With a little education, many ex-couples can resolve most questions on their own. For example, it may be obvious to one couple that, because their two apartments are a quarter of a mile away from each other and in the same school district, and because their kids love and need both parents, the kids should spend one week living at mom’s house, the next week living at dad’s house, and so on. For a different couple, it may be obvious to both parties that their child should continue to live with the parent who has been the primary caregiver for his whole life and that he should spend time with the other parent at least twice a week, including at least one overnight, so that the bond remains strong. A large variety of detailed or flexible schedules are available, to fit the needs and circumstances of a large variety of children and parents.
I often advise clients to work out as much as they easily can on their own. Then they can use mediation sessions to discuss the things that are hard to talk about or hard to agree about.
