Minnesota Divorce and Family Law Blog

Financial Early Neutral Evaluation

Financial Early Neutral Evaluation (FENE) is a process that is similar to Early Neutral Evaluation for custody and parenting time issues (which is sometimes referred to as Social Early Neutral Evaluation (SENE), to distinguish it from Financial Early Neutral Evaluation).  The FENE model does not contemplate a team of two evaluators, as in SENE; instead there is one evaluator handling a FENE process.  

The "early" aspect of FENE is important, because financial disputes in family law can be costly and time-consuming.  If the parties engage in the FENE process early on, they may save a great deal of time, energy and money, and still obtain a fair resolution.

The financial evaluator gathers the information about the dispute that the evaluator needs to address the issue.  This is very helpful in the financial arena, because oftentimes parties do not know the difference between relevant and irrelevant financial data.  The financial evaluator has the insight, and the neutrality, to help determine what financial data is needed, and what is not needed.  

As in the case of Early Neutral Evaluation regarding parenting issues, in FENE, the evaluator can help facilitate a resolution and/or provide their neutral view of how the court might address the financial issues in a courtroom dispute.  Therefore, if the FENE process does not result in resolution, parties likely leave the process ahead of where they were at the beginning: with an impartial assessment of what data is relevant, as well as an impartial assessment of the substantive financial issues.

Early Neutral Evaluation

If parents have a dispute, or potential dispute, about child custody or parenting time, the Early Neutral Evaluation (ENE) is a great option with a high success rate.  

The ENE model works as follows: the parties meet with a team of two evaluators, one man and one woman, who hear from each parent about the facts of the case.  The evaluators have training and experience that allows them to provide feedback about the circumstances of the case and what would be a likely outcome if the case were to be subjected to a full custody or parenting time evaluation.  

The evaluators can then attempt to facilitate agreement of the parents on a parenting plan that is suitable for the child(ren) involved, and also recommend other services of guidelines, such as parenting time supervisors, anger management resources or child therapists.  If the parents do not reach agreement, the case will proceed to evaluation, trial, mediation.  But even in such event of the matter not being resolved in ENE, it provides the parents with a better understanding of how the dispute will play out, and what the basis is for the other parent's disagreement.

It is an informal process, in which the parents are not "testifying" and are not under oath.  So the evaluators' observations are only as good as the facts they get from the parents.  In most cases, the evaluators get an accurate enough understanding of the circumstances to make helpful observations and recommendations.  The process bears out the fact that many 90-day, full-blown custody evaluations reach the same conclusions that ENE evaluators reach during a three-hour session.  

If one parent calls the other parent an alcoholic, an abuser, or insists that the other parent is mentally ill, and the other parent denies it, the evaluators have to make their recommendations notwithstanding the disconnect between the parents' presentations of the circumstances.  But in ENE, as in custody cases generally, the fact that there is contention about alcohol, abuse or mental illness means the issue needs to be addressed regardless of whether one parent is alcoholic, abusive or mentally ill.  

If ENE is successful, the parties sign off on a parenting plan based upon the terms reached during the ENE session(s), and it is not necessary to proceed with a contested custody or parenting time dispute.