Define: Parenting Consultant
A parenting consultant is an individual who is responsible for making decisions regarding parenting time and other parenting provisions when minor children are involved. A parenting consultant must be agreed-to by both parents. Thus, if one parent does not agree to the utilization of a parenting consultant, the court cannot appoint a parenting consultant over that parent’s objection. The appointment of a parenting consultant must be incorporated into a stipulation and order that is signed by the parents and by a judge, which is then filed with the Court.
What Can a Parenting Consultant Decide?
The duties and responsibilities of the parenting consultant are completely up to the parents. The creation of a parenting consultant relationship is based on contract law. There are no specific Minnesota laws that deal with parenting consultants (as opposed to parenting time expeditors). Since the appointment of a parenting consultant is based on contract, that means the duties and responsibilities of the parenting consultant can vary on a case-by-case basis, depending on the needs of the parents. However, with that being the case, most parenting consultant orders contain similar provisions generally allowing the parenting consultant to decide all child-related issues and disputes.
Specifically, many parenting consultant orders authorize a parenting consultant to:
Authorize “trading” of time with the children where one party requests and the other party declines;
Award compensatory time to one parent because the other parent did not permit the children to be with the parent who had custodial or access rights under the existing court order, prior decision of a PC or Parenting Time Expeditor (PTE);
Interpret ambiguities or unclear provisions in the parties’ stipulations and/or court orders;
Decide parenting and parenting time issues that were not contemplated by the parties when they addressed parenting issues in previous stipulations or are not addressed by an existing court order or prior decision of the PC;
Decide allocation of fees and expenses related to parenting issues (such as fees for extracurricular activities) that were not determined by a court order or prior decision of a PC;
Decide alterations in the access schedule, including transportation;
Decide revisions to previously decided parenting and parenting time issues as needed to meet changing circumstances;
Decide the holiday and vacation access schedule between the parties and the minor children to the extent the holidays and specific vacation dates have not been determined by a court order, prior decision of a PC or PTE, or are no longer workable due to a change in circumstances;
Decide school attendance, child care, activity, vacation and summer camp issues, including dates and times for the same, to the extent the specific vacation dates have not been determined by a court order, prior decision of a PC or PTE, or are no longer workable due to a change in circumstances;
Decide the appropriate school placement for the child(ren);
Consult with outside sources, such as teachers, therapists, physicians, attorney for either party, family members, etc., and review school records and speak to, or review records of, therapists with whom the individual and/or child(ren) have met;
Require independent evaluations and psychological testing of the parties and/or child(ren) if the PC determines it would be helpful to the resolution of problems;
Communicate, obtain and/or provide information with any person without the necessity of securing a release from the parties;
Require that a parent or child(ren) participate in therapy, anger management, etc., and select the therapist, if therapy or professional assistance would be helpful to the resolution of the problems or assist the child(ren);
Decide issues with input from only one party, where the other party has failed to participate in the decision making process; and
Make recommendations, memorialize agreements and make decisions, including the authority to impose consequences for non-compliance.
A Parenting Consultant’s Decision
After a parenting consultant has met with the parents and reviewed all the relevant information on any disputed issues, the parenting consultant will prepare a written report and “decision” on the disputed issues. This written decision is the equivalent to a court order. If a parent believes the parenting consultant issued his or her decision in error (based on the best interests of the children involved), that parent may “appeal” the parenting consultant’s decision to the district court judge. In most counties, the appeal would be before the judge who signed the initial parenting consultant order.
Pros and Cons to Parenting Consultants
Parenting consultants can be very helpful, in particular for parents who have difficulty co-parenting and difficulty making decisions for their children. If a parenting consultant is not appointed, when a dispute arises that cannot be resolved between the parents, then either parent would need to bring a formal motion with the court for a judge to decide the issue. This can become very expensive and acrimonious. While the parents do need to pay a parenting consultant for his or her services (based on that parenting consultant’s hourly rate), the ultimate cost of a parenting consultant is usually much less than the cost to going back to court on a formal motion.
A downside to a parenting consultant, is that a parenting consultant is ultimately tasked with making decisions on issues in dispute between the parents. Therefore, the decision will likely favor one parent and not favor the other parent. This dynamic can create a distrust between one of the parents and the parenting consultant.
Another problem that can arise with parenting consultants, is when one parent is more difficult than the other parent and creates issues where there should be none. These issues are submitted to the parenting consultant, which then causes both parents to incur the cost for the parenting consultant to review and render a decision on the issues. Most parenting consultant orders contain provisions which allows a parenting consultant to disproportionately allocate the parenting consultant fees in such cases (i.e. when the parenting consultant believes one parent is more at fault, etc.).
Contact an Attorney if You Have Questions Regarding a Parenting Consultant
If you are thinking about establishing a parenting consultant for your circumstances, or if you have questions regarding your existing parenting consultant, contact the experienced family law attorneys at Blahnik, Prchal & Stoll, PLLC for a complimentary consultation.