Experts in Family Law Matters
What needs to be considered following separation?
In family law matters, a report can be prepared by an ‘expert’ in relation to a child, a parent or the family (which may include new partners, grandparents and others concerned with the care, welfare and development of a child). These reports are referred to as ‘expert reports’ or ‘family reports’ or ‘medical reports’. A report in relation to a child should be commissioned ‘jointly’ by the parents and the costs associated with the report are generally shared equally between them.
Under the Family Law system in Australia, a single expert witness can be engaged by the parties as the independent professional to provide an expert opinion on specific issues in their matter. This can be in parenting and financial matters. The single expert’s primary duty is to assist the Court in determining the issues in dispute before it and this duty overrides any other duty or obligation to the parties who may be paying their fees.
Our family lawyers can discuss with you the benefits of having a single expert prepare a report and when to engage the expert. Single experts are engaged ‘jointly’ and the fees of the expert are shared between the parties (unless otherwise agreed or the Court otherwise orders).
The types of expert witnesses in family law proceedings include the following:
Psychologists or social workers (family report writer)
Child and family psychiatrists
Medical specialists
Property valuers
Financial consultants or forensic accountants
Roles of the Single Expert
A single expert appointed under the Court Rules typically has the following roles:
Undertaking a comprehensive assessment
Providing a report with opinions or outcomes based on their qualifications and speciality
Giving evidence at a trial if required
Single experts are not always appointed at the commencement of your family law matter, and it is important to know when it is appropriate to engage them. Our lawyers have extensive experience helping clients navigate the appointment of a single expert, the role of the expert and explaining the reports prepared by them.
A single expert must be impartial.
What does a ‘family report’ entail?
An expert family report writer is either jointly engaged by the parties or appointed by order of the Court. It is useful in many parenting disputes to obtain a report prior to commencing Court proceedings and in preparation for mediation. During the assessment process, the children (where age appropriate), parents and sometimes others involved in the care, welfare and development of your children are interviewed by the expert. For example, grandparents or new partners.
If there are active Court proceedings, court documents, information from Subpoena documents and Orders made will also be provided to the expert. The judicial officer allocated to your matter can also specify those matters they want the expert to consider.
If a report or document is disclosed in a parenting matter and it has not been prepared pursuant to joint instructions from both parents, it is not an ‘expert’ report. It is subjective and can be considered a one-sided report. A good example of a one-sided report is where one parent takes a child or children to a psychologist without informing the other parent or involving them in the process, and that therapist writes a report recommending parenting arrangements.
A report or medical document, such as a letter from a child’s counsellor, obtained unilaterally by one party must be disclosed to the other party. This is not an ‘expert’ report but may be useful in negotiations to identify a child’s needs or health concerns. For example, if your child has been diagnosed by their treating Doctor as having diabetes, a medical report from that medical professional will be helpful to understand your child’s routines and special medical needs.
At Parry Coates Family Law, we will walk you through the interview process and help you digest and interpret the expert’s report once it is released.
What does a valuation entail?
A single expert valuer in a financial matter is often a forensic accountant or real property valuer. They are jointly engaged to undertake an assessment and valuation of the parties’ business interests or real property. Instructions to the single expert are given ‘jointly’.
As with most experts, if there are active Court proceedings, the court documents and orders are provided to the expert. The expert accountant will also receive the financial documents for the business (trust or company) and they generally inform the parties of the documents they require.
During the assessment and valuation process, the single expert may visit the business premises and speak with the parties and/or their accountant. The real property valuer will attend at and inspect the real property.
A valuation report is useful in the preparation for mediation. When the valuation report is released, our family lawyers will meet with you to discuss the report.