In New York, a Law Guardian [LG] (attorney for the child(ren)) must advocate the position of their client(s). It is the same obligation as an attorney has to advocate for any adult private-paying client’s position.

A LG cannot ’substitute their judgment’ for that of the child(ren) except (as a sample of instances) where the child (a) is too young to speak; (b) has impaired mental capacity; or (c) may not be too young to speak, but cannot accurately ascertain the reality of the particular challenges present in their case. Then the LG’s obligation would be to report to the Court the position of their client(s) but to also report that the LG is "substituting judgment" as the child(ren) aren’t fully understanding of the challenges in their particular case.