By: Derek Hawkins//May 24, 2017//
WI Court of Appeals – District IV
Case Name: R.B.O, et al v. Mark S. Knutson
Case No.: 2016AP952
Officials: Lundsten, Sherman, and Blanchard, JJ.
Focus: Guardian ad Litem Fees
The underlying action in this appeal was commenced with the filing of a petition for a determination of parentage in connection with the birth of a child by a surrogate mother, after the pertinent persons entered into a surrogacy agreement. The circuit court granted the uncontested petition. However, the only dispute on appeal is over the amount of compensation to which the guardian ad litem is entitled. Moreover, we resolve this appeal on limited grounds: reversal due to the failure of the circuit court to address a motion for reconsideration regarding reasonable GAL compensation. Neither side urges reversal on this ground, but we conclude that it is compelled by settled law and the distinctly different roles of the circuit courts and this court. Separately, in the interest of judicial efficiency, we resolve legal issues briefed by the parties that are likely to recur following remand.