What is a 730 Evaluation?
A 730 Evaluation happens when an expert is appointed to a court case to help decide an issue involving a custody battle of a child or children.
A 730 Evaluation happens when an expert is appointed to a court case to help decide an issue involving a custody battle of a child or children.
Author: Brad Nakase, Attorney
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A 730 Evaluation happens when an expert is appointed to a court case to help decide an issue. The court’s ability to appoint an expert stems from Evidence Code 730, which allows family courts to hire experts in a particular area.
730 Evaluations often come up in custody battles, especially when one or both parents allege abuse, or when one parent is attempting to move the child to another state or country.
Example: Clara remembers the ugly purple bruises on her son Antony’s arms. She remembers how her husband, coming home from work, stepped on a Lego and roughly shook their little boy. Her husband would constantly grab and pinch their son as a form of punishment. Antony is terrified of his father. Now that Clara is divorcing her husband, she must battle for custody of her son. Her lawyer has advised her to make a 730 Evaluation to help her win custody of Antony.
The expert appointed to a custody case for a 730 evaluation will be board-certified, or otherwise meet the required licensing standards. Child custody evaluators include:
The expert will evaluate the child’s health, safety, and welfare by studying documents such as the following:
It is normal for an expert to interview the child, the parents, relatives, teachers, and any other individuals who might offer information regarding the child’s welfare. The expert might also study how each parent interacts with the child to assess their one-on-one relationships. The expert might have the parents assessed to determine any psychological, personality, and parenting issues.
The expert will summarize his or her findings in a court document called a “730 Report and Recommendation.” The report contains information for the court to consider when making a judgement on the case. Lawyers for both parties will often try to find holes in the experts’ logic or findings.
Though 730 Evaluations often decide a dispute, in the event they do not, experts may be called into court to testify. This is when lawyers will try to strengthen or invalidate the expert’s testimony. Sometimes a party will hire another expert, called a 733 Evaluator, to prepare his or her own report. This report specifically tries to discredit the 730 expert.
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