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Carolan Family Law Firm, PAAttorney at Law
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Child Custody Mediation

The Florida custody mediation process, step by step.

Most Florida circuits require mediation before a judge will hear a contested custody dispute. Here is what actually happens in the room, in order, and where parents most often lose ground.

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Every engagement begins with one phone call · Fees scoped at your consultation

Miami-Dade · Broward · Florida Statewide Online · EN · ES

Award Winning Complex Matrimonial & Family Law Litigator (2004 to 2026) · Certified Family Law Mediator (2009) · Internationally Recognized Media Contributor · Published Author of Just In Case! · Forbes Legal Advisory Board · EN · ES

Eight steps, in order

  1. 01

    Screening and intake

    The mediator confirms both parents are willing and able to participate voluntarily, checks for conflicts, and screens for anything that would make a joint session inappropriate. Nothing else happens until that is clear.

  2. 02

    Preparation

    Each parent gathers the material the session will actually turn on: current schedule, school and activity calendars, work hours, travel, childcare, and any financial affidavit already filed. Parents who prepare finish faster.

  3. 03

    Opening session

    The mediator explains the role, confirms the process is confidential under Florida law, and sets ground rules. Each parent describes what matters most to them about the arrangement.

  4. 04

    Issue identification

    The conversation moves from positions to the actual list: the school-year schedule, holidays and summer, exchanges, decision-making on education and health care, communication rules, travel, and relocation.

  5. 05

    Negotiation and caucus

    The mediator moves between joint discussion and private caucus with each parent. Options get tested against how they would work on a real Tuesday, not in theory.

  6. 06

    Drafting the parenting plan

    Agreed terms are written into a Florida parenting plan covering time-sharing, parental responsibility, and the decision-making structure the family will live under.

  7. 07

    Review and signing

    Each parent reviews the written plan, ideally with independent counsel, before signing. This is the moment a second read is worth the most and costs the least.

  8. 08

    Court approval

    A signed parenting plan is submitted for the court to adopt. Once adopted, it becomes an enforceable order rather than a private understanding.

Where parents lose ground

  • Arriving without the school calendar, work schedule, and travel realities written down, then agreeing to a schedule that cannot survive September.
  • Trading time-sharing days for money, or money for days, without seeing what the trade is worth.
  • Leaving decision-making vague, so every future disagreement about school or medical care becomes a new dispute.
  • Signing a plan the same afternoon it is drafted, with nobody independent having read it.

Two ways this firm helps

Online Mediation. A neutral session with both parties together, held before anything is filed. Details on the presuit resolution page.

Second Opinion. An independent written review of a proposed parenting plan or mediated agreement before you sign, with no change to your current counsel. See the mediation second opinion and the parenting plan review guide.

Common questions

Both parents meet with a neutral mediator who has no authority to decide anything. The mediator structures the conversation, moves between joint session and private caucus, and writes up whatever the parents agree to. Most Florida circuits require mediation in contested family matters before a judge will hear the dispute.

Sessions commonly run two to four hours. Matters with a long conflict history, complicated schedules, or relocation questions often take more than one session. Preparation shortens the total time more reliably than anything that happens in the room.

Florida's Mediation Confidentiality and Privacy Act protects most mediation communications, with narrow statutory exceptions such as reports of child abuse. Confirm the exact scope with your own counsel before you disclose anything you would not want repeated.

The mediator reports an impasse, without reporting what was said, and the unresolved issues go back to the court process. Partial agreements are common and useful, because narrowing the list is worth real money later.

You are not required to have one, and many parents mediate without counsel present. What matters more is that someone independent reads the parenting plan before you sign it. A plan you sign today governs your family for years.

Yes. Online Mediation at this firm is a neutral session with both parties together, before a case exists. Both parties attend the consultation call so conflicts can be cleared first. See the presuit resolution page for how that engagement runs.

That is a Second Opinion. An independent written review of the proposed parenting plan and where it is likely to create friction, with no change to your current counsel.

Fees are scoped at your consultation, in writing, before any work begins. Book a consultation.

Begin

One phone call. We decide together whether mediation or an independent review fits.

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General information about Florida practice, not legal advice about your matter. An attorney-client relationship is established only by a signed engagement letter. Aliette Hernandez Carolan is licensed to practice law in Florida only.

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