Photo by Marcelo Silva on Unsplash Conflict between parents negatively affects children but for some parents it's hard to avoid conflict when separating or divorcing.  Loss, grief, and anger all make it difficult to co-parent and some parents need help overcoming those barriers. One of the professionals that can help parents reduce conflict by assisting them in making the necessary co-parenting decisions is a Co-Parenting Coordinator.  The duties of a Co-Parenting Coordinator can vary but often include assisting parents with decision making around: changes or clarifications of the existing parenting plan; exchanges of the child or children including date, time, place, means of and responsibilities for transportation; education or daycare including school choice, tutoring, summer school, before and after school care, participation in special education testing and programs, or other educational decisions; enrichment and extracurricular activities including camps and jobs; the c...

Guest Post by Tony Pelusi * Well it has finally come to be; earlier this month the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court issued Standing Order 1-1 7 setting forth the qualifications, standards of practice, and scope of authority for Massachusetts Parenting Coordinators (PC).  For the first time in the history of the Commonwealth this rule informs clients, attorneys, and judges what is necessary to avail themselves of the multitude of benefits of the PC process provides. Those who wish to access the full text of rule directly may click here .  What follows is a summary of the salient provisions for practitioners and parents. First, Qualifications & Training: For starters, a PC must be a licensed, experienced, and specially trained lawyer or mental health professional.   To qualify for appointment as a PC individuals must apply to the Court and be approved, demonstrating that they have completed at least 30 hours of mediation training,  6 hours of trai...

A number of recent appellate decisions in Massachusetts have addressed the boundaries of what Probate and Family Court trial judges have the power to do.  Agreements reached between the parties, however, can include provisions that the judges don't otherwise have the authority to order.   In this four part blog series we will explore some of the important areas that an Agreement can address but the trial court is limited in addressing.  These are just some of  the most recent examples, and not intended to be an exhaustive list of all the ways that Agreements are better than  letting a Judge decide your fate . Part 4:  Parent Coordinator:  Do you want help resolving parenting disputes without returning to court? In Part 1 , we discussed how the Appeals Court in Ventrice overturned a lower court's order that required parties to engage in out-of-court mediation prior to filing any further action in the Probate and Family Court.   While Parent...

In the case of Bower v. Bournay-Bower , the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that Judges in the Probate and Family Court cannot grant a Parent Coordinator  binding authority over the objection of one of the parties.  However, the SJC went much further then necessary in order to open the door for what might be the "appropriate circumstances" to order a Parent Coordinator. In Bower , the SJC summarized the trial judge's order as requiring a parent coordinator to: "hear the parties' current and future disputes regarding custody and visitation in the first instance, before the parties could file any action regarding these disputes in court. The order also granted the parent coordinator the authority to make binding decisions on matters of custody and visitation and provided that these decisions must be complied with by the parties as if they were court orders unless one of the parties were to go to the court before the decision was to take effect...

In our previous post we explained what a parent coordinator is. But it's also important to point out that Parent Coordinators cannot solve all of your problems, especially if you're not willing to work with them. Parent Coordinators are NOT Therapists. They are not hired to help you deal with your personal issues, but rather for the specific purpose of helping you learn to co-parent effectively. Parent Coordinators are NOT Couples Therapists. They are also not hired to help you "fix" or understand your relationship with your ex. Their job is to help you help your children by learning to communicate better. Parent Coordinators are NOT Mediators. While some of what they do is similar to mediation, you're not trying to reach an agreement on a specific issue. One specific issue may result in your calling the coordinator, but long term the process is not about mediating one issue, but learning how to resolve all parenting issues more civilly. Parent Coo...

According to the Guidelines for Parenting Coordination developed by the AFCC Task Force on Parenting Coordination: "Parenting coordination is a child-focused alternative dispute resolution process in which a mental health or legal professional with mediation training and experience assists high conflict parents to implement their parenting plan by facilitating the resolution of their disputes in a timely manner, educating parents about children's needs, and with prior approval of the parties and/or the court, making decisions within the scope of the court order or appointment contract." In other words, a Parent Coordinator helps parents avoid court by mediating their co-parenting disagreements. Although some states have statutes that define Parent Coordinator's powers, in Massachusetts there is no statutory authority for parenting coordination. Judges differ on whether they have authority to order Parent Coordinators without a statute granting them that author...