Psychologists, custody evaluators and therapists may testify in Georgia custody cases, but none of them decides custody. The judge does, and the judge cannot hand that decision to an expert.
Who the Experts Are
One is a custody evaluator appointed by the court, whose recommendation the judge may weigh under OCGA 19-9-3(a)(3)(O). A child’s therapist may testify too, and a guardian ad litem testifies as an expert on the child’s best interest. Our posts on custody evaluations and on the guardian ad litem’s testimony cover those roles.
The Judge Cannot Delegate the Decision
In Johnson v. Johnson, 290 Ga. 359 (2012), a divorce decree required supervision of a father’s overnight visits until the child’s therapist “determines that supervision is not necessary,” and gave the therapist authority to decide “when supervision may end.” The Georgia Supreme Court ordered that provision stricken, repeating its rule that “[w]hile the expert’s opinion may serve as evidence supporting the trial court’s decision to modify … visitation, the decision must be made by the trial court, not the expert.”
A Therapist Can Still Have a Role
That does not keep therapists out of custody orders. In Pate v. Sadlock, 345 Ga. App. 591 (2018), the trial court accepted a court-appointed reunification specialist’s recommendation and ordered reunification therapy between a father and his children, held in her office under her supervision. The court set a follow-up hearing of its own, and nothing in the order let the specialist decide whether visitation would change. The Court of Appeals found no improper delegation, because “the court retained control of the decision as to whether the father’s visitation should be modified.”
What an Expert May Say
Whether an expert may tell the judge which parent should have custody is a question of evidence law, covered in our post on expert testimony on the ultimate issue. Our posts on expert qualifications and on a biased expert cover the rest.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!