Ending a marriage affects you, but it also has a large impact on the children you share with your spouse. Massive change for families is an unavoidable aspect of divorce, but mediation can help you and your children emerge from divorce with as few negative consequences as possible.
You probably know that mediation can make divorce easier, but you can seek child custody mediation as well. In our Colorado law firm, we advocate strongly for mediation in most family law matters, including custody issues. Mediation protects your and your child’s privacy, it encourages parental cooperation and it can keep custody matters from turning into painful battles.
Although child custody mediation may not be suitable for all families, you can improve your odds of success in the following ways:
- Make notes ahead of time about the custody topics you want to explore during your sessions.
- Always keep your focus on your child’s best interests.
- To keep the proceedings fair, listen to your co-parent’s viewpoint.
- Try to look past any personal conflicts you may have with your co-parent.
- Strive to remain calm, courteous and professional.
- Avoid wandering off-topic during your child custody mediation discussions.
- Be open to compromise on parenting and scheduling issues.
Our final tip is to make sure that your family is the right fit for child custody mediation. An excellent way to do so is by reviewing the many family-focused resources available on our website and in our blog posts. Although we have found that most Colorado families benefit from mediation, it is never a bad idea to perform some due diligence before committing. You may also reach out to our lawyers if you have questions or concerns not addressed here.