Custody Evaluation Guide
Evaluations are intended to assist the court in deciding matters of legal custody and parenting time when parents are unable to reach a decision on their own. The written evaluation report is designed to be an objective, impartial, and thorough assessment of parenting capacities and a child’s comprehensive needs. Evaluations help parents view their family circumstances through a different lens, whereby they are more likely to make decisions about their children without having to endure a financially- and emotionally-draining trial. My professional goal is to help parents arrive at a stipulated judgment by preparing strength-based, solution-focused recommendations. The courtroom is an adult arena and adversarial environment where parents ultimately abdicate complete authority (over the outcome for their child) to a judge. While the court certainly has wisdom in these matters, I believe parents always know their child best.
Oregon law uses the standard of the “best interests and welfare of the child” in determining legal custody and parenting time arrangements. The specific issues the law requires evaluators to address are contained in ORS 107.137.
The statutory considerations will be outlined with appropriate context in the final written report that I provide to your attorney and the judge. As an evaluator, I am concerned with both strengths and weaknesses of each party, and the resulting recommendation maximizes the child’s time with both of their parents accordingly. There are often safety issues such as substance abuse, child abuse, diminished mental capacity, and IPV (intimate partner violence), which will be assessed, evaluated, and considered in the totality of the final recommendation.
At the start of the evaluation, I will meet with you at our office or virtually. This is an opportunity for each parent to tell their side of the story, review their history, and make their wishes known. There will be a second office meeting to discuss more about your children the other parent's concerns about your child’s time with you. I will want to see you and the children interacting in the office setting and again while visiting in your home. Children are generally interviewed alone during the process, depending on their age and abilities.
After the interactive meetings, and when I have had a chance to contact personal references and other professionals who have worked with the family, I will prepare a written report and send to the attorneys of record.
On occasion, evaluators ask for psychological testing or a drug and alcohol assessment or lab sample. Since the process is impartial, any test given to one parent will also be given to the other.
It’s important to note that we want parents to work together in the best interests of their children and if an agreement about custody and parenting time is reached before the recommendation is made in written form, the evaluator will stop the process.
The single most important action you can take to prepare yourself for this evaluation is to separate your marriage and relationship problems from your parenting concerns. Think about ways in which your children’s best interests are truly served. This is not a time to belabor painful relationship history. It’s a time to focus on your changing family and the upcoming needs of your children who will now be moving between two homes and two parents that they love.
Be open and honest about yourself and about the other parent while maintaining an awareness that evaluators know no one is all good or all bad. Each of us has a combination of strengths and weaknesses that we bring to parenting. Be prepared to give examples of both areas for yourself and what you believe to be true of the other parent.
Click HERE to get a list of questions that will help you prepare to impress your evaluator.
In determining the best interests and welfare of the child, the Oregon Legislature has determined relevant factors listed in ORS 107.137. Your attorney can give you specific information about these criteria and how the court is likely to interpret these factors in your particular situation.
Following your attorney’s review of the custody and parenting time report, he or she will discuss it with you. There will be opportunity for negotiation and settlement discussion with the other party in an attempt to avoid trial. In the event that parents are still unable to agree, the case will likely proceed to a court hearing where the evaluator is generally called as an expert witness. When called as a witness, the evaluator always appears on behalf of the child, regardless of who pays the professional witness fee.
Please call or email my office: LBonnevier@ChildFocused.net
Custody Evaluation Guide
Evaluations are intended to assist the court in deciding matters of legal custody and parenting time when parents are unable to reach a decision on their own. The written evaluation report is designed to be an objective, impartial, and thorough assessment of parenting capacities and a child’s comprehensive needs. Evaluations help parents view their family circumstances through a different lens, whereby they are more likely to make decisions about their children without having to endure a financially- and emotionally-draining trial. My professional goal is to help parents arrive at a stipulated judgment by preparing strength-based, solution-focused recommendations. The courtroom is an adult arena and adversarial environment where parents ultimately abdicate complete authority (over the outcome for their child) to a judge. While the court certainly has wisdom in these matters, I believe parents always know their child best.
Oregon law uses the standard of the “best interests and welfare of the child” in determining legal custody and parenting time arrangements. The specific issues the law requires evaluators to address are contained in ORS 107.137.
The statutory considerations will be outlined with appropriate context in the final written report that I provide to your attorney and the judge. As an evaluator, I am concerned with both strengths and weaknesses of each party, and the resulting recommendation maximizes the child’s time with both of their parents accordingly. There are often safety issues such as substance abuse, child abuse, diminished mental capacity, and IPV (intimate partner violence), which will be assessed, evaluated, and considered in the totality of the final recommendation.
At the start of the evaluation, I will meet with you at our office or virtually. This is an opportunity for each parent to tell their side of the story, review their history, and make their wishes known. There will be a second office meeting to discuss more about your children the other parent's concerns about your child’s time with you. I will want to see you and the children interacting in the office setting and again while visiting in your home. Children are generally interviewed alone during the process, depending on their age and abilities.
After the interactive meetings, and when I have had a chance to contact personal references and other professionals who have worked with the family, I will prepare a written report and send to the attorneys of record.
On occasion, evaluators ask for psychological testing or a drug and alcohol assessment or lab sample. Since the process is impartial, any test given to one parent will also be given to the other.
It’s important to note that we want parents to work together in the best interests of their children and if an agreement about custody and parenting time is reached before the recommendation is made in written form, the evaluator will stop the process.
The single most important action you can take to prepare yourself for this evaluation is to separate your marriage and relationship problems from your parenting concerns. Think about ways in which your children’s best interests are truly served. This is not a time to belabor painful relationship history. It’s a time to focus on your changing family and the upcoming needs of your children who will now be moving between two homes and two parents that they love.
Be open and honest about yourself and about the other parent while maintaining an awareness that evaluators know no one is all good or all bad. Each of us has a combination of strengths and weaknesses that we bring to parenting. Be prepared to give examples of both areas for yourself and what you believe to be true of the other parent.
Click HERE to get a list of questions that will help you prepare to impress your evaluator.
In determining the best interests and welfare of the child, the Oregon Legislature has determined relevant factors listed in ORS 107.137. Your attorney can give you specific information about these criteria and how the court is likely to interpret these factors in your particular situation.
Following your attorney’s review of the custody and parenting time report, he or she will discuss it with you. There will be opportunity for negotiation and settlement discussion with the other party in an attempt to avoid trial. In the event that parents are still unable to agree, the case will likely proceed to a court hearing where the evaluator is generally called as an expert witness. When called as a witness, the evaluator always appears on behalf of the child, regardless of who pays the professional witness fee.
Please call or email my office: LBonnevier@ChildFocused.net