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Divorce Medical Evaluation
A Divorce Medical Evaluation is an Independent Medical Evaluation that is performed in order to settle any medical-legal disputes in a divorce case. During a divorce, spousal-support or child-support may be granted to whichever spouse generates less income. Sometimes the spouse will claim to have a disability that impairs their ability to work, a situation that leaves them with a need for a larger amount of spousal-support or child-support. This situation is common when a spouse has been unemployed for some time. A Divorce Medical Evaluation is ordered to evaluate the claim; whether the claim of disability is valid or not and if so, to what extent.
The doctor who performs the Divorce Medical Evaluation must not have any previous relationship (doctor-patient, or otherwise) to either spouse. When the physician performs the evaluation, he or she will evaluate the cause, the extent, and the medical treatment of all injuries, work-related or otherwise. The doctor will then write up a medical-legal report on the findings of the evaluations. The report is used in court to help determine the amount of spousal-support or child-support the spouse in question will be granted. The results of the Divorce Medical Evaluation establish the capability of the spouse to return to the work force and generate income so that less spousal-support or child-support is needed.
There are some cases where the claim for disability is valid, but the disability does not actually affect the spouse’s ability to work. For example, they may claim to have a back injury that prevents them from being able to do any heavy lifting, but it does not prevent them from working at a desk. Again, a Divorce Medical Evaluation will determine if their disability claim is valid, and if it actually impairs their ability to generate income.
There are some cases where a spouse claims to suffer from depression, stress, or psychological distress caused by the divorce so that they will be granted a larger amount of spousal-support or child-support. A Divorce Medical Evaluation, in this case, can be ordered to evaluate the psychological condition of the spouse in question. The results will be written in a medical-legal report by the physician and used in court to determine the validity of their claim. Again, their claim may be quite valid, but their condition might not actually prevent them from being a part of the workforce.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-gallery”][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-gallery-2″][/vc_column][/vc_row]