Obtaining evidence in high conflict parenting disputes, part 2: Using experts in parenting disputes.

• Author: Dargatz, Sarah

In most disputes over parenting time, parents come to reasonable decisions about what is in their child's best interests. However, a small percentage of disputes are "high conflict". In high conflict cases, the parents have great difficulty communicating, make decisions together, and treating each other with respect. Each parent may advocate for very different schedules. High conflict cases may be driven by only one unreasonable parent or by both parents (and sometimes by very involved step-parents or extended family). Parents may be dealing with mental health issues, personality disorders, family violence, or simply high emotions that cloud their judgment. Whatever the reason, the court must decide what is ultimately in the child's best interests.

In Part 1, I discussed the use of lawyers for children. Another method the court may use to obtain reliable information about a child's best interests is to get information from experienced and qualified experts, usually psychologists or someone with a master's degree in social work. In some cases a child may already be seeing a therapist, however, these professionals must be very careful about the evidence they share with the court, especially if they have a duty to keep information they have received from their child client confidential. Also, it is a very different task to do therapy than to do an assessment of a child or their situation. Their governing bodies usually do not permit experts to take on both roles. The Alberta court has developed best practices for obtaining information from experts for use in family law proceedings. These are set out in Family Law Practice Notes 7 and 8.

Family Law Practice Note 7: Interventions

An Intervention is a forward-looking evaluative or therapeutic process. It can take many forms depending on what concern is to be addressed. The type and terms of the specific Intervention will be set out in the order.

An evaluative Intervention will provide information to the court. A common type of evaluative Intervention is a "voice of the child" report. The expert canvasses the specific needs and, if the child is mature enough, wishes of the child. They usually meet with both parents and meet with the child more

than once. The child's views, often presented with some evaluation by the expert, are set out in a report.

A therapeutic Intervention attempts to work towards resolution, manage conflict, and make changes to an existing family dynamic. It is an attempt to...