For Complex Families in Family Law 

 

If you have a complex family situation and are going through a divorce, or have been through one in the past, you know that the court system is not the best place for your family to find solutions.  Complex families require understanding, dedication, and precision to craft a plan to help you move forward and focus on your future.  Learn more below about how alternative dispute resolution solutions provided by Meggin Rutherford could help your family.   

 

Who is a Complex Family? Families where the parents and/or children are neurodivergent (ADHD, autism, learning differences, mental health concerns), or families with children who have substantial medical needs (eg: GI tubes, trach tubes, physical disabilities).

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What is Mediation/Arbitration? All family law cases in Colorado are required to go through mediation.  Mediation is where a neutral professional helps you and your spouse talk through your case and come to agreements.  A successful mediation allows for you and your spouse to figure out how you’re going to co-parent together.  However, the mediator does not have any authority to make orders if you can’t reach a decision.  If you agree before the mediation starts, you can appoint the neutral to make final decisions and awards (orders) on only the issues where you and your spouse could not agree.  Arbitration can be very flexible to suit your family’s needs instead of having to follow strict court rules that are not suited for families.  You will not have to go to the traditional court setting if you agree to mediation/arbitration. 

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How Can Mediation/Arbitration Help?  A med/arb process provides faster and more comprehensive orders while giving the you agency and preserving your co-parenting relationship as much as possible.  Complex families need detailed and precise parenting plans and an understanding of your family’s unique needs. Our judicial officers are overworked and do not have that time and expertise.  Mediation/arbitration with a skilled professional can help guide families to agreements that will actually work, and provide orders if they are not able to reach those decisions themselves.  Granting arbitration authority ensures that they do not go to a full litigation process.  Instead, the arbiter and attorneys can craft a procedure that allows the parents to be heard, to reduce trauma, and also allows for precise and thorough orders to enter that will help your family move forward.  

What is a PC/DM/Arb?  Those letters stand for parenting coordinator (PC), decision maker (DM), and arbiter (Arb).  A professional who is appointed as a PC/DM/Arb will help your family put your parenting plan into action after the divorce is finalized.  Traditionally after you are done with your court process, the parents are thrown out into the world to figure the rest out for yourself.  Complex families, though, often need more guidance and assistance in their decisions and co-parenting relationship.  A PC/DM/Arb will help you understand your parenting plan if you disagree, will help develop communication and decision making strategies, and will make decisions for you on major joint decisions if the parents are not able to reach an agreement.

  

How Can a PC/DM/Arb Help?  Parents in complex families will be working together post-divorce in a much more intensive way than most families.  This will require a high level of communication and decision making for the benefit of the children.  If the parents are in a higher-conflict divorce, then they may not have the skills necessary to make decisions and co-parent productively.  Appointment of a PC/DM/Arb can help the families promptly develop communication strategies, make major decisions if the parents can’t reach an agreement, and/or provide ongoing decisions and guidance in a leveled-up parenting plan.  A PC/DM/Arb can help the parents both be an active participant in their children’s lives and decisions.  The other alternatives are (1) sole decision making to one parent or (2) parents who just never reach decisions and are always going back to court.  A PC/DM/Arb can help the family move forward toward solutions and strategies instead of fights.  

 

What Is Each Role? 

 

• Parenting Coordinator helps the parents develop a plan of communication and co-parenting together.  They can help with interpretation of the orders so that the parents understand what is expected of them.  

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•  Decision Maker is able to make decisions regarding conflicts between the parents, but is restricted to the contents of the parenting plans.  They can make a tie-breaking decision for an issue subject to joint decision making.  They can only do the powers strictly granted to them, and must follow the contents of the four corners of the orders.  

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• An arbiter can have as much or as little power as the parties grant to them.  The arbiter can make orders that are beyond the contents of the parenting plan in order to help effectuate the plan.  They can also be given the power to make awards for long-term modification of support, parenting time, or the like.   

 

Why Do You Need Them All? Complex families often require orders that will evolve over time as the needs of the children change.  A professional with power to help the family adjust the parenting plan to reflect their ongoing changes is far more efficient, thorough, and effective than constantly running back to an overburdened judicial system.  Because unforeseen circumstances are sure to happen, its necessary that the professional has all the tools available to provide effective solutions instead of ongoing fights.  

 

What About The Cost? The cost of Med/Arb is similar or less than full litigation.  While you are paying for the time with the Med/Arb that you may not pay for with the judge, the time spent by each counsel is far less, typically, than in a litigated case.  The results are much faster and much more thorough than from the courts.  The emotional cost is also far less than litigation.  A PC/DM/Arb is almost always less expensive than years of ongoing litigation in a system where the judge can’t actually do anything to solve the problems.  Working with a PC/DM/Arb invests the clients resources in solutions instead of ongoing fights.  

 

Meggin Rutherford may be able to help your family as either a mediator/arbiter or PC/DM/Arb.  Contact Us today to schedule your consultation.   

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This page is for informational purposes only, and is not intended as legal advice.  Consult with an attorney about your specific situation and needs.