Does Your Diagnosis Matter in Your Child Custody Case?

Child custody cases are tough on everyone. When one parent has a mental health diagnosis things can get very complicated. On this episode of Welcome to Splitsville, we explore how a parent’s mental health diagnosis may affect a child custody case.

Today’s conversation is with Sean Knuth, a licensed psychologist in North Carolina who specializes in forensic psychology. Sean works with the Mecklenburg County Forensic Evaluation Unit as the Director of Training and operates a practice dealing with high-conflict child custody cases.

Sean opens the podcast by discussing the danger of relying solely on a mental health diagnosis in determining a person’s ability to effectively parent their child. 2:44 Sean then explains his process for determining how a mental health diagnosis may affect parenting ability. 3:16

Sean discusses working with parents who raise concerns over the effectiveness of the other parent as a result of a mental health issue. 11:55 Sean then talks about the difficulty of predicting how a court will view a diagnosis and the necessity of analyzing each case individually. 15:44 Sean wraps up the podcast by highlighting the importance of asking, "how well does the person parent?" rather than "what is the parent's diagnosis?" 19:19

For more information about Sean’s practice or to contact him, visit his website at www.sbkphd.com.

If you have questions about a custody case, consult a local family law attorney. If you are in North or South Carolina, you can contact Leigh Sellers and her team at www.TouchstoneFamilyLaw.com

The insights and views presented in “Welcome to Splitsville” are for general information purposes only and should not be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. Nor does tuning in to this podcast constitute an attorney-client relationship of any kind. If you’re ready for compassionate and reliable legal guidance on your journey through divorce, contact Leigh Sellers and her team at www.TouchstoneFamilyLaw.com