Divorce and Children in Court: Do you need an expert?
Sometimes a family court case needs expert help that cannot be provided by the court itself. In cases concerning children for example, experts might be asked to carry out a parenting or contact assessment. The court has access to the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service officers to do some of this work
. These officers are usually social work trained and often are asked to look into what is best for a child including that child’s wishes and feelings. Sometimes parents decide to instruct privately paid independent social workers instead. This might be for various reasons including choice, and speed.
In some court cases regarding children, parents can sometimes disagree very strongly about the causes of any contact problems. The residential parent might suggest it is because the absent parent has behaved unreasonably, unpleasantly, or abusively. Conversely, the residential parent night find themselves accused of ‘poisoning’ the child’s mind, or alienating them and being hostile to contact. Also, if you are right in the middle of an emotional and distressing break-up, it can be difficult to recognise if your child might have additional needs and might in fact be struggling with issues unrelated to the family. School can be a stressful environment at times, or they might have a condition such as Autistic Spectrum Disorder, which might make transition from one parent to the other particularly difficult. If a child finds it difficult to go between parents, that difficulty can become part of a conflict. One parent can conclude that the problem lies with the other parent, when the issue may in fact be that the child needs some help with transitioning from one home to another.
If you are in a family situation where you are finding it difficult to see your child, or the other parent has behaved in such a way that your child is very reluctant to see them and you fear you might be blamed for this situation, it is important to take some advice. Things can change dramatically when an expert becomes involved. Careful thought needs to be given to what the consequences might be of introducing outside experts as they do have a very powerful impact on the Court.
In divorce cases, it is not unusual to involve experts to help understand pensions. Actuaries can be instructed to report on how pensions can be shared to produce equal incomes in older age.
If you want to bring in an expert, you will need the court to agree. The judge will want to understand the reason you put them forward, consider if the expert is suitable and necessary. The strong preference is for an expert to be instructed by both parties, i.e. to have only one expert reporting on a matter. Experts are funded by both parties usually, but no matter who funds or instructs the expert, their duty is strictly to the court.
If you have any questions or queries, please feel free to email me on [email protected].
Sarah Beskine
Family Lawyer, mediator, and collaborative lawyer