Dr. William B.Berman

During the divorce, I hired custody evaluator Dr. Berman at a cost of approximately $7,000 because I believed an independent professional would finally help the court understand what my children and I had experienced. Dr. Berman reviewed evidence from our case, including videos recorded inside our home. At one point, he described some of those videos as extremely disturbing and, to my understanding, was so troubled by what he observed that he did not continue watching all of them. Because of that reaction, I felt hopeful that the seriousness of my concerns was finally being recognized. After nearly two years of litigation, interviews, testing, and investigation, however, the final evaluation was only four pages long and concluded that my ex-husband had changed. That recommendation ultimately became a significant factor in the court awarding 50/50 custody. I left the process struggling to reconcile how evidence that had been described as disturbing could coexist with a conclusion that supported increased parenting time and shared custody. For a time, it appeared the case was moving toward closure. Then, in 2025, my oldest son disclosed abuse and described incidents that immediately sent our family back into court. The same concerns I believed had never been adequately addressed were suddenly impossible to ignore, and what I had hoped was the end of the litigation became the beginning of another chapter.

Dr Burman made one party pay the others bill and then refused to see that party’s witnesses. In his final report he acknowledges that the father has violent tendencies but says that his girlfriend is good for him and the child in question and recommends that the child be placed with the father for summers and school breaks when he will be at home more often even after acknowledging mom is more stable and has provided a safe and loving environment where he has thrived.

Lengthy custody evaluation that took over one year to complete. Very costly. Couldn’t even remember how many kids involved in the custody case. Never asked about events reported to him as fact by the other side and was never given evidence of events but reported it as fact in his final report. Never asked for my take or if I had a different take on the events ( I have body cam and audio/video recordings of the events in question. Nice enough, but not thorough and I think his memory is on the way out unfortunately.

Violated professional conduct, violated court order