Divorce Law and the Courts

At the recent State Bar Committee on ADR, alternate dispute resolution), we discussed ways of making mediation and collaborative divorce more mainstream rather than alternative. California initiated innovative changes in family with no-fault divorce and mediation, but has fallen behind to other states in family law.
Elkins Family Law Task Force has been convened to propose changes in divorce law and procedures. After a divorcing father had a bad experience in divorce court (he couldn't speak and present some documents), he filed an objection that went all the way to the Supreme Court. The court agreed with him and the chief justice put together a committee to look at the divorce law system and will be reviewing suggestions for changes.
Fast track evaluations are not fast. The Superior Court of LA will be offering free training for mental health professionals interested in child custody evaluations. These special services are now called solution-focused evaluations. The trained evaluators will then be required to provide three pro bono evaluations for the court.
Parents Without Conflict and PACT programs continue to be very effective, but take family court staff away from their mediation and evaluation responsibilities, adding to the long delays. Private services in the communities could provide relief. lasuperiorcourt.org/familylaw/pdfs/referrallistforparents.pdf