Meet Liz Merrill, owner of Open Space Mediation
Co-parenting Mediation
Co-parenting Mediation
Mediation is first and foremost about discussing and finding the right approach for your family and your situation. Co-parenting mediation can help determine parenting plans, child custody plans and communication – all vital to the success of a post-divorced family and, as always, the best interests of the children and front and center in any plan. You and your spouse/co-parent have many factors to consider in order to arrive at a mutual vision for the future of your family. Mediation is the best way to help you get there.
Parents in Colorado are typically ordered to share legal custody or have joint legal custody (or “joint parental responsibilities”). This means both parents share responsibility for the major life decisions for the child, such as health and educational decisions. It is rare that one parent or another is awarded “sole custody”.
What many call “child custody” is referred to as “parental responsibilities” in Colorado, but responsibilities are the same: deciding who the child lives with, who gets to make major decisions (such as educational or health decisions), and what “parenting time” or visitation will be for the non-custodial parent.
The family court determines parental responsibilities based on the best interests of the child standard. This involves many factors, such as the wishes of both parents and children, the emotional bonds between parents, and how hard a time the child would have adjusting to a new neighborhood or school. All of these are considered when families create a parenting plan.
There is no one way to create a parenting plan post divorce, but there are recommended, often used plans. It all boils down to the needs and backgrounds of the families, the ages of the children, and other circumstances that make each family unique. Co-parenting mediation can help.
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A note on pricing
We publish our fees upfront because you deserve to know what you're getting into before you call. If the numbers give you pause, that's fair. Some people have sticker shock at first.
Here's some context: a contested divorce in the U.S. averages $15,000 to $28,500 - per person. That's attorney fees alone, billed by the hour, with no cap and no guaranteed outcome. DIY divorce sounds cheaper until emotions run high and negotiating without a neutral third party becomes impossible, or you sign an agreement without understanding what it means five years from now, or the court sends your paperwork back because something was missing. You don't know what you don't know and in divorce, finding out later is expensive.
With Open Space Mediation, you know your total cost before you start. You get a neutral, experienced team with a collective 50 years of experience guiding you to a signed agreement in about three to four months. No courtroom. No mystery billing. No waking up a year from now realizing you agreed to something you didn't fully understand.
That's what the flat fee buys you. Peace of mind and a boring, fact-based, fair, sensible, realistic settlement and parenting plan that keep you out of court and back to real life in about 3-4 months.