Customer Reviews

Complex Issues in Child Custody Evaluations

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book should definately be read by a lay person to obtain an understanding of the thinking in the custody evaluation process. An understanding of the family law process is a plus when reading the book. Generally, I found the book short of definitive guidance in the area of custody evalations and overpriced. Regardless of these shortfalls, the book is worth reading and consulting before treading the murky waters of a custody evaluation.

An absolute must for any mental health professional who does any custody related work, or any attorney who ever has, or might, handle a divorce case with contested custody!Phil Stahl is one of the most coherent, literate and useful writers in this area; he has the experience, the knowledge and a great way of telling it all so that it makes a great deal of sense. No library is complete without this title!

Highly comprehensive work in the area of child custody evaluations. Not for lay people. Highly recommended for psychologists and a must for Family Law attorneys dealing with child custody determinations.

This book contains dated information.

In addition the copy I received was previously owned by someone who apparently could not read without a yellow highlighter, and a pen to make marginal notes. Not a good copy.

However, the most disheartening aspect of the condition of the book lies in the fact that chapter 9, on multicultural issues, has been totally removed. It appears as though a razor blade was used to remove the chapter.

Not worth the price I paid

As a psychologist in private practice in Danville, CA specializing in child custody evaluations and well known in child custody circles as the "rich man's expert" he encourages you to use the services of an evaluator. It often takes more than 4 months and costs in California $1,500.00 per parent and up.


"If common sense dictates, the use of identical or similar words and phrases could simply reflect the telling of the truth, as in corroborating testimony. (excerpt from `High Conflict Divorce or Stalking by Way of Family Court? The Empowerment of a Wealthy Abuser in Family Court Litigation: Linda v. Lyle - A Case Study')" Stahl does not acknowledge that and offers no advice as to how to distinguish one situation from the other. This self proclaimed expert's own words say it best, "Explaining that the custody evaluation, which relegates the unlucky parent to the role of visitor, perhaps at best, is released only to the attorneys and not to the litigants because "it is a violation of confIdentiality for the parents to have a copy of the report."

Get what you can from his words but be prepared to pay dearly for opinions with very little science behind them.