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

Changing property ownership. An example is the sale of a home to another. ...

A lender can be a private individual, a private or public group, or an institution that loans funds to a person or business that the lendee would later repay with interest in most cases. In ...

The definition of real estate owned (REO) is known by heart by house flippers or by real estate agents specialized in bank owned properties. These are properties that once used to be in a ...

Provision permitting a lender to charge the borrower a penalty for repaying a loan before its due date. ...

Housing where affirmative action is proactively pursued protecting the housing rights of people of all races, nationalities, and religions. ...

Insurance based on the National Flood Insurance Program, enacted By Congress in 1968. The intent of this legislation is to provide insurance coverage for those people suffering real ...

Individual renting a residential or office unit. ...

In order to define allotment, we have to take into consideration what it refers to. While generally, it refers to a certain amount of something that is allocated to a particular person, the ...

Something that is illegal. An example is an unenforceable debt because it has exceeded the statute of limitations. ...

Popular Real Estate Questions