The order says an evaluator will be appointed, and the word sounds like a verdict. It is closer to a report — a confidential one, produced by a licensed clinician with specific mandated training, on a schedule the statute sets, for a judge who is not bound by it.
The short answer: in a contested custody or visitation case, a California court may appoint a child custody evaluator "where the court determines it is in the best interest of the child."¹ The evaluator must be a licensed clinician who has completed the state's domestic violence and child abuse training, and since 2005 child sexual abuse training too — unless the court finds no qualifying evaluator is willing and available, in which case the parties may stipulate to another person with the court's approval.² Where the court directs a written report, it is confidential, must be filed at least ten days before the hearing, and goes to the parties, their counsel and any counsel for the child — and beyond them only to the recipients other named sections allow.¹ Disclosing it recklessly or maliciously, in a way that is not in the child's best interest, exposes the disclosing party to monetary sanctions, unless they acted with substantial justification or the sanction would be unjust.¹ Refusing a court order is not a real option; objecting to the evaluator, and understanding what the report can and cannot do, is.
Who is allowed to evaluate
Not just anyone with a clipboard. The statute says a person may be a court-connected or private custody evaluator "only if the person has completed the domestic violence and child abuse training program" the Family Code prescribes, and — since 1 January 2005 — only if they hold one of a short list of licences: a physician who is a board-certified psychiatrist or has completed a psychiatry residency, a licensed psychologist, a licensed marriage and family therapist, a licensed clinical social worker, a licensed professional clinical counselor, or a court-certified evaluator meeting the Judicial Council's qualifications.² No evaluator may take on a custody matter without having completed child sexual abuse training.²
Which means the first thing to check, before the first interview, is whether the person named in the order actually meets that list. A licence number and a training certificate are documents, and you may ask for both.
What the report is, and who reads it
"If directed by the court," the evaluator files a written, confidential report at least ten days before the custody hearing, following Judicial Council standards, and serves it on the parties, their attorneys, and any counsel appointed for the child.¹ The report "shall not be made available" beyond those people and the recipients that a handful of cross-referenced sections allow — mediators and other evaluators among them — and everyone who receives it must be told of its confidentiality and of the consequences of unauthorized disclosure.¹
Those consequences are real. A court may impose monetary sanctions, including attorney's fees and costs, on a disclosing party who makes an unwarranted disclosure — defined as one made "either recklessly or maliciously, and ... not in the best interest of the child" — unless the party acted with substantial justification, the sanction would be unjust in the circumstances, or it would impose an unreasonable financial burden.¹ Posting the report, or a page of it, to make a point is the textbook case. So is reading it aloud to the child.
Who pays
The court may order a parent or guardian to repay the court's cost of the evaluation, but only after it "shall inquire into the financial condition" of that person and finds them "able to pay all or part of the expense."¹ ³ That section is about repaying the court's own expense for a court-appointed investigator; a private evaluator's fee is set by the order appointing them, and the place to raise inability to pay is with the court before the appointment is made.
Can I refuse?
A court-ordered evaluation is a court order, and declining to participate is not a neutral act — the evaluator's report will say you did not participate, and the judge will draw conclusions. What you can do:
- Object to the appointment or the evaluator before the evaluation begins, through your attorney or on your own papers, on grounds such as qualification, conflict of interest, or the scope of the order.
- Ask for the scope in writing. An evaluation is ordered on the questions the court names. An evaluator who wanders into questions the order does not ask is producing material the report should not contain.
- Keep your own therapy out of it where the law lets you. Your own therapist's records are not automatically part of the evaluation, and a request for them is a separate legal question with its own answer. What happens to therapy records in a custody case →
What the report cannot do
It cannot decide custody. The judge does. It is evidence — expert evidence, from a person the court appointed — and it is often given great weight, but the parties may cross-examine the evaluator, may offer a rebuttal expert, and may argue the report's reasoning at the hearing. An evaluator's recommendation that reads like a decision is still a recommendation.
It also cannot be a substitute for treatment. The evaluator is not your therapist, not your child's therapist, and not a neutral counsellor for the family; the interviews are assessment, and what you say in them is for the report.
Where this sits next to everything else
- Is court-ordered therapy confidential? →
- Therapy records in a custody case →
- Can a therapist tell my parents? → — for the child's side of the room
This page describes the statute. It is not advice about your case, and a family law attorney will see things in your order that a website cannot.
Q&A
Q: Who can be a custody evaluator in California? A: A licensed psychiatrist or physician with a psychiatry residency, a licensed psychologist, marriage and family therapist, clinical social worker or professional clinical counselor, or a court-certified evaluator — and only after completing the state's domestic violence, child abuse and child sexual abuse training.²
Q: Can I show the evaluation report to my new partner or my parents? A: The report is confidential and goes to the parties, their counsel and the child's counsel, and otherwise only to the recipients the cross-referenced sections allow. An unwarranted disclosure — reckless or malicious and not in the child's best interest — can draw monetary sanctions against the disclosing party.¹
Q: Do I have to pay for it? A: For a court-appointed investigator whose expense the court paid, the court may order repayment only after inquiring into your financial condition and finding you able to pay all or part.³ A private evaluator's fee is set in the appointing order; raise inability to pay before it is made.
Q: Does the evaluator decide custody? A: No. The report is evidence for the judge, who decides. You may cross-examine the evaluator and offer rebuttal evidence.
Our therapist directory: See its current status →
Sources
- Cal. Family Code §3111 — appointment "where the court determines it is in the best interest of the child"; the confidential written report, "if directed by the court," filed at least ten days before the hearing and served on the parties, their attorneys and counsel for the child; the limits on who may receive it and the cross-referenced exceptions; and monetary sanctions against the disclosing party, with the substantial-justification and unjust-sanction exceptions, for a disclosure that is "either recklessly or maliciously, and is not in the best interest of the child" — california.public.law.
- Cal. Family Code §3110.5 — the domestic violence and child abuse training requirement, the licensure list in force since 1 January 2005, the child sexual abuse training requirement, the no-qualifying-evaluator exception in subdivision (d), and the Judicial Council's rule-making duty — california.public.law.
- Cal. Family Code §3112 — the court "shall inquire into the financial condition" of the parent, guardian or other person and may order repayment where it finds them "able to pay all or part of the expense" — california.public.law.
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