Blog Post

Simple Mediation (With Wanting a Divorce or a Parenting Plan)

Liza Woodrome • Apr 15, 2021
 
Julie recently mediated with parents who were having some fairly run-of-the-mill problems regarding the co-parenting of their two young children.   These are issues we hear about all the time.  Things like phone rules, letting a child stay up too late, inappropriate behavior (like drinking, smoking, bad language), and running late for exchanges are all well merited concerns, but they do not necessarily require the court’s involvement. 

This couple had been successfully co-parenting their kids for years and never opened a family case with the court because they got along so well.  What they needed was a simple and brief, yet meaningful, mediation session to work out some kinks in their parenting ways.  Julie mediated with them for one hour via Zoom and here is an idea of what their Mediation Agreement looks like:

1)    Neither parent will smoke inside the house when the children are present. No one smokes at Mom’s home. At Dad’s home, people who smoke will go outside.

2)    Mom agrees not to drink alcohol when the boys are in her care.

4)    Mom and Dad will work to regain the pattern of positive communication that they have had in the past. Mom and Dad will start this by texting each other regarding the boys once per week.

5)    If the parents run into an issue that needs to be addressed by phone and is a contentious issue, either of them may invoke the phone rules which are:

a)    Each person can talk for up to 2 minutes at a time without interruption;
b)    The person who is not talking will take notes so that he or she can remember what they want to respond to;
c)    At the end of the speaker’s 2 minutes, the parent who is listening gets 2 minutes to respond;
d)    The parents will continue to alternate speaking time until they finish the conversation.

This simple agreement made these struggling parents feel more prepared than ever to continue effectively co-parenting without the need to involve attorneys and the court!  Please call our office to discuss how mediation can benefit you, your co-parent and most importantly, your children!!!

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