Family Law

San Jose Family Attorney Discusses Mediation

By Scott Sagaria

San Jose Family Attorney Discusses Mediation

In California parents are required to attend child custody and visitation mediation if they cannot agree on a timeshare schedule for their children after they separate. It is important to know the procedures for mediation in the county where you case is being litigated. In some counties parents can attend mediation with their attorneys while in other counties attorneys are not allowed. It is especially crucial to know the procedures for mediation when your attorney cannot attend with you. Some counties are recommending counties while others are not.

In the recommending counties if the parents cannot agree on a visitation schedule then the mediator will make a recommendation to the Judge. The parties will first be assisted by the mediator to see if an agreement can be reached but if that fails then the mediator will make a recommendation. This is important to remember because the parent will be judged during the process. If one parent is uncooperative or does not come across well the mediator will be considering that when making the recommendation.

In the non-recommending counties mediation is confidential. This means the mediator will only try to assist the parents in making an agreement. If no agreement is reached the parents will not be judged by the mediator and no information from mediation is conveyed to the Judge. The parents in this scenario only have to be concerned about what they want and not how they are coming across to the mediator. However, the mediator can put pressure on parents to come to an agreement that they might not be comfortable with. Therefore it is important not to agree to something you cannot live with because if you agree the mediator can write it up as an order of the court.

Issue of child custody and visitation are complicated and so is the mediation process which is mandatory if parents cannot agree. Our team of family law attorneys is very experienced in these issues and others such as spousal support and child support. We have offices in Monterey, San Jose, and Fremont where our attorneys would be happy to meet with you for a free consultation regarding your case.

Full post as published by California Family Law Blog on January 25, 2008 (boomark / email).