Ad litem is a term used in law to refer to a party appointed by a court to act in a lawsuit on behalf of another party – for instance, a child or an incapacitated adult – who is deemed incapable of representing themselves. An individual who acts in this capacity is called a guardian ad litem. This term is no longer used in the United Kingdom since the passage of the Children Act 1989, which established the role of children's guardian instead.
The term is also used in property litigation, where a person may be appointed to act on behalf of an estate in court proceedings, when the estate's proper representatives are unable or unwilling to act.
The Latin term translates literally as "for the lawsuit".
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