When there are allegations of abuse of a child the State of Utah and the Courts take it very seriously. If you are facing a divorce that involves child custody and abuse then you need a divorce lawyer that understands how to present the case to the family law courts in Utah.
Child Custody Evaluations
If there are allegations of abuse it is most likely that your divorce case will either be assigned a Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) or/and a child custody evaluator. Each person whether the GAL or the child custody evaluator should be deciding what is in your children’s best interest when it comes to parent time and custody. In both scenarios you need to understand the law and potential bias each of them have when giving their opinion in your case.
“Clinicians often present their logic and personal values under the guise of behavioral-scientific truth without disclosing that we have no reliable clinical method to do this weighing. Simple logic and subjective values do not represent specialized knowledge.” (Tippins & Wittmann, 2005, p.2002).
You need to make sure that your GAL and/or child custody evaluator have the necessary skills and expertise to really take the time to learn about your case and do a true and correct evaluation. These are your children, and they are the focal point of your divorce. If the GAL is leaning toward giving your spouse parent time even with the allegations of abuse, you need to make sure such visits are supervised and that there are proper procedures in place to protect the children from the abuse.
If you are facing a divorce with child abuse you need divorce lawyers that understand the complexity of child custody cases. The divorce lawyers at Arnold, Wadsworth & Coggins will take the time to evaluate your case and gather the evidence needed to help protect your children. Call us today for a free consultation.
