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A Custody Evaluation, also known as a 4-903 Evaluation, investigates the needs of the child and the parents' understanding of and responsiveness to those needs. It is ordered by the Court when recommendations are needed on custody, parent-time, or other referred issues. They assess everyone in the family dynamic, so it can give specifics on parents' abilities to meet their children's needs, also known as the parent-child fit.


This process includes, but is not limited to:

  • Interviews
  • Follow up Interviews
  • And psychological testing for each parent.
  • Child interviews
  • Parent-child observations with each parent. These typically occur in parents’ homes and in the office.
  • Interviews and psychological testing for other adults that live in the home
  • Collecting extensive collateral data from a variety of sources.


Custody evaluations conclude with a Settlement Conference where the evaluator presents their recommendations to counsel and the parents. A mediator is usually present to facilitate communication.


Parent Time Evaluations, Limited Scope Evaluations, and Brief Focused Assessments are all considered 4-902 evaluations. Per the UT courts website, a 4-902 evaluation provides “the court observations about the issues referred. The report shall not contain the investigator’s recommendations, nor may the investigator testify about recommendations.” This means that 4-902 evaluations provide information to parents, counsel, and the court on particular issues to help them reach resolutions. These evaluations do not lead to recommendations because they lack the breadth and depth of full 4-903 evaluations. 




A Forensic Psychological Evaluation provides information on a parent’s psychological functioning (e.g., stresses, coping strategies, cognitive abilities, relationship skills, etc.) to the court. It doesn't necessarily address parenting ability, though psychological functioning is a component of parenting.



A Mediation Based Custody Consultation (MBCC) is a brief process that allows parents and their attorneys to have information from a child custody evaluator that may help them settle their differences in mediation. The information gathered is in the mediation context, which means that it remains completely confidential and may never be used in a court setting or be revealed to persons other than the parents and their attorneys. 


This process involves:
• Interviews of each parent, alone
• Interviews of the children (usually for children over the age of five – each parent brings the children in on separate days)
• Review of pertinent written information


After the therapist gathers information about your family, they will meet with you, your attorneys and a mediator to tell you about your family, about the issues the children are facing, and ways that you can resolve your differences without having to move towards trial. The therapist may offer suggestions about ways to manage parent time, communication and other issues you have not been able to solve alone.
If the consultation information provided in the mediation does not help you resolve your parenting dilemmas, you may always return to a “litigation track” and have another professional conduct a formal evaluation of the family that can be used in a trial setting.