Family Division

Marital Neutral Evaluation in the Superior Court and Family Division

The Superior Court and the Family Division offer the opportunity for divorcing couples to go through a Marital Neutral Evaluation Program.  Experienced attorneys are approved by the Supervisory Justices of the Family Division or the Chief Justice of the Superior Court to act as Neutral Evaluators at the request of the parties.  The Neutral Evaluators are attorneys who participate in a training program sponsored by the court and then volunteer their services at no cost to the parties.  The goal of Neutral Case Evaluation is to help parties resolve the disputed issues in a less formal and less intimidating setting.  The Neutral Evaluator will listen to each party’s view of the problematic issues in the case and will attempt to help the parties talk about the issues in a reasonable and constructive manner. 

The conversations that occur during a Neutral Evaluation are confidential and cannot be held against either party if the cases go to trial.  Some or all of the issues may be settled during the Neutral Case Evaluation session.  The Neutral Evaluator may explain to the parties what in his/her estimate is the likely outcome of the unresolved issues given the strengths and weakness of each case.  The Neutral Evaluators determination can be accepted or rejected by the parties.  

For more information, see Superior Court Administrative Order 23.  

View list of Attorneys Trained as Neutral Evaluators for Marital Cases