discovered what a Home Appraisal is, you want to know more about the person responsible for it: the famous Appraiser.Good for you!The Appraiser is a certified individual ...

Popular Real Estate Questions