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A child custody evaluation - full or partial - by a Family Court Services Investigator the court appoints, the parties having ten business days from the order to complete and submit the Child Custody questionnaire to Family Court Services (1215 Truxtun Ave., Room 301); from January 1, 2025, a fee of $450 paid by all petitioners at the time of filing a petition for freedom from parental custody and control and $350 at the time of filing a stepparent adoption petition, a fee waiver on financial hardship; the investigations of freedom from parental custody and control, stepparent adoptions and requests of minors to marry, each with its questionnaire; minor interviews the Court orders - arrival 10-15 minutes early and a 15 minute grace period; and a subpoena of an FCS Investigator (form SUBP-001) served on the FCS Management Team at least 10 calendar days before the hearing, after confirming the investigator's availability, with a receipt of the witness fees of $275 paid in full with the Family Law Department or evidence of a court approved fee waiver (court appointed counsel excepted), notice of a continuance or an off-calendar hearing at the earliest opportunity, a continued date confirmed by email without a new subpoena, and a refund of any unused deposit on a written request after the trial.
California > Fifth Appellate District > Kern County > Superior Court of California, County of Kern
Child Custody Evaluations In some cases, the court may appoint a Family Court Services Investigator to evaluate a family and make recommendations about visitation and custody. The goal of a child custody evaluation is to provide the Court and the parties with objective information and recommendations about a family to assist the Court in issuing orders in highly contested custody disputes. The investigator conducting the child custody evaluation is a neutral mental health professional and is knowledgeable in the areas of how divorce affects children. There are two types of evaluations: Fully Custody Evaluation This is a comprehensive examination of the health, safety, welfare, and best interest of the child. The examination involves multiple interviews with the family, extensive review of collateral information and results in a written report. Partial Custody Evaluation This is an examination of the health, safety, and best interest of the child that is limited by the court order in either time or scope. When the Court orders a child custody evaluation, the parties have ten business days to complete a and submit it to Family Court Services: Family Court Services 1215 Truxtun Ave., Room 301 Bakersfield, CA 93301 Child Custody questionnaire Child Custody questionnaire - Spanish Freedom from Parental Custody and Control Investigation As of January 1, 2025, all petitioners shall pay a fee of $450 at the time of filing the petition. Petitioners with a financial hardship may file a request for a fee waiver. Family Court Services investigates matters for Freedom from Parental Custody and Control of a child. After a petition has been filed with the court, Family Court orders an investigation as to these matters. An investigator will conduct an independent review of the case, interview the parties, which includes the minors. The investigator assesses whether the criteria to terminate the parental rights has been met, and whether it is in the best interest of the minor for the petition to be granted. A report is completed with a recommendation to the Court. FCS Abandonment Questionnaire FCS Citee Questionnaire Stepparent Adoption Investigation As of January 1, 2025, all petitioners shall pay $350 at the time of filing the petition. Stepparents who wish to adopt a child of the stepparent’s spouse may for that purpose file a petition with the Family Law Department. A Family Court Services investigator will conduct an independent review of the case, interview the parties, which includes the minors, and complete a report with a recommendation to the Court as to the best interest of the minor. FCS Stepparent Questionnaire Recommending Counseling for Requests of Minors to Marry California law requires a person under the age of 18 to obtain consent from at least one parent or guardian and permission in the form of a court order. The Court has the discretion to grant permission for a minor to marry or establish a domestic partnership. A Family Court Services investigator will interview the parties and may recommend the parties participate in premarital counseling. The investigator will file a report with Family Court. Minor Marriages Questionnaire Minor Interviews The Court may order Family Court Services to interview your minor child(ren). The interview will take place at: Family Court Services 1215 Truxtun Ave., 3rd Floor, Room 301 Bakersfield, CA 