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What You Need To Know About Child Custody Evaluations

27 August 2015 by Kenneth Pierce

When parents of minor children divorce, child custody issues can be among the most contentious areas of disagreement. In the best case scenario, the parents make fair and beneficial decisions about custody, support and visitation and create their own workable agreement outside of the court system. All too often, however, it is left for a judge to decide. When necessary, judges frequently consult with professional child custody evaluators to assist them with their rulings pertaining to the issues surrounding minor children. It's extremely helpful to have a good understanding of how child custody evaluations work, so read on for more information.

Who are custody evaluators?

The vast majority of professional child custody evaluators are in the mental health field. You might find psychologists, social workers and licensed mental health counselors, all of whom have special certifications in interviewing and evaluating the relationships between children and their parents. Some states refer to their evaluators as guardian ad litems.

It should be noted that the cost of these evaluations are high and can add weeks or even months to your divorce trial. Fees do vary from locale to locale, but can range from $2,000.00 to $6,000.00. This exorbitant cost could be a strong motivator for working out an agreement outside of court. Judges will often provide you with a list of approved evaluators from which you an choose.

How does the evaluation process work?

The evaluator will meet with you, your spouse and your child several times. Some of the sessions will involve observations of the interactions between the parent and the child and some will be one-on-one with the child, outside of the parent's presence.

In some cases, evaluators will also interview close relatives, other therapists, doctors, teachers and other people who come in close contact with your child. Part of the evaluation process will normally include psychological testing, which must involve yet another mental health professional, since this type of testing is a specialized field. The testing may be done only on the child, but be prepared for the testing of the parents as well.

How should you conduct yourself?

The stakes are high with these custody evaluations, so it's no surprise that it's a very stressful process. Be very aware of your behavior at all times when interacting with the evaluator and alert your attorney immediately if anything seems amiss. One issue to watch out for is the evaluator showing bias toward the other parent. Once the evaluation is complete and filed with the court, it will be too late to take action, but your attorney may be able to request a different evaluator or arrange for your own evaluation if necessary.

A divorce attorney, such as Deborah L Kenney Attorney At Law, who has experience in contested child custody cases is a must-have. With good legal advice and preparation, you can have a successful child custody evaluation so that the judge will be able to make a fair and beneficial ruling for the welfare of your children. 

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