Child Custody and Mental Health: Recent Case from Louisiana’s Fourth Circuit

A recent court ruling from Louisiana’s Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals may make it more burdensome to seek child custody. This ruling makes it possible and almost inevitable that whenever a court finds that it is necessary for a mental or children evaluation to be performed as part of a child custody determination, that an independent medical examination must also be ordered. This has huge implications as it could become a slippery slope to request a mental or children evaluation.

The Fourth Circuit previously noted that it had established previously only standards for applying for independent medical examinations to personal injury lawsuits. These requirements are that the physical or mental capacity of a party is a question before the court to decide and there is “good cause” for the court to order an examination. The court found that though independent medical examinations have been applied mostly in the past to personal injury lawsuits, there is nothing in the law to prevent it from being applied to child custody cases.

Significantly, this court found that when the trial judge found enough reason to grant a mental or children evaluation, the trial judge was fulfilling both of the requirements necessary for an independent medical examination. The court found that a judge must allow a party to seek an independent medical examination if the court has previously has allowed the parties to get a mental or children evaluation.

Mental or child evaluations are often ordered when one party makes allegations against another party. While they are not common, they are not infrequent, either. This ruling essentially will make it more costly to pursue a mental or children evaluation as whatever party who is unhappy with the mental or children evaluation will probably seek a second opinion in the form of an independent medical examination.

The Fourth Circuit court also found that the party’s mental state is not necessarily at issue in all child custody cases. This, at least, allows for a way for a court to avoid the huge costs that would result in child custody cases associated with a mental or children evaluation. The unfortunate part, though, is that trial courts will lose a valuable tool to help them make a decision on the children’s best interest by bringing in expertise, without having costs adding to the problems of the dispute.

Ultimately, this ruling by the Fourth Circuit should have minimal impact on child custody cases in general. It will have a huge effect, however, on cases where the issue of mental fitness of one of the party’s is in question. For these latter types of cases, this ruling puts trial judges in a difficult position as they have to weigh the best interests of the children with the exorbitant fees that can quickly accumulate if they allow for a mental or custody evaluation to proceed. In other words, for parents who truly wish to have a long, drawn out court battle, this recent decision will vastly help to facilitate putting the other parent through as much hardship as possible while searching for an expert to say something bad about the other parent.

The above material is intended for information purposes only. It is not intended as professional legal advice and should not be construed as such. Attorney Will Beaumont practices in New Orleans, La.