Who's in Charge Here?
Understanding the Cast of Characters in High-Conflict Custody Cases
If you’ve ever looked around the courtroom during a custody hearing and thought, who are all these people and why do they get a say in my child’s life?— you’re not alone.
High-conflict custody battles don’t just pit one parent against another. They often involve a cast of court-appointed professionals, each tasked with representing the “best interest” of the child or playing a role in the court’s decisions.
But depending on who is assigned—and how they interpret their role— these actors can become either lifelines or liabilities for protective parents.
Since Arizona has been in the spotlight recently with its Ad Hoc Committee on Family Court Orders, I’ve focused on how these roles typically function in Arizona. That said, many of these roles exist in other states too. Laws, titles, and oversight vary by jurisdiction, but this breakdown can serve as a general reference point for navigating a high-conflict custody case.
Here’s a (partial) breakdown of the most common roles you might encounter in a high-conflict custody case. I’ll continue the list in a future post. Let me know which roles you want to see covered.
Family Court Judge
Description: The judge assigned to your domestic-relations case; has final say on all motions, evidence, and orders.
Function: Presides at hearings, weighs testimony, adopts or rejects recommendations, and issues enforceable rulings on custody, parenting-time, child support, fees, and if a party is in contempt of court rulings.
Entry Point: Automatically— once a petition (dissolution, paternity, modification) is filed.
Duration: From filing through post-decree motions or until recusal/rotation— often years. In Arizona, judges are appointed to the family courts for periods of three years, then they rotate to another assignment (criminal court, juvenile court, etc)
Appointed/Selected: Merit-selected by the Governor from a commission list in larger counties, then subject to voter-retention elections; smaller counties elect judges directly. See “Selection of Judges”
Qualifications/Certifications: Arizona-licensed attorney ≥ 5 years, resident of county, more than 30 years old; “of good moral character.” (not many job descriptions list this requirement, eh?)
Cost: No hourly fee; parties pay filing fees (≈ $349 to open a divorce in Maricopa County) and motion fees. Judges in AZ might make around $180,000 per year.
Parameters: Bound by Arizona Revised Statutes Title 25, Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure, and case-law precedent.
Oversight: Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct.
File a Complaint: File a written complaint with the Commission (online form); or file a motion for change of judge for cause within court.
Parent’s Attorney / Pro Se Litigant
Description: A licensed lawyer representing one parent—or a parent representing themself (pro se or “pro per”).
Function: Drafts pleadings, negotiates, conducts discovery, questions witnesses, argues law, and proposes decrees.
Entry Point: Hired (or self-files) any time after a case opens; can appear mid-stream if a prior lawyer withdraws.
Duration: Through settlement or final judgment; can remain for enforcement actions.
Appointed/Selected: Each party retains counsel privately; the court rarely appoints counsel in domestic-relations matters.
Qualifications/Certifications: Active member in good standing with the State Bar of Arizona; must meet CLE requirements.
Cost: Hourly $250 – $550+ … I’m interested to hear from readers on this.
Parameters: Must follow Rules of Professional Conduct.
Oversight: State Bar of Arizona Discipline Department.
File a Complaint: File a bar grievance online; for misconduct affecting your case, also move for sanctions in court. Members of the public can search this site to see if a lawyer has been “reprimanded” by the bar.
Guardian ad Litem (GAL) / Best-Interest Attorney
Description: Court-appointed lawyer who speaks for the child’s best interests (GAL) or serves as the child’s own counsel (Best-Interest Attorney).
Function: Investigates family circumstances, interviews parties, reviews records, and presents written and oral recommendations; may examine witnesses.
Entry Point: Any time the judge believes independent child representation is warranted under Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure Rule 10(b)—common in high-conflict or abuse-allegation cases.
Duration: From appointment until final orders (or earlier discharge).
Appointed/Selected: Judge selects; parents may jointly propose names from an approved roster.
Qualifications/Certifications: Arizona attorney in good standing; must complete child-welfare/trauma training and comply with Rule 306 duties.
