Thursday, August 18, 2016

CHILD CUSTODY - What the Heck is Generations - Part 2



So, if the parties end up in Court, and aren't able to work out a custody schedule/parenting plan in their mediation session, there is still a long (and expensive ) road ahead of them:

A Generation’s Conciliation where the parties come with their attorneys and meet with a generation’s conciliator:

A judicial conciliation where the parties come with their attorneys and meet with the judge. There may be more than one of these if perhaps the judge wants the parties to go to the Impact program (drug and alcohol testing), psychological evaluations, or other treatment or testing. Typically, the judges will have a second conciliation to review the results of any testing;

And, if the parents are still unable to resolve matters, they proceed to trial.

I will be doing a separate post about some of these later steps, along with want to expect and how to prepare over the next few months.

I want to emphasize for anyone reading this that the custody system is not set up for you to get your day in court. It is directly set up to remind you that your day in court may well be something you don’t want, that is bad for you, that is bad for children, and will cost a whole lot of money and headache. The system is designed to give you enough information that you should understand settlement and reason are preferable over litigation and naked emotion. It is very easy to be angry in a situation where you are deciding custody of your children. Often this can come on the heels of very difficult and tumultuous time in your life while you and your significant other have decided to no longer reside together as a couple. The pain and anguish the parties feel going through this process as well as the custody process creates a lot of very strong emotions, many of them focused towards anger, hurt, and heartache.

The entire Generations process and similar processes in other counties are designed to try to help you get past those basic emotions and move forward to a more enlightened position--focusing on co-parenting and working together rather than driving each other further apart.

In addition to the court system that will provide you with some background as well as bring you to a mediation session, the parties are free to and should regularly consult with their attorneys to get a perspective as to how the law would be applicable in their individual case. Custody is remarkably fact specific; we have over a dozen factors that the court can look at to determine what is in the best interest of your child and no two cases are exactly alike. Receiving input from an attorney will help you address how to best move forward through the system to reach a resolution that addresses the best interests of the children.

At all times throughout the process, the parties are free to engage in discussions directly with one another or through their attorneys to try and reach a resolution. You are not required to go to court if you can work out an arrangement that the two of you find to be acceptable under the circumstances. Seeing as how this is the goal of the court, it should be your goal as well. Anyone who is facing potential custody litigation, or has already found themselves in same, should consult with an attorney to get more information about the specifics of their case. Also, please speak with a counselor who can help you address the often difficult feelings that come as part of the custody process.

If you found this post to be helpful or if you have any questions, please feel free to comment, post, share, like, etc. and visit www.uncouplingpittsburgh.com or call me at 412-261-9900 to schedule a consultation.

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