Custody Evaluations:
The Basics for Parents

Since you've found this page, chances are you or someone close to you is in some way involved with a custody evaluation. Perhaps you are contemplating one, or you are already in the process of a custody evaluation or you may be dealing with the aftermath of one. Regardless of where you find yourself in the custody evaluation experience, you will definitely find the information provided here to be invaluable.

On this page you will find some basic information that you need to know about custody evaluations. Please read it carefully and discuss it with your attorney. While attorneys are familiar with the concept of custody evaluations and the legal challenges they may present, most have little knowledge about the required guidelines or qualifications needed to conduct them. The information you will find on this page is extremely important as it could have a direct bearing on the direction your custody evaluation may take.

By clicking on the links below, you will find answers to the following questions:

What is a Custody Evaluation?

A custody evaluation "should be" a very thorough examination of all family members for the purpose of making recommendations to the court about a parenting plan (also known as a custodial arrangement) that will be in the best interests of the children involved. Unless specified by a court order, a custody evaluation may or may not include a psychological evaluation. In general, a custody evaluation needs to consider the nature of the past and present relationships between the parents and children, the abilities of the parents to provide for their children physically, emotionally and financially as well as any deficits and/or impediments that might interfere with a parent's ability to care for their children and/or maintain a healthy relationship with their children.

The scope of the custody evaluation can also vary. This is largely dependent on the wording of the court order, the choice of professional who will be conducting the custody evaluation and the cost involved. Although it seems reasonable to expect that the more trained and experienced an evaluator is, the better the quality the custody evaluation should be. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. As in other matters, it is very important to know what you are getting into and to make sure that the custody evaluator doing the assessment is properly trained and experienced.

A comprehensive custody evaluation "should include" the following elements:

A custody evaluation following the above protocol is labor intensive and time consuming. Depending on the complexity of the case, a custody evaluator could spend anywhere from 20-40+ hours completing an evaluation. A custody evaluation of this type could cost anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 or more.

What Separates Good Custody Evaluations from Bad Ones?

There are three major factors that separate good custody evaluations from bad ones. They are:

If any of these factors are lacking, you run the risk of having a poorly conducted custody evaluation.

What are the Things I Should Know When Deciding on a Custody Evaluator?

There are a few things you can do to select a custody evaluator that is best suited for you.

FIRST - You need to review the curriculum vitae (CV) of the custody evaluators your attorney proposes. A CV is an academic resume which spells out the custody evaluator's academic and professional credentials. It should also identify his or her training as a custody evaluator. It is important that your custody evaluator has received specific training in this area. If a custody evaluator has done any research, attended conferences/workshops or given lectures related to custody concerns, this information will also be listed in the CV. You want to make sure that the professional conducting your custody evaluation is well trained and experienced in that field.

SECOND - You need to find out how many custody evaluations the custody evaluator has conducted and how many times he or she has testified in court. You or your attorney can actually search databases which could identify the specific cases a particular custody evaluator was involved - that is, if the case actually went to trial. In these cases, a judge may make reference to the custody evaluation. This may give you some indication of the type of recommendations a particular custody evaluator makes.

THIRD - Your attorney should include referral questions in the court order for the custody evaluation. Most attorneys rarely do this and actually, most are not even aware of the purpose for using referral questions. The value of referral questions is that they form the backbone or infrastructure of a custody evaluation. If there are particular issues of concern in your case such as addictions, mental health or parental alienation; referral questions will ensure these issues are addressed by the custody evaluator. Too often, open-ended orders for custody evaluations (e.g., to determine the best interests of the children) leave the scope of the evaluation completely at the discretion of the custody evaluator. When this happens, there is a risk that the issues a parent is most concerned about may not even be addressed. By having referral questions included in the order, the custody evaluator is then required to answer and/or address them. An example of a typical referral question is: "How likely is it that either parent will support his or her child's relationship with the other parent?" It is not uncommon for an order for a custody evaluation to include 5-10 referral questions or more.

FOURTH - If your case is complicated and highly conflicted where questions are raised about parental competency due to issues relating to addictions, mental health, parental alienation or concerns about geographic mobility or a new partner, there will likely be the need for a very thorough custody evaluation. This most often involves psychological testing conducted by a custody evaluator who is trained as a psychologist.

FIFTH - If a psychologist is conducting your custody evaluation, be sure to familiarize yourself with the document, Guidelines for Child Custody Evaluations in Divorce Proceedings. This document was developed by the American Psychological Association (APA), an organization that all licensed psychologists are members of. As a member, the psychologist should be familiar with and adhere to the policies, rules and guidelines the APA sets out. The "Guidelines for Child Custody Evaluations in Divorce Proceedings" spells out the procedures that should be followed in custody evaluations. It is important that you and your attorney become familiar with these since many custody evaluators do not follow them.