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Louisiana Custody

Louisiana custody is easy to understand once you know how the system really works.

Unfortunately what the politicians in Tallahassee tell you about child custody in Louisiana isn't necessarily accurate.

The system isn't quite as fair as you'd like to believe.

When you look at child custody guidelines in Louisiana, you'll see references to "primary caretaker" and "more qualified" parent.

In none of the official guidelines will you find the intangible criteria actually used to establish child custody in the real world.

If you and your spouse can't decide child custody yourselves, the state of Louisiana will decide where your children live.

The determination of child custody starts when you file a motion at your local county family law courthouse.

At some point, the county will assign a Louisiana custody evaluator who will meet with the parties involved; including the school, doctors, etc.

The county will conduct an evaluation to establish which of the two of you is the best parent for your children.

The process starts by having the assigned evaluator perform the evaluation.

Additionally, expect to be subjected to a psychological profile and when competed, the custody evaluator will write and submit their report to family court.

The completed evaluation report will be sent to you.

Most people believe custody is determined by the judge, when in fact custody is determined by an evaluator, not the judge.

The judge will read the evaluators report and because the judge knows very little about you, your spouse, your children, or your family setting rubber stamp it.

Because there's no way the judge is going to overrule the evaluators recommendation after they have conducted extensive research and issued their report.

If your involved in a highly contested dispute, expect the judge to order the guardian ad litem to protect your children's interests during the evaluation.

This person will not decide custody, they only act as a advocate for the children to make sure their interest is protected while you and your spouse about custody.

Guardians can be lawyers or social workers as long as they are approved by the court and there are private guardian ad litems as well as public ones employed by your local Louisiana county.

A private guardian ad litem will charge from $50 per hour to upwards of $400, as opposed to a public guardian who generally charge much less..

It's typical for spouses to share the cost of the guardian ad litem.

If the cost of a guardian ad litem is an issue for you, one can be provided free of change.

If you want your Louisiana custody case executed properly, Matt O'Connell's divorce guide is the ultimate resource for you. Matt O'Connell is the leading expert on the Internet and has been providing divorce advice in Louisiana since 2005.

Matt is the leading expert on the Internet and has been providing divorce advice since 2005.

In his guide, he details the entire divorce process and common pitfalls.

Even if you're using a attorney, his advice will still save you thousands and get you a better result.

So Click Here to give Matt's advice a try.