Family Law Private Mediation & Child Custody Recommended Counseling

Family Law Private Mediation (FLPM) is where a mediator, who is either chosen by the parties involved or recommended by a judge in the case that the parties involved can’t come to a decision on a specific mediator, assists the parties in coming to a mutually beneficial agreement regarding the decision of custody and other parenting issues that may need to be addressed. Mediation can involve attorneys but they are not necessary in order to reach a decision.

Child Custody Recommended Counseling (CCRC) is for people that need assistance with visitation and custody issues. With this option, the parents meet with a professional counselor to help with conflict resolution. The counselor provides the parents with the information they need about how their separation will affect their children and what each parent needs to do in order to equally share in raising their children and meeting their needs.

Differences:

CCRC is court ordered, and can still mean the individuals involved have to settle things in court, whereas FLPM is optional and can find a resolution for far more than just issues of visitation, custody and parenting such as: property, income, and debt issues.

FLPM can involve attorneys or not, depending upon the wishes of the involved persons and their personal situation. CCRC does not allow attorneys to be present in the proceedings.

FLPM is not an option in cases where there has been or is domestic violence, child neglect and/or abuse, or sexual abuse. CCRC is an alternative option in such cases where there is an intimidation factor or where one party holds an unequal share of power over the other.

CCRC sessions are not kept confidential from the court, judge, etc. FLPM sessions are not reported to anyone with the exception of letting the court know that the case has been settled.

CCRC sessions have no cost attached to them, whereas FLPM sessions have a charge attached to them, though there are programs to help reduce the cost of these sessions.

Similarities:

Both CCRC and FLPM sessions can last anywhere between an hour and a half and three hours per session.

Both CCRC and FLPM involve a licensed professional to help assist the involved parties to make an informed and mutually beneficial resolution to the issue(s) they need to agree upon.

Conclusion

Both of these options have the same goals of helping the people involved in the dispute reach an agreement that they will all find beneficial in the foreseeable future and to resolve the conflicts that brought about the dispute, though each option differs and one may be preferable to the other depending upon the situation.

Every situation involving these sorts of disputes regarding children and parenting issues is different, and each one of these cases requires a different resolution.

This article shows the differences and similarities between these two different options for conflict resolution so that each person involved in the dispute can make an informed decision based upon the facts available.

References:

• “Custody Mediation.” – Custody_famlaw_selfhelp. Judicial Council of California, 2015. Web. 05 May 2015. <http://www.courts.ca.gov/1189.htm>.
• “Frequently Asked Questions.” Court Website. Superior Court of California, 12 Nov. 2013. Web. 05 May 2015. <http://www.cc-courts.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=6773>.
• “Frequently Asked Questions.” Court Website. Superior Court of California, 12 Nov. 2013. Web. 05 May 2015. <http://www.cc-courts.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=6773>.
• “The Superior Court of California, County of Riverside – ADR – Family Law Private Mediation – FAQs.” The Superior Court of California, County of Riverside – ADR – Family Law Private Mediation – FAQs. Superior Court of California, 2011. Web. 05 May 2015. <http://www.riverside.courts.ca.gov/adr/famlaw_pmfaqs.shtml>.