This text of Louisiana § 9:331 (Custody or visitation proceeding; court-ordered mental health evaluation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
§331. Custody or visitation proceeding; court-ordered mental health evaluation
A.The court may order a mental health evaluation of a party or the child in a custody
or visitation proceeding for good cause shown. The mental health evaluation shall be made
by a licensed mental health professional selected by the parties or by the court. The court
may render judgment for the costs of the mental health evaluation, or any part thereof,
against any party or parties as the court may consider equitable, taking into consideration the
parties' ability to pay. The court may also preliminarily allocate costs at the outset and
reserve the right to reallocate costs upon conclusion of the matter.
B.The court may order a party or the child to submit to and cooperate in the mental
health evaluation, test
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§331. Custody or visitation proceeding; court-ordered mental health evaluation
A. The court may order a mental health evaluation of a party or the child in a custody
or visitation proceeding for good cause shown. The mental health evaluation shall be made
by a licensed mental health professional selected by the parties or by the court. The court
may render judgment for the costs of the mental health evaluation, or any part thereof,
against any party or parties as the court may consider equitable, taking into consideration the
parties' ability to pay. The court may also preliminarily allocate costs at the outset and
reserve the right to reallocate costs upon conclusion of the matter.
B. The court may order a party or the child to submit to and cooperate in the mental
health evaluation, testing, or interview by the licensed mental health professional. The
licensed mental health professional shall provide the parties with a written report. The
licensed mental health professional shall serve as a witness, subject to cross-examination by
a party.
C. "Licensed mental health professional" as used in this Chapter means a person who
possesses at least a master's degree and who holds a current unrestricted license in
counseling, social work, psychology, or marriage and family counseling.
D. Any licensed mental health professional appointed by the court to conduct a
mental health evaluation in a case where domestic abuse is an issue shall have current and
demonstrable training and experience working with perpetrators and victims of domestic
abuse.
E. When a licensed mental health professional has been appointed by the court, there
shall be no ex parte communication by the litigants or their attorneys with the licensed
mental health professional unless authorized by law or court order or agreed to by the parties.
All oral communication with the licensed mental health professional shall be by
teleconference or meeting in which each party to the proceeding participates either through
the party's attorney or as a self-represented litigant. All written communication or
correspondence to the licensed mental health professional, along with any attachments
thereto, shall be provided contemporaneously to all parties to the litigation or their attorneys
of record. Communications initiated by the licensed mental health professional with a
litigant for the purpose of conducting the court-ordered evaluation shall not be considered
ex parte communications prohibited by this Subsection.
F. Mental health evaluations conducted pursuant to this Section are subject to the
following evidentiary restrictions:
(1) All opinion testimony offered by a licensed mental health professional shall be
subject to Code of Evidence Articles 702 and 703.
(2) No licensed mental health professional conducting an evaluation pursuant to this
Section shall undertake or perform any other role or function relative to the parties or
children.
(3) Every licensed mental health professional conducting an evaluation pursuant to
this Section shall comply with all statutory and administrative licensing and ethical rules and
regulations otherwise applicable to the profession.
(4) All parties shall have the right to full pretrial discovery of the entire file of the
licensed mental health professional regarding the case, including the right to depose the
licensed mental health professional.
(5) No indigent parent shall be denied the opportunity to depose, cross-examine, or
otherwise challenge a court-appointed licensed mental health professional in the same
manner as a nonindigent parent, and any fees and costs incurred in any such deposition shall
be considered within the purview of Code of Civil Procedure Article 5185.
(6) No evidence concerning polygraphs, voice-stress analysis, or other such
physiological measures shall be admitted into evidence in any form.
(7) All psychological testing, principles, diagnoses, and concepts utilized by a
licensed mental health professional shall be limited to those which have been empirically
established and generally accepted in the mental health profession as valid and reliable for
the parameters and conditions purportedly tested or the issues evaluated.