An inTROduCTiOn TO PAREnT COORdinATiOn
Marital & Family law Section Chair: Amber Boles – Law Office of Amber Boles, P. A.
The overall objective of parenting coordination is to assist high-conflict parents in implementing their parenting plan.
As a family law attorney, you have likely dealt with a contentious case involving parenting issues. These are the cases where the parties cannot get along or agree on any issue or resolve any dispute on their own. The conflicts these parties are dealing with range from highly important issues regarding medical treatment, educational decisions, holiday schedules, and discipline to disagreements over extracurricular activities, haircuts, and clothing choices. These conflicts between parents have an impact on their children. While the parties often don’ t intend to put their children in the middle of a conflict or dispute, that is often what happens. It is important that parents in these situations are given the resources they need to co-parent effectively.
One such resource is a parenting coordinator. A parenting coordinator is an impartial third party whose role is to assist parents successfully create or implement a parenting plan and to help develop the parents’ co-parenting skills. § 61.125, Fla. Stat. To help parents resolve their conflicts, the court may appoint a qualified parenting coordinator. Section 61.125 outlines the requirements for a qualified parenting coordinator.
Under section 61.125, a parent coordinator must be a licensed mental health professional under chapter 490 or 491, Florida Statutes; a licensed physician under chapter 458, Florida Statutes, with certification by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology; a Florida Supreme Court Certified family law mediator with a minimum of a master’ s degree in mental health; or an attorney in good standing with the Florida Bar. Additionally, the parenting coordinator must have been in practice for three years after receiving their license or certification, have taken a family mediation training program certified by the Florida Supreme Court, and have a minimum of 24 hours of parenting coordination training. Id.
The overall objective of parenting coordination is to help high-conflict parents implement their parenting plan; monitor compliance with the details of the plan; resolve conflicts regarding their children and the parenting plan in a timely manner; and protect and sustain safe, healthy and meaningful parent-child relationships. See Association of Family and Conciliation Courts,
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Guidelines for Parenting Coordination( 2005). Parenting coordination provides a child-focused alternative dispute resolution process. § 61.125, Fla. Stat.
Parenting coordinators help parties resolve their parenting issues and come to a resolution that is in the child’ s best interest. Once appointed, a parenting coordinator can address conflicts between parties faster than the conflicts can be addressed through the courts. Parenting coordination is also less expensive than what parties could potentially pay in attorney’ s fees and court costs litigating the same issues. And it gives parties the opportunity to learn the skills necessary to enable them to positively co-parent for years to come. While parenting coordination may not work for every case, it is something that should be thought of next time you are faced with a high-conflict parenting situation.
Author: Laurel Tesmer- Brandon Legal Group
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