realize that the evaluator is supposed to be objective and unbiased.
Don’t forget…it is also important for you to have LEGAL custody -at least joint, of your children and that needs to be spelled out.
A custody evaluation is generally helpful to the court if there are a lot of facts in dispute and the court will need the opinion of an objective third party to help them make a decision. I have not found that the outcome of the evaluation is affected by which party requests the evaluation.
Helena M. Nevicosi
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm
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Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
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Keep this in mind if you have a parental evaluation: the evaluator will not tell the court if he thinks either parent has mental problems. The evaluator that my ex and I had to see said off the record that my ex met “the clinical definition of narcissistic, histrionic, and borderline personality disorders.” He would not, however, reveal this fact in court. He said that the court ordered him tell what he thought was best for the child (which all he did was recommend that he do another evaluation in a year or two) and he refused to say anything else.
I’ve been reading about court ordered Parenting Evaluations.
deltabravo.net/custody/guide.php
Are these typically more helpful to the party initiating the evaluation, or does it not make any difference? One thing that seems to be helpful is that my ex wife’s behaviors (such has her firm physical discipline, neglect of the children observed by grandparents, her affair, etc) would be commented upon in the evalution.
While I don’t think I have any exceptionally bad behaviors that would be used against me, I know that facts can be twisted.
So would it be worth it be beneficial to my attempt to gain primary physical custody of my children to have a parental evalution performed?