Can someone explain the mediation process? What, if any, kind of questions does the mediator ask before providing recommendations?


How does Age health and gender of the child factor in to custody? My child is a healthy 16 month old boy, I am the father.


Why would it not be a good idea to start off shared custody at this age when it would not adversely affect the child....or would it?

ScottGem

Mediation is simply the use of a (hopefully) trained professional to try and broker a compromise agreeable to all parties. what they will ask depends on the circumstances.

Age and health bear on the parents ability to raise a child. For example, an infant that is breastfeeding won't be able to spend overnites with the father.

Again, the circumstances are different with each case. At 16 months there is still a lot of bonding between the mother more than the father. So pulling hte child from the mother for extended periods may not be best for the child.

msir

So in your opinion (and I hope others can chime in on this) Is it best for a child this age not to have midweek overnight visitation? Would and evening (6-8) visitation be better?

I am about 30 min away (40-60 in traffic) from the child so I would think midweek overnights wouldnt work if she disagrees.

Right now I get EOW friday 6pm to sunday 6pm. Can I extend this to pick up child from daycare on friday and return him to daycare monday morning. Mom says this is not necessary since teh daycare is across from her job.

ScottGem

To be honest, there are too many variables here for me to answer. Your attorney should be prepping you on what is doable given your coircumstances.

JudyKayTee

I'm confused when I compare this post to your other posts - I can't quite get a grasp on the situation.

However - I am not certain that it is in the best interest of a toddler to go back and forth between parents for more than one overnight. Some children, obviously, make the switch more easily than others. Without knowing the child and the set up for the child in both houses I think it's impossible to know what is best.

The mediator will look at several factors, many of which you've already posted and the Board has already addressed.

As far as mediators - and I know other people will disagree - in most but not all cases I am not in favor of using a mediator. Some mediators are more skilled than others and I've seen least angry of the two participants, the least forceful, give up and agree to terms that the Court would never order. I've seen mediators make recommendations based on the mediator's untrained evaluation of people's stability and mental health.

There also was someone posting on this board who is/was a mediator based on some classes and absolutely no education. I found the situation to be chilling. I would check on the qualifications of the mediator - I would not meet with anyone who did not attend law school, who did not know the laws in your particular State.