Early Neutral Evaluation

Early neutral evaluations were the creation of the Hennepin County Family Court system to find a way in which divorcing parties could obtain a neutral opinion of what the potential outcome might be if their case were to move forward and be presented in a trial to a judge.

The process started with custody issues. The court found that there were too many cases in which the emotions of the parents and the advocacy of their attorneys created custody disputes that might be avoided if the parents were given an opportunity to step back from the process and understand the potential outcome of a prolonged custody case. The process was so successful that it was expanded to include financial issues as well (these are called Financial Early Neutral Evaluations or FENE's). Attorneys are trained in early neutral evaluation techniques and are approved to do early neutral evaluations.

Hennepin County is the only county that formally offers ENE's. These can be requested in court or the court may ask if the parties wish to participate in the process. In all other Minnesota counties the process is outside of the court system.

Early neutral evaluation is a process in which the facts of the case are presented to an Early Neutral evaluator. There can be one or two evaluators. Most typically there is team with a male and female evaluator. This is to provide a male and female perspective on each case and to try and ensure that there is no bias in reflecting on the facts.

The ENE team listens to the facts and reviews whatever documents are presented and relevant. The ENE team then confers to discuss the most likely outcome under the law. The ENE team then presents their determination to the parties.

This process can be used in conjunction with mediation or the collaborative law process to help in areas where there is an impasse between the parties.

The ENE process does not take into account factors that may influence the outcome of the case in court such as the judge who hears the trial or the skills of the attorneys in presenting the case to the court. It is based strictly on the interpretation and application of the law to the facts.