Divorce mediation is becoming more popular for couples who wish to take some of the negative emotions out of the situation. This involves the couple actually working together to make decisions related to the divorce with the assistance of a neutral third party. Florida law also provides mediation methods for parents who are going through a split to more effectively keep the peace. Some courts will appoint a parent coordinator to facilitate co-parenting after a divorce.
The Florida legislature apparently established the role of parent coordinator in 2009. Parent coordinators can work with parents to help them agree on — and follow through with — a plan intended to help them raise their children after divorce. Mediation options like this can help make the process less stressful on all involved, but particularly the children.
This type of plan typically sets out where the children live, how often they stay at each parent’s residence, the details behind their extracurricular and summer activities, not to mention medical and educational decisions that will be made. Other considerations that may be ironed out include discipline questions, how holidays will be handled, travel, religious decisions, and the like. By sitting down to make these decisions jointly now, parents can help take the sting of emotions out of the situation later.
Options like divorce mediation and involving parent coordinators can help an already stressful situation become less difficult, emotionally speaking. Children whose lives may seem to be in chaos due to the family unit changing benefit when their parents can work together in as calm a manner as possible. That is no doubt one of the reasons behind the Florida legislature’s enacting the role of parent coordinators in the first place. Parents who are going through a divorce or find themselves fighting over a parenting plan in the wake of a divorce may want to look into the possibility of such mediation options for themselves.