93301 Please read these instructions carefully: Be sure to arrive at least 10-15 minutes prior to your session. The session will likely take about one to two hours. If you do not arrive within 15 minutes of your scheduled appointment (grace period), your session will be canceled and the Court will be notified of your failure to appear for the session. Your child(ren) will be interviewed individually. Parents/caregivers are to wait for the child in Family Court Services waiting area until the session is complete. DO NOT COME TO THE COURTHOUSE IF YOU OR YOUR CHILDREN ARE EXHIBITING SYMPTOMS OF A CONTAGIOUS ILLNESS OR WERE RECENTLY EXPOSED. PLEASE CONTACT FAMILY COURT SERVICES IF THIS IS YOUR SITUATION. If your contact information changes prior to your appointment, please contact Family Court Services with your updated information. Failure to provide accurate information may result in cancelation of your appointment and cause delays with your case. Contact Family Court Services if you have any questions at 661-610-6700. To better understand the Court order to interview your minor child(ren), you may refer to this chart. Subpoena Process for Investigators Parties requesting the presence of a Family Court Services (FCS) Investigator at a court hearing may serve an official subpoena (form SUBP-001 available here) on the FCS Management Team at 1215 Truxtun Avenue, Room 301, Bakersfield, California. The subpoenaing party shall serve the subpoena at least 10 calendar days before the hearing. Before serving the subpoena, the party must first contact FCS to confirm the investigator’s availability on the scheduled hearing date and time. FCS can be contacted at FCS@kern.courts.ca.gov or (661) 610-6700. At the time of serving the subpoena, the parties shall provide a receipt of the witness fees of $275 paid in full with the Family Law Department or evidence of the court approved fee waiver of the case. The exception to these requirements is court appointed counsel. They are not required to pay the witness fees or provide evidence of a court approved fee waiver. If the hearing for which the subpoena applies is taken off-calendar or continued, the subpoenaing party shall notify the FCS Investigator at their earliest opportunity. The subpoenaing party shall notify the FCS Investigator by contacting them at (661) 610-6700 or by email at FCS@kern.courts.ca.gov If the investigator’s appearance will still be required, but for a continued hearing date, a new subpoena will not be necessary if the subpoenaing party does both of the following: contact FCS, at their earliest opportunity, to determine the investigator’s availability on the continued hearing date; and email a notice to FCS at FCS@kern.courts.ca.gov, confirming the continued hearing date and time for which the investigator’s appearance is required. This email notification shall set forth the parties’ names, the Kern County Superior Court case number, the name of the FCS investigator, and the continued hearing date and time. In order to process a refund of any unused portion of the party’s deposit, a written request must be submitted to the Court by email (at Revenue@kern.courts.ca.gov), dropped off at Court reception, or by U.S. Mail (at Kern County Superior Court, 1415 Truxtun Avenue, Bakersfield 93301, to the attention of: Finance Department) following the conclusion of the trial.
Child Custody Evaluations In some cases, the court may appoint a Family Court Services Investigator to evaluate a family and make recommendations about visitation and custody. The goal of a child custody evaluation is to provide the Court and the parties with objective information and recommendations about a family to assist the Court in issuing orders in highly contested custody disputes. The inv
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-10-14 (California T4 Kern build 2026-10-14) from BenchPath custody ca/t4/ca-kern/pages/divisions__family-court-services__family-court-investigations.html (the page as fetched 2026-10-14; 644305 bytes, sha256 513093f17375b962a1a8deb4a957e306306e059d0c04120906bbf9ce9bedf27f) with the Orange HTML composer (compose-site.py, the Judicial Council theme's area): the article's content sections (section.jcc-section), news bodies (div.jcc-news-full) and title banners (div.jcc-hero; the first banner's heading, the page title, is chrome) - the site header, menus, breadcrumb and footer lie outside them; each block starts a line and each table cell is set on its own line; chrome removed: 1 item (the page title, “Family Court Investigations”); proof (the multiset of non-space characters equals the containers' text less chrome and scripts) passes.
6 verbatim requirements on divisional requirements in GIUSEPPINA MIRANDA's division.
4 verbatim requirements on divisional requirements in HILARY CREARY's division.