Child Custody Evaluations
In a seriously contested custody case, a Texas judge can order a child custody evaluation — a trained evaluator interviews both parents and the children, visits homes, pulls records, and writes a report the court takes very seriously. It is one of the most consequential events in any custody case. Here is what it actually looks like, what it costs, and how to walk through it well.
Already have an evaluation ordered in your case? Call now — (817) 382-8333.
What it is
Texas law defines a child custody evaluation as an evaluative process, ordered by the court in a contested case, that produces information, opinions, and recommendations about conservatorship, possession and access, or other questions affecting your children. It's governed by Chapter 107 of the Texas Family Code (Section 107.101 and the sections that follow), which spells out who may serve as an evaluator, what they must do, and what goes in the report.
Courts treat evaluations as a serious step — Tarrant County's own Family Court Services describes them as appropriate for cases with severe or complex issues, essentially a last resort. If one has been ordered in your case, the court wants an independent set of eyes on your family before it decides. That's not a reason to panic. It's a reason to prepare.
The evaluator does not decide your case. The judge does. But judges give real weight to a thorough, professional report — which is why how you show up during the evaluation matters so much.
The process
Texas Family Code § 107.109 sets the basic elements every custody evaluation must include. Expect all of these.
Anyone seeking conservatorship, possession, or access sits for a personal interview — usually starting at the evaluator's office.
Children four and older are interviewed in a developmentally appropriate way, outside the presence of either parent.
The evaluator watches how your children interact with you — and with the other parent — including during supervised visitation if that's in place.
Other children living in the home are observed and interviewed too, and every adult occupant's criminal history and any abuse-or-neglect history is considered.
School records, medical and mental-health records, CPS history, and criminal history — evaluators verify, they don't take anyone's word for it.
Teachers, doctors, relatives, and others who know your children can be contacted to confirm or challenge what the parents say.
The heart of the report: the quality of the relationship between the children and each person seeking possession or access.
Courts can also order more: home studies, psychometric testing, joint interviews, and other elements the judge considers necessary.
Who conducts it — and what it costs
This is the part almost nobody explains up front, and it can change the economics of your whole case.
Tarrant County's family courts have their own in-house evaluation unit — Family Court Services, part of the Domestic Relations Office at the Family Law Center in Fort Worth.
Dallas County's Domestic Relations Office also has a Family Court Services division that conducts court-ordered custody and adoption evaluations for the family district courts.
Counties without a family-court-services unit — including most counties where I practice outside Tarrant and Dallas — rely on private child custody evaluators.
Watch
I'm putting together a short video walking through exactly what happens in a Texas custody evaluation — what evaluators look for, and the mistakes I've watched parents make. It will live right here.
VIDEO COMING SOON
How to prepare
General guidance that holds in nearly every evaluation. Your case-specific preparation is something we do together.
The result
When the evaluation is complete, the evaluator prepares a written report with findings, opinions, recommendations, and answers to any specific questions the court asked (Texas Family Code § 107.113). Copies go to each side's attorney — and to any attorney or guardian ad litem appointed for the children.
Here's my honest opinion after 18 years in these courtrooms: by the time a contested custody case reaches a final decision, the evaluator's report has usually shaped about 80% of the judge's thinking. That's how much weight it carries. But the other 20% is where cases get won — because reports can be beat.
A favorable report becomes leverage: many cases settle shortly after the report lands, because both sides can finally see how a trial is likely to go. An unfavorable report is not the end — it can be challenged through cross-examination, competing evidence, and in some situations a review of the evaluator's methodology. Either way, what happens next is a strategy decision we make deliberately.
The first step
Whether an evaluation has already been ordered in your case or you think one is coming, the $500 Case Review & Plan of Action gives you a clear-eyed read on your facts — including whether an evaluation helps you or hurts you, who should conduct it, and exactly how to prepare.
The parties do, in the shares the court orders. In Tarrant County, Family Court Services charges each party a set county fee — historically around $500 per party, though it may be higher now — that must be paid before the evaluation is even assigned. Dallas County's Family Court Services uses a sliding scale based on the parties' finances, historically in a similar range. With a private evaluator, the parties pay the evaluator's professional fees directly, which costs substantially more. How that cost gets allocated between you and the other parent is something the court decides and your lawyer can fight about.
Longer than anyone wants. Tarrant County Family Court Services tells parties to expect a minimum of about 90 days after all fees are paid — and that assumes full cooperation from everyone. Private evaluations vary with the evaluator's caseload and the complexity of the case, but several months is normal. Build that timeline into your expectations for the whole case.
Yes, if they're four or older — that's a required element under the Family Code. The interview is done in a developmentally appropriate way, outside the presence of either parent, sometimes at the office, sometimes at school or home. The single best thing you can do is not coach them and not debrief them afterward. Let them be kids; let the professional do their job.
No. The judge — not the evaluator — decides conservatorship and possession, and the standard is always the best interest of the children. But a thorough report from a qualified evaluator carries real weight, and judges rely on evaluations precisely because they're an independent look inside both homes. Practically: a strong report is major leverage, and a bad one needs a real litigation answer, not wishful thinking.
Not realistically. The evaluation is a court order, and non-cooperation gets documented and reported to the judge deciding your children's future. If you believe the evaluation was improperly ordered, or the evaluator has a conflict or lacks the required qualifications, the answer is a legal challenge through the court — not silence. That's a conversation to have with your lawyer immediately, not after you've skipped two appointments.
Then a private child custody evaluator conducts it, and the parties pay privately. Texas sets meaningful minimum qualifications for private evaluators — licensed mental-health professionals with specific training and supervised evaluation experience. Who gets appointed matters enormously, and you usually have input. In some cases it's also worth asking whether the case can properly be heard in a county that has Family Court Services — a venue question with real dollars attached.
The $500 Case Review & Plan of Action tells you what your facts support, how the evaluation fits your strategy, and exactly what each next step costs.
If you have a court date coming, call now — (817) 382-8333.
Related: Child Custody · Divorce · Modifications & Enforcement