By Scott Wright


Not all couples can separate their differences from the best interests of their children when they are in the middle of a divorce. Accusations may fly back and forth until it takes a court intervention and the evaluation of professionals to sort out the truth. When one or both parent's ability to care for the children is being evaluated, both sides need to be informed about the psychological testing child custody judges order.

Parents ask why there has to be an evaluation. If the court is hearing conflicting stories about poor parenting, the judge's response is usually to bring in an unbiased third party professional to assess the parent's level of functionality. The judge is trying to discover if the couple can co-parent at all, and if one parent should have sole or primary custodial rights.

Parents often question how important the psychological tests are in deciding custodial arrangements. Most psychologists will say that the tests are just a part of what they look at when making their evaluations. They also base their findings on observation, interviews, parent-child interaction, teachers, and others who might be able to shed light on the family dynamic.

If one of the parents gets an unfavorable evaluation, they want to know what comes next. The lawyers explain that they contact the psychologist to discuss the findings prior to the filing of the report. They want to know in advance whether the news is good or bad. When it's not favorable, the lawyer only has a couple of options. An new expert may be requested. The judge is likely to this down though, because courts do not like children being evaluated multiple times.

When an evaluation shows that the parents, while not perfect, are not eminent threats to their kids, parents want to know if a compromise can be worked out. Psychologists take the position that family evaluations take months to complete and are comprehensive. If they find something outside their expertise, they contact another expert who has expertise in that particular area. The report doesn't change.

Couples ask what happens when both sides hire their own evaluators. The psychologists and lawyers say this is not an unusual situation. In most cases, the two psychologists come up with approximately the same conclusions. Rarely does one side extol the virtues of one parent over the other.

A parent may want to know if the children can be forced to spend time with the alienated parent. The answer to this question is difficult because most judges are reluctant to force a child into a relationship with the alienated parent. It usually ends up making matters worse. If it is the other parent keeping the children from the alienated parent, the court may try to put a stop to the negative behavior early in the proceedings.

Divorce is hard, no matter how amicable it may be. It is always in everyone's best interest to work out custody arrangements privately. When the parents are at each other's throats, the courts will step in and take control. This should not be anybody's first choice.




About the Author:



Axact

Money Making

I am passionate about educating university students about money and careers, and have been doing so since 2007. I see the same confusion and mistakes being replicated every year. The way I help is through Save the Student. I'm always on the look out for new contributors, so get in touch if you're wanting to get involved! Aside from the site, my main interests are travelling, writing, photography, webdesign, sailing, football and cycling.

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