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

Named after Sir Robert Torrens, a British administrator in Australia. The torrens system is a state-sponsored system of land title registration, not applicable in states, such as California. ...

Note having more than one maker, if one or more of the makers default on the note, all makers are sued jointly, rather than just one or all, to make restitution ...

(1) Bottom of something used as support. (2) Most essential element. (3) Type of interest rate used when computing compound interest equal to: (1 + I). (4) Justification of an argument or ...

The definition of a census-designated place or CDP is rather complex and difficult to understand. We are going to try to explain it as much as possible. Starting from the top and working ...

In everyday discourse, a merger defines the combination of two entities, be it real estate or two companies, into a single and legit one. We should make a difference between a merger and ...

The adjusted sales price is also known as price adjustment or adjustment in appraisals. A definition for the adjusted sales price is the appraisal determined through the market approach or ...

Is a stockholder-owned corporation known as Freddie Mac. Freddie Mac purchases investment-quality mortgage from lenders and packages from lenders and packages them as securities which are ...

Market analysis method where sales of similar properties in proximity neighborhoods are compared. The comparable sales methodology is extremely useful if the properties being compared are ...

Company formed for the purpose of owning securities of one or more real estate corporations and assuming control over their practices and management. The other corporations are generally ...

Popular Real Estate Questions