Divorce typically creates a difficult time for families, including any children involved. Given the usual intersection of high emotions and significant changes, your child custody lawyer may recommend child mediation, which many families find helpful during this time.
Child Custody Lawyers Share 7 Preparation Steps for Mediation
Preparation is one of the keys to mediation success, but that can be difficult to apply to an unfamiliar process. To that end, our child custody lawyers have created this outline of recommended steps to help Alabama residents get ready for their mediation sessions.
1. Organize court documents and have copies readily accessible.
Make sure you (or your family lawyer) bring copies–printed or digital–of all related legal documents, organized for ease of access during your mediation appointments. Examples include, if applicable: child custody petitions, divorce petitions, and any related filings.
2. Work with your family lawyer to draft a parenting plan proposal.
Alabama’s basic requirements for a parenting plan can be found in 2022 Alabama Code, Section 30-3-153, which requires inclusion of: custody between the parents, care and education of the child, medical and dental care of the child, holidays, child support, any other aspects of the child’s physical and emotional wellbeing, and a designation of the parent possessing primary authority for decisions when the parents are unable to agree regarding the child’s involvement in activities and medical and dental care.
Address these areas in your draft recommendation version – with legal consultation from an experienced family lawyer. Think through your real world situation and suggest practical solutions. For example, the physical distance between co-parents can serve as a key determination of the plan’s feasibility.
3. Prepare copies of your proposed parenting plan for child custody mediation session attendees.
Coordinate with your family lawyer to bring copies of your parenting plan to the mediation session.
4. Put together a detailed list of your child’s key contacts.
Prepare a list of key contacts related to your child’s activities and care, including physicians, school administration, extracurricular activity coaches and chaperones, daycare providers and babysitters, and additional family emergency contacts. Maintain this list throughout your co-parenting relationship with updates occurring within a few days of any changes to contact details or provider changes.
5. Bring your family lawyer.
Also crucial to a successful mediation process is keeping your family lawyer involved in each step. As your advocate, your family lawyer can offer counsel throughout the mediation designed to achieve your objectives.
6. Be prepared with payment for the mediation service.
– Understand the billing process and expected payment calendar upfront.
– Be sure you and your co-parent have agreed on the division of payment for the services–or address this topic through the child custody mediation process.
– Keep track of expenses since final documents may dictate which party pays for what percentage of the mediation costs.
7. Show up with a cool head.
One of the best things you can do is maintain a calm demeanor throughout the mediation while demonstrating patience and professionalism. Additionally, keep track of your court documents and show up on time to all mediation and legal appointments. Doing so demonstrates to both the court and your family that you respect and care about your children and family and are willing to do what it takes to keep things civil and moving forward in a positive direction.