What Is a Social Investigation?

In Florida, what many people know as a Custody Evaluation or Parenting Plan Evaluation is legally referred to as a Social Investigation. Florida courts may appoint a Social Investigator when parents have ongoing disagreements about time-sharing, decision-making, caretaking, relocation, or when there is a history of or allegations of abuse.

Who Conducts Social Investigations?

Under section 61.20 of the Florida Statutes, licensed Marriage and Family Therapists are authorized to conduct social investigations and parenting plan recommendations. Therapists who perform this work in a forensic capacity are qualified to provide the Family Court, the parties, and their attorneys with impartial, competent recommendations centered on the best interests of the child.

It is important to understand that a Social Investigator is not a treating therapist. My role is investigative, not therapeutic — I do not provide treatment to the parties or children involved. My duty is to gather and assess information relevant to the children’s best interests and report my findings and recommendations to the court. Accordingly, nothing shared by a parent, child, or collateral source during the investigation is confidential or privileged.

What Does the Process Involve?

Social investigations are conducted in accordance with nationally established standards of professional conduct and draw on specialized knowledge, training, and experience with issues common in family law. While every case is unique, a standard social investigation generally follows these steps:

• Retainer & Initiation: Once the court order is entered and served, the retainer is collected, and the investigation is formally opened. Each party will receive introductory paperwork outlining the process, expectations, and confidentiality limitations.
• Individual Interviews: The investigator meets separately with each parent to gather each party’s perspective on the concerns before the court, their relationship with the children, and their proposed parenting plan.
• Child Interviews: The investigator meets with the child or children in a setting appropriate to their age and developmental stage to assess their experiences, relationships, and needs.
• Home Visits: The investigator conducts a home visit at each parent’s residence to observe the child’s living environment and the parent-child relationship in a naturalistic setting.
• Collateral Contacts: The investigator may contact collateral sources such as teachers, coaches, therapists, pediatricians, and other individuals with relevant knowledge of the children and family.
• Records Review: Relevant records, including but not limited to communications between the parties, school records, medical and mental health records, prior court filings, DCF investigations, and law enforcement records, are reviewed and considered as part of the overall assessment.
• Report & Recommendations: Once the investigation is complete, the investigator prepares a written report for the court that includes findings and specific recommendations regarding an updated parenting plan, directly addressing the concerns raised by each parent.

Time-sharing recommendations are grounded in the factors set forth in Florida Statute §61.13, which guides the court in determining arrangements that serve the best interests of the child. These factors include:

• The quality of each parent’s relationship with each child
• The relationship between the parents and each parent’s ability and willingness to support the children’s ongoing relationship with the other parent
• Each parent’s parenting skills and capacity
• Each parent’s psychological health and any history of substance use
• The children’s psychological language
• Any evidence of abuse or violence

What is a Guardian ad Litem?

A Guardian ad Litem (GAL) is a specially trained, court-appointed advocate whose role is to investigate or evaluate the circumstances of a case and provide the court with recommendations focused solely on the child’s best interests. In dissolution of marriage and other family law matters involving the creation, approval, or modification of a parenting plan, a court may appoint a GAL when doing so is determined to serve the child’s best interests. Under Florida Statute §61.401, the GAL is appointed to act as the child’s next best friend — as investigator and evaluator, not as attorney or advocate.

From the date of appointment through discharge, the GAL is a party to all judicial proceedings. This includes the right to be present and to participate in depositions, hearings, and other proceedings, and through counsel, to compel the attendance of witnesses.

What Makes Heather Vann a Different Kind of GAL?

GALs in dependency court are typically trained volunteers from a range of professional and life backgrounds. In domestic relations cases, most GALs are family law attorneys retained in that capacity. What is far less common is a GAL who is also a trained mental health professional with specialized clinical experience working with couples, families, and children.

My entire career has been spent working with high-conflict, legally involved families — in family therapy, in forensic evaluation, and in the courtroom. I have been qualified as an expert witness in multiple Florida judicial circuits. That combination of clinical depth and family law experience is what I bring to every GAL appointment: a grounded, compassionate perspective on what children in these families actually need, and the professional credibility to communicate it effectively to the court.