Explore my Parenting Coordination services for you
What is a parenting coordinator?
A parenting coordinator is a neutral person who helps two parents carry out their parenting plan and work through the everyday disagreements that come up when you are raising kids across two homes. The handoffs, the holiday schedule, a last minute change to a weekend, a decision about an activity where the two of you read the same agreement and land in two different places. I help you sort those out calmly, so they do not pile up and so your children never get caught in the middle. So why hire one privately? Here is what you are actually buying.
The alternative isn't free. Right now, when the two of you get stuck on a swapped weekend or who's covering summer camp, you have two options: let it sit until it hardens into resentment, or go back to court. Going back to court means attorneys on both sides, a motion, and a wait measured in months so that a judge who has never met your children can decide something the two of you could have sorted out in an afternoon. That costs more than this does. Much more, and not just in money.
You get an answer this week, not next season. School registration is due Friday. The court's calendar does not care about Friday. I do. A parenting coordinator works on the timeline your family actually lives on.
You choose me. Nobody assigns me. Since September 2023, New Jersey courts can appoint a parenting coordinator under Rule 5:8D, and that person carries real authority. When you can't agree, their recommendation becomes binding unless a parent files a timely motion objecting to it. For some families that's exactly the right tool. But it's someone else's process, running on someone else's terms. When you hire me privately, you both picked me, and nothing I suggest gets forced on you. You keep the say over how this goes.
It stays between us. Court filings become a permanent record. A disagreement about a dentist appointment turns into a sworn statement about the other parent that sits in a file, and your kids may read it one day. This doesn't work that way.
The most expensive option is staying stuck. The small things pile up. The handoffs get tense. The kids start carrying the messages. That's the real cost, and it never shows up on an invoice. Most families start with one two hour session, usually split between you. That's enough to find out whether this helps.
Let's figure it out together, and your kids will be better for it.
I have received specialized parenting coordinator training in New Jersey and I am on the Judiciary Roster for Parent Coordinators. That means the Court has reviewed my training, education, background, and experience and deems me qualified to help parents co-parent. It is a bonus for you, because I know how that system works from the inside. I also consider being on the roster an honor, because raising kids is the hardest, most rewarding, most important job parents have. Our world's future depends on raising healthy and mentally strong kids. I help parents like you do exactly that.
Like mentioned above, New Jersey now has a formal court program for this. Effective September 1, 2023, the state Supreme Court adopted Court Rule 5:8D, which lets a family court appoint a parenting coordinator in the right case, often one with ongoing conflict over parenting time. The parents can choose the person together, whether that is a professional on the Judiciary's roster or someone else they both trust.
A court appointed parenting coordinator has real teeth. Their job is to help the parents reach their own decisions whenever possible, but when the two of you cannot agree, the coordinator can make a recommendation. Under the rule, that recommendation becomes binding unless a parent formally objects by filing a timely motion with the court. In other words, you either follow it or you take action to challenge it in front of a judge. There are limits, though.
A parenting coordinator cannot decide financial issues and cannot change legal or physical custody. Those stay with the court.
Because I am on the Judiciary roster, I can serve in a court appointed role as well as a private one, so I know how both sides of this work.
I am reasonable, really. I provide flexible, expert advice when you need it.
You can book hourly support across a range of topics, from planning to problem solving.
Rates begin at $250/hour. But in extenuating circumstances, I'll work with your budget. I also offer a 10% discount to teachers and police officers and healthcare workers* in recognition of their service to our community.
Package deals are also available to help with cost.
*anyone primarily engaged in actions whose intent is to enhance health
