During a divorce or custody action, questions about a temporary holiday plan or where a child would attend daycare are often managed through attorneys. After a divorce when the attorneys are no longer present, parents need to resolve the issues themselves.
What happens if Mom is no longer able to pick the children up from school? Can her new husband pick them up instead? Even if I don’t want him to and I am available?
What happens if the other parent gets a new job and the parenting time schedule has to change? What if I get a new job and can no longer get the kids to school on my mornings?
Many child rearing conflicts are brought to the the courts, but at a cost. Court actions can be expensive, time consuming, negative for co-parenting relationships, and conflict generators.
Is there another way?
Yes! In fact, there are many different ways to obtain a decision relating to a parenting time issue other than litigation, but this article will discuss only Parenting Consultants (PC).
What is a Parenting Consultant?
Parenting Consultants are professionals (usually lawyers or mental health providers) that make parenting decisions when the parents are unable to reach a solution on their own. In this process, parents have agreed to allow Parenting Consultants, instead of judges, to resolve specific parenting related disputes.
Parenting consultants are created under a court rule. The rule allows parties to design an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process which is tailored to a family’s specific needs needs by agreement of both parties.. (You can read that rule, Minnesota Court Rule 114.02(a)(10) here.)
What type of issues can a Parenting Consultant resolve?
Parenting Consultants are limited only by what the parents have agreed to bring before the Parenting Consultant. Some parents agree to allow the Parenting Consultant to decide issues including those related to where the child will go to school, major or minor modifications of the parenting time schedule, financial issues related to the child, when the child can stay at home alone, or procedures for taking the child on international trips. Some parents agree to bring a broad number of parenting time issues before the Parenting Consultant and others chose to bring only more narrow issues. Often, if both parents agree in writing, Parenting Consultants will even decide additional issues. The main takeaway is that the parents decide the scope of the types of parenting disputes the Parenting Consultant can solve.
What are some of the benefits of a Parenting Consultant?
First, the process can be much more time effective than litigation. Depending on the complexity of the issue, a Parenting Consultant may be able to resolve an issue simply by talking to the parents. (More complex issues obviously will take more time.) By contrast, the court process can take months if not longer.
Second, the process can also be more cost effective for parents. While, the Parenting Consultant is paid, parents forego the costs associated with filing, service, and attorney fees for each parenting time issue they may have. Many Parenting Consultants will decide issues after emails and phone calls with the parents which results in the parents taking less time off of work. With all of these considerations, generally, clients end up saving money.
Third, through the Parenting Consultant agreement, often a Parenting Consultant has more immediate access to important information (such as therapy or other medical records of one of the parties or the child) and the agreements allow for testing (such as chemical dependency or mental health) of the parties and/or child. Courts, on the other hand, can only do so after a process has been completed which can add time and expense to a matter.
Fourth, a Parenting Consultant has more latitude in making creative decisions relating to parenting time decisions that courts either do not have the time or ability to make. . For example, a Parenting Consultant may decide to modify a schedule in the short term to determine if the schedule would be beneficial to the child and also schedule a follow up conversation with the parents in six weeks to review the progress. This type of arrangement would rarely, if ever, happen in the courts.
Finally, this process can improve relationships because parents are not writing affidavits to the court about the other parent. Over time, parents often start trusting each other allowing them to work together better.
How do I get a Parenting Consultant?
As noted earlier, Parenting Consultants are only available to parents who both agree to the appointment. The agreement is generally memorialized in what is called “Stipulation and Order to Appoint a Parenting Time Consultant”. This document is signed by both parties and the judge. It appoints a specific Parenting Time Consultant, describes the procedure for asking for assistance from the Parenting Time Consultant, sets out other rules for the process, and describes the types of issues the Parenting Time Consultant can decide. Once this agreement has been signed by both parents and the judge, your Parenting Time Consultant can help solve parenting issues!
While parents can put the agreement together on their own and submit it to the Court, having the agreement drawn up by an attorney is helpful because an attorney can make specific recommendations about which Parenting Time Consultant would work well for your family and can tailor the language to fit your family’s specific needs.
Although Parenting Consultants can be highly beneficial to many co-parenting families, they are not right for everyone. If you would like to learn more about Parenting Consultants and determine whether a Parenting Consultant may be an appropriate fit for your family, please contact the Rybicka Law Office, PLLC at 612.573.3690 to schedule a consult.
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