Monmouth County Custody Evaluations

Working to Protect Your Child's Best Interests

If you are a parent of minor children and are seeking a divorce, then the most important responsibility you have is to them, in making sure your children's needs are met throughout the divorce process and beyond.

Two vital issues to be settled are:

• Who will the children live with?
• If they live with only one parent, how much parenting time does the other parent receive?

This is where custody evaluations come in.

Custody Evaluations: The Roadmap to Parenting Success After Divorce

Custody evaluations are very important for determining child custody and/or parenting time during contested divorce proceedings.

A child custody evaluator is usually a psychologist or psychiatrist who is very familiar with the New Jersey law regarding custody and parenting time. The custody evaluator can either be a sole expert hired by one side or a joint expert that both parties utilize to determine custody.

The court will also give considerable weight to the custody evaluators as they are psychologically trained to determine what is in the best interest of a child.

Would you like to know more about custody evaluations and custody evaluators? Contact the Law Office of Steven P. Monaghan, LLC today to speak to our Monmouth County attorneys.

How Custody Evaluations Work

A custody evaluator will usually perform psychological testing to determine the psychological attributes of each parent. Evaluators will conduct numerous interviews with each parent individually and both parents together with their children.

They may also choose to interview other family members or significant others. The custody evaluator will also have the availability of all court documents and correspondence between the parties and the attorneys and court orders.

Four Key Things to Keep in Mind

To help you effectively prepare for and participate in your custody evaluation, here are three key things to keep in mind:

• It is important to be honest with your custody evaluator as he or she can normally detect over-embellishment or insincerity.
• When answering the questions of a custody evaluator, it is important to take your time. If you do not understand questions then you should ask until you understand the question to make sure you are answering honestly.
• It is important when speaking with the custody evaluator that you do not solely focus on the negative aspects of your spouse. The purpose of the evaluation is to determine what is in the best interest of the children.
• Custody evaluators are often looking for empathy from parents. Empathy is the ability to understand what the children are feeling and the willingness to react appropriately.

Some additional factors custody evaluators consider during their evaluation include: Whether or not you were a proper care provider and created a suitable environment for them, if you had a loving relationship with your children, and a confirmation from you that you will support the relationship between the children and the other parent.

Concerned About How a Custody Evaluation Is Going to Work? Call Us.

For more than 60 combined years, we have been successfully helping clients like you through the custody evaluation process.

If you have questions or concerns on how the process will work in your situation, call the Law Office of Steven P. Monaghan, LLC today at (732) 624-6343! Our Monmouth County custody lawyers can help.