Family Law Consulting

Bringing family therapy expertise to the family law arena

 

What we Provide

Forensic Evaluations & Consulting

Specializing in forensic family law evaluations and consulting for high conflict families in the Florida Courts. Heather has extensive experience navigating the family law court system advocating for minor children both as an evaluator and as an expert witness.

Social Investigations

Formerly called Custody Evaluations in Florida.

Social Investigations are often used when more extensive information is needed about children and parents involved in high-conflict cases when the issues of time-sharing and parental responsibility are in dispute. It is a process by which an impartial professional completes an investigation and makes recommendations to the court regarding the best interest of the child(ren). The investigation typically includes interviews of the parents and children, interviews with collateral sources, home visits, and a records review culminating in a formal report with recommendations to the court.

Guardian ad litem

A Guardian ad Litem is a court-appointed special advocate that helps the voices of children involved in judicial proceedings be heard. These children may be abused, neglected, abandoned, or embroiled in their parents’ ongoing litigation. The GAL is a neutral third party who represents the child(ren) and their best interests in Court, and independently conducts a thorough investigation on behalf of the child. Recommendations are made based on what is best for the child(ren) in order to help ensure that each child’s physical safety, psychological health, and emotional well-being are properly protected. 

Consulting for Coparenting

Co-Parent Counseling can help divorced, divorcing, and never-married parents identify current problems, stressors, and challenges the family faces as well as providing the parents with strategic solutions to everyday problems.  This is a self-referred, collaborative, and proactive process and is not court-ordered Parenting Coordination.

Co-Parenting is an essential component to creating stable and healthy environments for your children’s overall psychological development and physical growth within two households. When there is a lack of congruence between parenting styles, it can become confusing for the children to operate at their best. Due to the complexity of the co-parenting dynamic, parents may face challenges where they disagree on what’s best for their children or struggle to meet their children’s needs. Consequently, parents may resort to parallel parenting or high-conflict co-parenting which results in utilizing the legal system as the default mechanism for problem solving.

Consulting for Mental Health Professionals

Consultation for other mental health providers who may find themselves in the role of the therapist for a client who is involved in legal proceedings in the family court system. Although many mental health providers seek to avoid being brought into legal matters, it is often unavoidable over the course of your professional career, particularly if you work with minor children in high conflict families.  Consultation can help providers navigate this unique dynamic and bridge the gap of knowledge between the two fields so that you can appropriately advocate for yourself and for your client(s). 

  • Case Consultation
  • Updating your practice policies, fees, and paperwork
  • Writing & editing summaries of treatment for legal purposes
  • Navigating the intersection of laws & your professional ethics
  • Understanding how and when to respond to subpoenas and court orders
  • Preparation for court appearances

Getting Started

Forensic evaluations cannot be scheduled online.

All Social Investigations and Guardian ad Litem work must be court ordered in the 3rd, 4th, and 8th Florida Circuits only at this time.

Co-Parenting Consulting & Consulting for Clinicians is available by telehealth across Florida.

Please e-mail us for current availability to take new cases, court order language, and instructions for serving court-related documents to ensure proper receipt.

=

Current Fees & Retainer for Social Investigations & Guardian Ad Litem

$250/hour with a $5,000 retainer

Consulting for Co-Parents

$200 for 60 min sessions

=

Consulting for Clinicians

$100 for providers who are students, interns, and/or from marginalized populations

$150 for fully licensed providers

Presets Color

Primary
Secondary