We are in the midst of a divorce or thinking about divorce, and I know there's going to be an issue about who has the children or how often each of us sees the children. I've heard about custody evaluations, but don't really understand what they are all about. What can you tell me about them before I ask my lawyer for one?

Custody evaluations are typically conducted when there is a question of who will be the "primary" custodial parent, either in a sole custody case or at times in a joint custody arrangement. Sole custody means one parent has the child with them the majority of the time, and endorsed by the court to make legal and medical decisions regarding the child. Joint custody is an arrangement where both parents share custody of the child, as well as legal and medical decision making power, but often times where one parent is designated the primary caretaker. The difference in these two arrangements really reflects the difference between custody cases. Sole custody is at times uncontested, but often there is some battle about who has custody of the children. One parent feels that they should be sole custodian, while the other parent similarly thinks they should be sole custodian. This type of divorce, and resulting custody fight, is often conflict ridden and difficult on all parties involved. The second type, a joint custody arrangement, is basically an arrangement where it has become clear to the court and all involved that the parents can still communicate and agree in a reasonable fashion with regard to the well being and care of their children. Custody evaluations are sought out in each case to determine the fitness of a parent to care for the well being of their child.

A custody evaluation is an evaluation conducted by an appointee of the court or when a professional is hired by a lawyer representing one or both of the parents (as in divorce mediation). The professional's job is to be an impartial evaluator about the ability of each parent to service the child's needs. This evaluation entails many hours of interviews involving all parties on both sides of the issue, and a thorough psychological evaluation of each parent. The sole expressed purpose is to determine which parent can best service the needs of the child across domains. There may be instances where the parents have complimentary strengths and weaknesses, and a custody evaluator takes this into consideration and may indicate that the child will need to benefit from each parent's strength rather than put the child in a situation where the child is cut off from one parent's strength. Custody evaluations are detailed complex evaluations that benefit from a well trained professional's attention to detail and interpersonal dynamics. These evaluations, given the level of detail and the weight of the decision, often take some time to render. Evaluations of this sort, are as different as the families who request them, and the difference between sole and joint custody merely illustrates two types of arrangements that are common. But, within the language of the evaluation, parents, children and the family as a whole are discussed in specific and individualized terms so as to provide the court with the vital information it needs to make such decisions. The court makes the decision, not the evaluator, the evaluator only presents the information and offers their professional opinion. If you are considering such an evaluation and have questions, or require one, give one of our doctors a call and we will be happy to explain the process to you.