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<title>Guardian Ad Litem - Minnesota Divorce &amp; Family Law Blog</title>
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<copyright>Copyright 2010</copyright>
<lastBuildDate>Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:48:51 -0600</lastBuildDate>
<pubDate>Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:16:59 -0600</pubDate>
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<title>Discrediting Adverse Custody Evaluators</title>
<description><![CDATA[<p>If you and your spouse <strong>cannot reach agreement on the legal and physical custody</strong> of your child, your matter is probably headed for trial. The court will be left to determine what is in the &quot;best interests&quot; of your child through the use of a <strong>custody evaluation </strong>and report. About 95% of the time, the court will adopt the evaluator's recommendations&nbsp;- unless you have a strong advocate who knows how to <strong>challenge their conclusions</strong>.</p>
<p>Here are a <strong>few ways to discredit the custody evaluator </strong>at trial:</p>
<ol>
    <li><strong>Bias</strong>. In personal injury cases, the insurance company will hire a doctor to examine the injured.&nbsp;Insurers pay&nbsp;thousands of dollars&nbsp;(now you know where your premiums go) to certain doctors&nbsp;who are prone to rendering an&nbsp;opinion&nbsp;favorable to the insurance company. These &quot;independent&quot; experts are often discredited by the plaintiff's lawyer bringing out the hundreds of prior opinions these physicians have rendered against injury&nbsp;victims.&nbsp;The same holds true in family court. Most custody evaluators have years of experience and have rendered hundreds of opinions. If there is consistency in those opinions, they carry a bias. Certain experts are prone to rendering certain opinions. Make the court aware of the bias of the evaluator and the recommendations may be discredited.</li>
    <li><strong>Diligence</strong>.&nbsp;We've cross-examined custody evaluators who have spent less than an hour in the presence of our client and the children that are the subject of the action.&nbsp;How much&nbsp;can anyone learn about a familial situation in 60 minutes of observation.&nbsp;What if the kids were having a tough day? What if the&nbsp;parent is nervous about the scrutiny of&nbsp;the evaluator? What if the dog won't stop barking? Think of it as a movie. If someone stopped&nbsp;&quot;Titanic&quot; before the ice berg and never&nbsp;watched the ending, they'd think everyone arrived safely in New York and wouldn't know the whole story.&nbsp;Evaluators are busy people. That haste can be taken advantage of.</li>
    <li><strong>Qualifications</strong>. Just who is the evaluator in your case? Do they have&nbsp;Ph.D.? How many evaluations have they conducted? Who are they employed by? What is their degree in? Have they been subject to an action for malpractice or ethics complaints? Disciplined by a professional board? Are they a licensed psychologist? All of these questions go to the foundation of the expert's opinions. Get them disqualified as an expert and the court cannot rely on their recommendations.</li>
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<p>These <strong>same techniques can be used to discredit other court-appointed custody experts</strong>, such as a Guardian Ad Litem. No kidding - we had case in which the adverse Guardian had a degree in art history and failed to spend a single moment with our client in the presence of our client with the children (despite a statutory requirement that she meet with the parent in the presence of the children in the relevant home). We attacked her opinions on&nbsp;all three of the grounds referenced above. &nbsp;</p>]]></description>
<link>http://www.mnfamilylawblog.com/2008/09/articles/custody/discrediting-adverse-custody-evaluators/</link>
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<category>Contested Divorce</category><category>Custody</category><category>Guardian Ad Litem</category><category>Parenting Time</category><category>custody evaluation</category><category>custody evaluator</category>
<pubDate>Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:48:51 -0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jason C. Brown</dc:creator>

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