Often, the greatest battle in a divorce is not about money, but about who will have custody of the children. If there is a custody dispute, a child custody evaluation may be an important aspect of the case.  It is intrinsic to child custody disputes that one or both parties may be dissatisfied with the evaluator's recommendation. Whatever those objections, hopefully, there should be no question concerning the evaluator's ethics or objectivity.

Dr. Jonathan Gould suggests that "the primary focus for evaluators is to understand the child development research and then apply relevant research to each case."  Task one includes an examination of the parenting history of each child.  Is the child the beneficiary of joint caretaking by both parents? Has the child exhibited any qualms or difficulties related to being cared for by each parent while the family was intact? What can the evaluator predict about potential risk to the child if there was or was not shared parenting responsibilities or if the parents belittle each other?