Florida Custody - Differences Between Custody Evaluation, Social Investigation

[Willard Gerard]

Florida child custody law permits the court to appoint three different
types experts when divorcing parents cannot agree on a parenting plan
or when a modification action has been filed. Each of these experts
produce a report for the court, but there are big differences in the
process, in who will see the report and in how the report can be used.
You can ask the judge to appoint any of these experts in your disputed
custody case:


Custody Evaluator
Social Investigator
Guardian Ad Litem

There are four major differences between these experts:


Custody evaluators are licensed psychologists. Social investigations
can be performed by psychologists and other licensed mental health
therapists as well as unlicensed court staff or child-placing agency
staff. Guardians ad litem can be either laypersons trained by the
court program or attorneys.
Custody evaluations are governed by the American Psychological
Association's extensive guidelines for conducting the evaluation.
Social investigations are governed by Florida Administrative Rule
64B4-7.006, which speaks to the investigator's qualifications, not the
conduct of the investigation. For layperson guardians ad litem
appointed through court GAL programs, the reports must meet program
standards. Reports from attorney guardians ad litem are not governed
by specific content guidelines.
Custody evaluators usually conduct psychological or review prior
psychological testing. Social investigators may or may not use
testing, depending on the qualifications of the investigator.
Guardians ad litem cannot conduct testing but may ask the court to
order testing by a licensed expert.
Custody evaluations are considered evidence and must be properly
introduced into evidence before the judge can consider them. Social
investigations are filed with the court upon completion and are
automatically considered by the judge. GAL reports are filed with the
court and provided to both sides, but are usually not admissible as
evidence because they are filled with hearsay statements.

Florida law permits custody evaluations, social investigations and
Guardian ad Litem reports when the parenting plan is in dispute. Know
the differences before you ask the judge to appoint any expert to
investigate and evaluate your family situation during your Florida
divorce or custody modification case.

Win You Custody and Save You Thousands in Attorney Costs: http://wincc.key.to/

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