“An attorney or GAL appointed for a child must explain to the child and the child's caregivers the attorney or GAL's role and the ethical obligations associated with the attorney or GAL's role. A GAL must explain that the GAL has no attorney-client privilege with the child.”
Cost: Often county-funded up front; the court can re-allocate fees to parents; private GALs typically $150 – $300 hour. (Again, I’d be interested to hear from readers)
Parameters: Advocates the child’s best interests; not bound by child’s stated wishes (unless acting as counsel).
Oversight: Ethics Advisory Committee might provide oversight, but I’m not totally clear, I’d need to look into it more; court can replace or strike reports.
File a Complaint: File motion to remove GAL citing specific breaches; file “charge of misconduct” with the State Bar of Arizona online form. Or call 602-340-7280 to speak with someone at the State Bar of Arizona Intake Department.
Custody Evaluator
Description: Licensed psychologist or similarly qualified mental-health professional who performs a structured forensic evaluation of parents, child, and family system.
Function: Interviews, conducts psychological testing, home visits, collateral contacts; delivers written recommendations on legal decision-making and parenting-time.
Entry Point: Ordered when facts are disputed, abuse is alleged, or parenting capacity is questioned.
Duration: Could be 2–6 months (can stretch longer in complex matters).
Appointed/Selected: Court order—often from a “blind list” of vetted evaluators as presented by parents.
Qualifications/Certifications: Arizona-licensed psychologist, psychiatrist, or LPC with specialized forensic-family training; may draw guidance from following American Psychological Association child custody evaluation guidelines and/or Association of Family and Conciliation Courts guidelines.
Cost: $1,500 – $10,000+ in Arizona; complex cases may exceed $15k.
Parameters: Evaluator is supposed to be a neutral expert; report is admitted as evidence but court is not bound to follow it.
Oversight: Arizona Board of Psychologist Examiners
File a Complaint: File board complaint citing ethical breaches; ask court to strike or limit the report and/or appoint a new evaluator.
Details from the psych board:
“A Complaint is filed when unprofessional conduct is alleged against a psychologist, behavior analyst, or applicant for licensure. However, in cases where unprofessional conduct is alleged against a psychologist who provided services that were ordered by the Court, a Claim, rather than a Complaint, should be filed. Before filing a Complaint or Claim, please verify that the individual is licensed by the Board through verification of their license on the Board's directory. If you cannot locate their information on the directory, please contact Board staff by email at investigations@psychboard.az.gov for direction and provide the professional's first and last name.”
Therapeutic Interventionist (TI) / Reunification Therapist
Description: Mental-health clinician tasked with repairing or ‘normalizing’ parent-child relationships—often in so-called “resist-refuse”/ alienation scenarios.
Function: Provides individual and joint therapy, parenting-time coaching, and graduated re-integration plans; reports compliance (or not) to the court.
Entry Point: Ordered post-evaluation or when child resists contact.
Duration: Flexible—weeks to many months; terminates upon court review or TI recommendation.
Appointed/Selected: Judge issues order naming a TI from the county roster; parents may submit a blind-list.
Qualifications/Certifications: Arizona-licensed LMFT, LPC, LCSW, psychologist, or psychiatrist; must complete AFCC/ Arizona TI training.
Cost: Roster shows $125 – $400 per hour; some may charge an advance of several thousand.
Parameters: Scope is described in AFCC written bench book protocols, which are not binding documents, but a descriptive reference point. Arizona’s book on TIs happens to be co-authored by David Weinstock, who has drawn ire.
Oversight: Licensing board plus court’s continuing jurisdiction.
File a Complaint: File motion to remove/limit TI; file licensing-board complaint (Behavioral Health or Psychologist Board).
This post covers the foundational roles that most protective parents will encounter. But there are more: parenting coordinators, visitation supervisors, one-time psychiatric evaluators, and CASAs (Court-Appointed Special Advocates), just to name a few.
I’ll continue the list in an upcoming post. Let me know which roles you want covered next — or if you’ve dealt with one of the roles above and have insight to share.
You can reply in the comments or email me at protecttheparents@proton.me. I’d love to hear from you.
I'm eager to hear your response and feedback-- what has been your experience interacting with these different roles?
Justice is NOT in charge!