What is a Parenting Coordinator in Pennsylvania Family Law?
A Parenting Coordinator is a trained, certified, and court-appointed attorney or mental health professional assigned to your custody case to make limited custody decisions as they arise on an as-needed basis.
What does a Parenting Coordinator do?
A Parenting Coordinator’s scope of decision-making is limited to certain minor custody decisions that come up in the course of co-parenting where the parties cannot agree. A Parenting Coordinator cannot make major changes to legal custody, the physical custody schedule (except temporary deviations), relocation, financial decisions, or other major issues affecting the health, education, or religion of the child.
How do you get a Parenting Coordinator?
The court can appoint a Parenting Coordinator on its own, either party can request one to be appointed or the parties can always agree and select a Parenting Coordinator to be appointed to their case. Once an issue is brought to the Parenting Coordinator for decision, the parties each have the opportunity to present their positions and any evidence they want to be considered to the Parenting Coordinator.
Absent agreement of the parties, the court is typically only appointing a Parenting Coordinator in high conflict custody matters that have had a history of frequent court filings.
What if you don’t agree with the Parenting Coordinator’s decision?
The Pennsylvania Parenting Coordinator Statute provides a method for appeal (filing objections) to a judge at which time a record hearing would be held and a judge would either uphold the Parenting Coordinator’s decision or set it aside and issue their own determination.
What are the Pros of Using a Parenting Coordinator in Pennsylvania Child Custody Cases?
Some decisions that used to take months to litigate through the court system can be decided in days/weeks which gives parties prompt intervention and a final decision so that they can move forward in their lives. A Parenting Coordinator can save both parties money because instead of each paying their respective attorneys the legal fees and cost to litigate an issue, they typically only need to share the cost of the Parenting Coordinator.
What are the Cons of Using a Parenting Coordinator in Pennsylvania Child Custody Cases?
The other party could end up abusing the process and asking the Parenting Coordinator to make frequent and arbitrary decisions resulting in unnecessary time and costs incurred by you. In this event, fees may be reapportioned by the Parenting Coordinator between the parties at the time they file their written report.
Tiffany A. Shoemaker, Esq. is a Certified Parenting Coordinator located in West Chester, PA. If you are located in Chester, Delaware, or Montgomery counties in Pennsylvania and you are in need of a Parenting Coordinator or have questions and would like to schedule a consultation, contact Shoemaker Family Law here or call us at (610) 885-8655.
