A parenting coordinator can be a valuable resource for divorced parents and for parents who have never married.  The parenting coordinator option seems unknown to most parents and is arguably vastly underused.

A parenting coordinator can be appointed as a result of parents= agreement to use a particular

Attorney or psychologist to fill this role.  Or a party can ask the court to appoint a PC if the parties cannot agree.  An allocation of responsibility to pay the PC is required, either by agreement or court order.

A PC meets with the parents to discuss parenting issues.  A PC is not generally not used to make major changes such as allocation of parenting time.  Examples of issues that might be appropriate to address with a PC are a joint legal decision-making issue regarding orthodontic treatment or disputed vacation arrangements.

Under recent changes in our laws, a PC has binding authority to make a decision and report that decision to the court.

Benefits may be substantial:

  1.   Prompt resolution.  A PC could resolve an issue promptly in a month or so, compared to more than 6 months to take a matter to court for a hearing.
  1. Less expensive.  Using a PC to resolve issues is also usually less expensive than paying attorneys= to file an action with the court and attend court hearings.