In child custody cases, the paramount consideration is the best interest of the child. When a custody dispute arises between legal parents, courts must determine the child’s best interests in light of the comparative fitness of the parents, and must consider numerous factors including, where applicable, the mental and physical health of the parents. Given the unique nature of child custody determinations, a parent’s assertion of the psychologist-client privilege to prevent access to mental health records presents a more difficult issue than those raised in other situations involving the privilege. He confidential relations and communications between licensed psychologist or, psychological examiner or, senior psychological examiner or certified psychological assistant and client are placed upon the same basis as those provided by law between attorney and client and nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require any such privileged communication to be disclosed.Īs indicated by the language of the statute, the legislature chose to treat the confidential communications between a psychologist and client the same as those between an attorney and client. Tennessee law recognizes a privilege against compelled disclosure of confidential communications between a psychologist and client. Specifically, Tennessee Code Annotated § 63-11-213 provides that: Third, while statutory privileges should be fairly construed according to their plain meaning, they need not be broadly construed. Second, even though privileges do not facilitate the fact-finding process, they are designed to protect interests and relationships that are regarded as sufficiently important to justify limitations on discovery. First, Tennessee’s discovery rules favor discovery of all relevant, non-privileged information. Husband argued the trial court erred in ordering the production of his psychological records because his records are protected from discovery by the psychologist-client privilege under Tennessee Code Annotated § 63-11-213. When a discovery dispute involves the application of a privilege, the court’s judgment is guided by the following three principles. On Appeal: The Court modified the trial court’s ruling. Husband sought an extraordinary appeal under Rule 10 of the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure. The trial court overruled Husband’s motion and directed that his psychological records be produced subject to a protective order. Husband moved to quash the subpoenas on the grounds that the information sought by Wife was not discoverable because it was protected by the psychologist-client privilege. Later, Wife subpoenaed all of Husband’s records from his psychologists. As part of a temporary mediation agreement, each party agreed to participate in psychological therapy. Facts: The parties - parents of two children -divorced after a six-year marriage.
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