Monday, June 8, 2009

Child Custody Mediation: Is it for You?

By Dianna Nelsun

Divorced parents who disagree on custody issues may find themselves involved in a long and costly court battle. This may seem unavoidable because the parents can't get their agreement worked out. This doesn't have to happen though. These parents may benefit from child custody mediation.

Child custody mediation is when the parents sit down with a neutral third party and try to come to an agreement about their custody case. Custody mediation can provide help for parents involved in a bitter custody battle or for those who just want a smoother case. Here is some information about custody mediation so you can decide if it is right for you.

There are various places to seek custody mediation. There are many private mediators who you can contact to sit down with you and your child's other parent. Sometimes the court will offer mediation services that you can try. In fact, some courts mandate that parents go to mediation before appearing in court.

If you and your child's other parent go to mediation, you will meet with the mediator and go over your custody agreement. The mediator will help the parents decide what is in the child's best interest. This is beneficial because the parents can really focus on making decisions for their children and not get caught up in personal issues between them.

The mediator won't take sides so that either party feels attacked. The mediator should lead a calm, rational discussion where both parents can discuss what is best for the child. This can be helpful because the mediator will keep the parents on track to discuss the children so other issues don't come up.

In mediation, parents can create a custody agreement that is fair to everyone involved. The mediator will guide the parents to come up with a workable custody and visitation schedule and to work through other custody issues. This can take away some of the entrenched anger in a custody case and can allow the parents to move on to enjoying time with their children.

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