Do your Parenting Orders need tweaking but you still find it hard to talk to each other?
If that is your situation, our Parenting Orders Review Program is for you.
The program is designed for people who have a Parenting Order that requires you to share care of a child or children but who find it difficult to talk.
If your Parenting Orders have been in place for a year or more then they are probably in need of a review. If you are like most people you may not realise that there is a way to do that without the terrible emotional and financial cost of going back to court.
We have put together our Parenting Orders Review Program for parents who don’t agree on what is best for their children, who have a Parenting Order that isn’t really working for them and who are willing to meet by Video Mediation to talk about it.
What is included in the Parenting Orders Review Program?
- a course to help you both understand your child or children’s current developmental needs – New Ways for Families
- the course also helps with strategies to co-parent with your type of co-parent (even if they are high conflict and difficult to get along with)
- a software tool to help you to manage the logistics of shared care Our Family Wizard
- a review of your Parenting Orders with a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner via Video Mediation with the goal of establishing a new Parenting Plan to update your Parenting Orders Family Dispute Resolution
What is a Parenting Plan?
A parenting plan is a voluntary agreement about parenting arrangements for children. They have a special status in the family court that allows them to replace the terms of a Parenting Order (in most cases unless the judge has specifically prohibited that)
What this means is that you can book in for Family Dispute Resolution and talk about the clauses in the Parenting Orders and change them so that there is no threat of being in breach and so that you both understand what has been agreed.
Other people, such as grandparents or new partners, who are caring for the child can be included in a parenting plan or even be involved in the mediation session, if both parents agree.
To be a Parenting Plan your agreement about the children must be in writing, dated and signed by both parents (or legal guardians if other people have parental responsibility).
You can’t bully or threaten someone into agreeing to a parenting plan (not that you would think of doing that I’m sure) To be valid a Parenting Plan must be made free from any threat, duress or coercion.
As they are voluntary and low cost (generally less than $1,000 total cost) some parents do an annual review of their Parenting Plan once they have moved on from the Parenting Orders.
As it is voluntary, it can be changed at any time but only if the change has been agreed to by both parents.
Scroll down to download a copy of our six page Parenting Orders Review Session – Information to consider when using Family Dispute Resolution to review a Family Court Order.
