Family Code Statute changed during custody evaluation

[ibelievethem2015]

If the statute stated one thing when filed for modification, and now has changed, what statute applies?
Custody evaluation was requested and took over a year to complete and during such time the required elements of the evaluation changed significantly- what must they follow?  Evaluator completed and filed his report with the court 4 months after statute wording changed and noted in code.

Please help......

[ocean]

I was always told that they go by filing date of petition and follow those laws.

[MixedBag]

Can I ask HOW or what the differences are?

But initially, I agree with Ocean.

[ibelievethem2015]

MixedBag-

There are major differences - I will post below.  The evaluation took over a year to complete - why, I have no idea. 


Family Code 107.0514 on 1/22/2014 when I filed ORIGINAL PAPERWORK

So - if this text was only effective until September 01, 2015 - then what was in effect between then and when he finally finished his report in January 2016?
   
               

Text of section effective until September 01, 2015

Sec. 107.0514.  ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL STUDY.  (a)  The basic elements of a social study under this subchapter consist of:
(1)  a personal interview of each party to the suit;
(2)  an interview, conducted in a developmentally appropriate manner, of each child at issue in the suit who is at least four years of age;
(3)  observation of each child at issue in the suit, regardless of the age of the child;
(4)  the obtaining of information from relevant collateral sources; ***NOT DONE***
(5)  evaluation of the home environment of each party seeking conservatorship of a child at issue in the suit or possession of or access to the child, unless the condition of the home environment is identified as not being in dispute in the court order requiring the social study; ***NOT DONE***
(6)  for each individual residing in a residence subject to the social study, consideration of any criminal history information and any contact with the Department of Family and Protective Services or a law enforcement agency regarding abuse or neglect; and
(7)  assessment of the relationship between each child at issue in the suit and each party seeking possession of or access to the child. ***NOT DONE***
(b)  The additional elements of a social study under this subchapter consist of:
(1)  balanced interviews and observation of each child at issue in the suit so that a child who is interviewed or observed while in the care of one party to the suit is also interviewed or observed while in the care of each other party to the suit;
(2)  an interview of each individual residing in a residence subject to the social study; and ***NOT DONE***
(3)  evaluation of the home environment of each party seeking conservatorship of a child at issue in the suit or possession of or access to the child, regardless of whether the home environment is in dispute. ***NOT DONE***
(c)  A social study evaluator may not offer an opinion regarding conservatorship of a child at issue in a suit or possession of or access to the child unless each basic element of a social study under Subsection (a) has been completed.  A social study evaluator shall identify in the report any additional element of a social study under Subsection (b) that was not completed and shall explain the reasons that the element was not completed. ***MADE WITHOUT COMPLETE EVALUATION***


Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 832 (H.B. 772), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2007.



FAMILY CODE EFFECTIVE ON SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

Family Code 107.109 on 9/1/2015
   
               Sec. 107.109.  ELEMENTS OF CHILD CUSTODY EVALUATION.  (a)  A child custody evaluator may not offer an opinion regarding conservatorship of a child who is the subject of a suit or possession of or access to the child unless each basic element of a child custody evaluation as described by this section has been completed.

(b)  A child custody evaluator shall:

(1)  identify in the report required by Section 107.113 any basic element or any additional element of a child custody evaluation described by this section that was not completed;

(2)  explain the reasons the element was not completed; and

(3)  include an explanation of the likely effect of the missing element on the confidence the child custody evaluator has in the evaluator's expert opinion.

(c)  The basic elements of a child custody evaluation under this subchapter consist of:

(1)  a personal interview of each party to the suit;

(2)  interviews, conducted in a developmentally appropriate manner, of each child who is the subject of the suit, regardless of the age of the child, during a period of possession of each party to the suit but outside the presence of the party;

(3)  observation of each child who is the subject of the suit, regardless of the age of the child, in the presence of each party to the suit, including, as appropriate, during supervised visitation, unless contact between a party and a child is prohibited by court order or the person conducting the evaluation has good cause for not conducting the observation and states the good cause in writing provided to the parties to the suit before the completion of the evaluation;

(4)  an observation and, if the child is at least four years old, an interview of any child who is not a subject of the suit who lives on a full-time basis in a residence that is the subject of the evaluation, including with other children or parties who are subjects of the evaluation, where appropriate;

(5)  the obtaining of information from relevant collateral sources, including the review of:

(A)  relevant school records;

(B)  relevant physical and mental health records of each party to the suit and each child who is the subject of the suit;

(C)  relevant records of the department obtained under Section 107.111;

(D)  criminal history information relating to each child who is the subject of the suit, each party to the suit, and each person who lives with a party to the suit; and

(E)  any other collateral source that may have relevant information;

[/b](6)  evaluation of the home environment of each party seeking conservatorship of a child who is the subject of the suit or possession of or access to the child, unless the condition of the home environment is identified as not being in dispute in the court order requiring the child custody evaluation;

(7)  for each individual residing in a residence subject to the child custody evaluation, consideration of any criminal history information and any contact with the department or a law enforcement agency regarding abuse or neglect; and

(  assessment of the relationship between each child who is the subject of the suit and each party seeking possession of or access to the child.

(d)  The additional elements of a child custody evaluation under this subchapter consist of:

(1)  balanced interviews and observations of each child who is the subject of the suit so that a child who is interviewed or observed while in the care of one party to the suit is also interviewed or observed while in the care of each other party to the suit;

(2)  an interview of each individual, including a child who is at least four years of age, residing on a full-time or part-time basis in a residence subject to the child custody evaluation;

(3)  evaluation of the home environment of each party seeking conservatorship of a child who is the subject of the suit or possession of or access to the child, regardless of whether the home environment is in dispute;

(4)  observation of a child who is the subject of the suit with each adult who lives in a residence that is the subject of the evaluation;

(5)  an interview, if the child is at least four years of age, and observation of a child who is not the subject of the suit but who lives on a full-time or part-time basis in a residence that is the subject of the evaluation;

(6)  psychometric testing, if necessary, consistent with Section 107.110; and

(7)  the performance of other tasks requested of the evaluator by the court, including:

(A)  a joint interview of the parties to the suit; or

(B)  the review of any other information that the court determines is relevant.


Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 832 (H.B. 772), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2007.

Redesignated and amended from Family Code, Section 107.0514 by Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1252 (H.B. 1449), Sec. 1.10, eff. September 1, 2015.

[MixedBag]

Hmmm....I honestly think it could go either way and I hate to fall back to Welcome to Family Court.

I can share that a long time ago, I thought my divorce said he had to tell me about doctor's stuff.  What it really said was in an emergency.  The WV Code said in a timely manner and that I had equal access to all medical records etc.

After a few examples of where I wasn't being told at all...and even found one where the step-mom took our son and listed herself as the mom....I brought this up in court as one of the several things to complain about.  My stand was "reasonable" did not equal "NEVER"....  Dad was not found in contempt because of what our original order said "emergency".  So at the end, when the judge said "are there any questions" I asked "If the law or state code also give a definition and our decree is older, which way does it go?"  And the judge said that he could have held dad in contempt, but chose not to this time, AND that the judge didn't think I'd have a problem from here on out.  Dad still never told me, I used insurance claims and followed up afterwards that way.... 

But your example is similar and question is the same.

You may find that the judge says "Go back and add the new requirements to your study."

Would the new requirements if documented be a good thing for your case?  You might want to ask that this be done....  and ask for a deadline to be set....

Is this the initial custody evaluation for a divorce and initial custody?