What does a Parent Coordinator (PC) do? A PC has two roles – he/she can assist parents in creating, modifying, interpreting, and/or clarifying the terms of a Parenting Plan. The goal is to assist parents in reaching an agreement which reduces conflict between the parents and stress on the child. What happens when the parents cannot reach an agreement?
The other role of the PC is to make a binding decision on the issues that remain in dispute. This is helpful because it gives the parents a definitive resolution expeditiously which eliminates the wait time associated with requesting a court date and the costs of litigation.
Creating a Parenting Plan in a divorce or legitimation case with a PC is a much more cost and time efficient way to get the legal and physical custody details solidified than the typical back and forth of negotiation and expensive litigation. If a Parenting Plan already exists, then there may be areas that need to be clarified – such as when a holiday break actually begins and ends. Children grow and change and Parenting Plans may need to be updated or modified as well to reflect the needs of the child – such as allowing the child to having more impact on which extracurricular activities he/she chooses.