I am the only San Diego divorce lawyer with prior work experience at Family Court Services (FCS), 11 years in fact. Based on my firsthand knowledge of the process, I can tell you the importance of the Family Court Services mediation session when determining your court-ordered custody plan.
First, as a San Diego divorce lawyer who worked at FCS I should probably explain what the process is for those who have never gone through this process or are in the stage of going through the process . First off, not all counties in California are Recommending Counties. This means not all counties have the FCS counselor make a recommendation after mediation regarding their parenting plan. San Diego County among many others is a Recommending County. Therefore, if you live in San Diego County or one of the many Recommending Counties in California, the following information is important for you.
Whenever a parent files a motion in court asking for an order for a parenting plan or a modification to an existing court-ordered parenting plan and there is disagreement between the parents, they are ordered to attend a “mediation” session. Unless the parents go to private mediation or a custody evaluator, the remaining large majority of them end up at Family Court Services.
The Child Recommending Counselor that the parents meet with at Family Court Services will interview both parents and attempt to have them reach agreement upon a parenting plan for their children. Should an agreement be reached, this goes to the judge who will generally make it the court-ordered parenting plan. Should the parents fail to reach agreement, the FCS Child Recommending Counselor will make a recommendation to the court regarding a parenting plan.
As you can tell from this explanation, the recommendation coming from Family Court Services is a very important component to determining one’s custody plan. As a San Diego divorce lawyer, I believe it is imperative for my clients to be as prepared as possible when going to their Family Court Services mediation session.
