April 16, 2026
When Can a Parent Be Ordered to Submit to a Psychological Evaluation?
When Can a Parent Be Ordered to Submit to a Psychological Evaluation?
It is not unusual for a court to order one or both parents to undergo a psychological evaluation as part of a custody dispute. This can occur whether the parents are married, no longer married or never married. An evaluation can provide the court with important information to take into account as it determines the best interests of a child and fashions custody or visitation orders.
The power of a court to order a psychological evaluation is not unlimited. One limitation relates to when in the court case an evaluation can be ordered. After the case starts? As part of the final custody or visitation judgment?
After a fully contested custody and visitation trial, the court in Raymond v. Briere, granted Dad primary physical custody with residence for school purposes as well as joint legal custody with final decision making authority. Mom was granted visitation rights. As part of that final judgment of custody and visitation, the court also ordered Mom to submit to a psychological evaluation.
Mom successfully appealed the trial court order that she submit to a psychological evaluation – (meaning she did not have to take the examination).
The Appellate Court, Raymond v. Briere, 236 Conn.App. 589 (2026) recited the longstanding rule that a court may only order the evaluation after the legal case has started and while it is ongoing. But not as part of a final judgment. This makes sense if you remember the primary purpose of the court ordered evaluation in the first place – to give the court information helpful in rendering the final custody order. Once the court makes a decision and enters the order, it has no need for the evaluation.
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