WHO SEES THE CHILD CUSTODY EVALUTION REPORT AFTER THE EVALUATION?
Once an official report is prepared by the evaluator and provided to the Court, the Court will almost always issue an Administrative Order that directs who may and may not review or have copies of the report.
Most orders dictate that only counsel of record (e.g., an attorney) may keep and retain an actual physical copy of the report. If both parties have an attorney, the order will further state that although the parties’ respective attorneys can keep a physical copy of the report, the attorney cannot provide a copy to their client, nor let their client read directly from the report. What the order will permit, however, is for an attorney to review the report in detail with their client (e.g., discuss its findings and recommendations). If a party is pro se (i.e., without an attorney), the court will permit that party to review the report. However, they will have to go to the Judge’s courtroom to do so, and are still prohibited from taking any direct notes from the report or leaving the courtroom with a copy.
What Final Decisions Can Be Made Based On That Report?
Judges often use GAL or Custody Evaluation reports to help them reach their final decisions in a custody dispute. To be clear, these reports typically address only concerns and issues related to legal custody and/or parenting time. Thus, they will not normally speak to any problems dealing with finances, whether that be child support or estate division. As such, these reports are therefore limited to helping Judges decide issues of legal custody and parenting time.
How Big A Part Of The Decision Is The Report?
Typically, if a case has reached the point where the Court has to appoint a GAL or Custody Evaluator and, in turn, request a report from that person, the Judge will often place great emphasis on the report’s findings and recommendations. This is not to say every judge will necessarily “rubber-stamp” and approve the findings and recommendations of any report. And indeed, judges will from time to time deviate from the recommendations of a GAL or Custody Evaluator. The level of deviation varies from case to case. That is, in some cases, a judge may make a minor change to a reporter’s overall recommendations (for example, granting a parent one more night of parenting time during the week than initially recommended). In other, much more rare cases, a Judge may deviate more drastically. In the end, however, any report will carry with a high degree of significance. This is why it is important that both parties clearly explain all their issues and concerns to the GAL or evaluator during the information-gathering stage of their investigation.
Why Should A Parent Cooperate With The Custody Evaluation?
Arguably, the biggest reason to cooperate with an evaluator (or GAL) is that that individual can, and will eventually report back to the Court on their findings during an investigation. And the last thing either party should want is for the evaluator to report back to the Judge—e.g., the same person who will be deciding your case—that a party is not cooperating in the investigation process.
Other reasons include wanting a favorable evaluation and report for your case and position. If you do not voluntarily cooperate with an evaluator, it will likely significantly reduce the likelihood that a party will receive a favorable report. There is an old saying: “impressions are important.” This saying holds in a child custody evaluation as well. A party that finds itself in such an investigation would thus be wise to cooperate with any evaluator.