Contrary to public perceptions, a relatively small percentage of these children will have the structure of their future custodial relationship with their parents resolved through adversarial litigation in the court system. While contested child custody disputes are thought to have the greatest negative psychological impact on the children involved, it is widely believed the process of divorce itself is likely to generate substantial, long-term, negative psychological effects in children. In order to ameliorate at least some of the problems experienced by children of divorced parents and to maximize these children's potential to lead a successful life, courts have constructed and adopted the best interest of the child standard (BICS) to legally determine the custodial placement of children involved in divorce proceedings. The authors look at competing interests in fashioning a child custody standard, the history of child custody standards, legal criticisms of the BICS, and empirical research and criticisms related to child custody standards. They also pay particular attention to the role of mental health professionals in child custody disputes and identify methodological problems and empirical research needs related to child custody. 84 references and 39 endnotes