GLASTONBURY, CONNECTICUT · FAMILY LAW + FAMILY-VIOLENCE DEFENSE
In a contested custody case the court may bring in someone whose job is to look at the family independently. There are a few different roles, they are not interchangeable, and parents are often unclear which one they are dealing with.
Guardian ad litem (GAL). Appointed under C.G.S. §46b-54 to advocate for the child’s best interests as the GAL assesses them. A GAL may recommend something the child does not want.
Attorney for the minor child (AMC). Also appointed under §46b-54, but representing the child as a client — advocating for the child’s expressed position, subject to the professional rules.
Family Relations. The court’s own Family Services division conducts studies and evaluations, including under C.G.S. §46b-6, which allows the court to order an investigation into the circumstances of a case.
A private custody evaluator, usually a mental health professional, where the court or the parties want a clinical evaluation.
Interview the parents, usually more than once. Meet the child. Speak to teachers, therapists, physicians, and sometimes relatives or new partners. Observe the child with each parent. Review records. Then report to the court.
Considerable, in practice. The court is not bound by it, but a report that is thorough and well-supported is difficult to displace — which is why engagement during the process matters more than argument about it afterward.
Be on time, be organized, be reachable. Answer what is asked. Provide documents when requested.
The behaviour that damages parents is predictable: disparaging the other parent at length, coaching a child, over-preparing a home for a visit, and treating the evaluator as an adversary to be managed. Evaluators have seen all of it.
The behaviour that helps is equally predictable: being able to say something accurate and positive about the other parent’s relationship with the child, and showing concrete knowledge of the child’s daily life.
Fees are allocated between the parents under C.G.S. §46b-62, based on ability to pay. This is a real cost in a contested case and worth understanding before litigation expands into territory that requires it.
There is no age at which a Connecticut child chooses which parent to live with. What the court actually does with a child’s wishes.
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Family violence is an explicit custody factor in Connecticut, and the definition includes coercive control. How it affects parenting orders.
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Connecticut custody attorney Daniel M. Morton on legal and physical custody, parenting plans, relocation, and how judges decide. Glastonbury office.
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Every case starts with a conversation about what you’re facing and what it would take to handle it.
