Free Family Law Advice for Men on SingleDad. Are agreements made during Mediation valid and enforceable? Fathers Rights on Child Custody topic.
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Lawyer Blog : Mediation
Question: Are
Agreements Reached In Mediation Valid?
My
soon-to-be-ex-wife and I reached an agreement during mediation concerning child
custody and a visitation schedule, though it had not been issued into a court
order yet.
She broke
our agreement and wouldn’t let me see our kids on my scheduled day.
I mentioned
our mediation
agreement
and was told it means nothing until the court finalizes it.
What is the
validity of this agreement, which was signed by both parents and the mediator?
Answer from Michigan divorce lawyer Jennifer M.
Paine:
Even though
you and your soon-to-be-ex-wife agreed to a child custody
and parenting time schedule, it is paramount to have the agreement reduced to a written
order.
This is
because custody agreements between parents are just that – common, but
informal. Courts rarely, if ever, enforce them or modify their own orders to
reflect them because they have an independent duty to ensure that the order is
in the child’s best interests.
Depending on
the procedures in your local courts and the temperament of your particular
judge, this could range from merely placing a judicial stamp of approval on a
written agreement between parents to an evidentiary hearing during which one or
both of the parents give testimony to explain why the agreement is in the
child’s best interests.
Nevertheless,
that your ex signed a mediation agreement is persuasive evidence, and an
admission against her, that she agrees to the arrangement. Courts tend to defer
to parents’ agreements, even if they have an independent duty to ensure the
final order is in the children’s best interests.
Until you
have an order, you have no “teeth” to the agreement, meaning no way to enforce
it with, e.g., a contempt motion or a parenting time violation complaint in
court.
You should
document your wife’s behavior for future reference in a motion or complaint to
argue she is unreasonable or withholding your children, however.
Cordell
& Cordell has child
custody attorneys located nationwide should you seek additional information or
legal representation.
Richard “RJ” Jaramillo, is the Founder of SingleDad.com,
a website and social media resource dedicated to single parenting and specifically for the newly divorced, re-married, widowed and single Father with children.
RJ is self employed, entrepreneur living in San Diego and a father of three children. The mission of SingleDad is to help the community of Single Parents
“Make Life Happen…Again!”
