Martelia “Marti” Crawford Parenting Coordination · Rule 31 Family Mediation · Parent Education
Notice

Marti Crawford is not offering services as an attorney through this website. Nothing on this site creates an attorney-client relationship, and nothing here is legal advice. Her separate law practice is at mtcrawford.com, (931) 528-8442.

When ordered or agreed · after the plan is entered

Parenting coordination

A parenting coordinator is appointed after a permanent parenting plan exists, either by order of the court or by written agreement of the parties. The appointment is discretionary. Most cases never need one.

The purpose is narrow: to make the existing plan work day to day, so that a disagreement about a pickup time does not become a motion.

Required
T.C.A. § 36-6-408
Parent education seminar
Both parents, as soon as possible after filing.
Four hours in aggregate. Children do not attend.
Required
T.C.A. § 36-6-405
Rule 31 family mediation
Before a contested hearing in a custody dispute.
Exceptions apply, including domestic violence.
Required
T.C.A. § 36-6-404
Permanent parenting plan entered
The court enters the plan that governs from here.
Only a judge can change it once entered.
When ordered
By order or agreement
Parenting coordination
Discretionary, and only after a plan exists.
Fixed term, authority limited to the order.
You are here

What she can do

Resolve day-to-day disputes about implementing the existing plan: exchange times and places, holiday and vacation scheduling within the plan's terms, activity and transport logistics.
Set communication protocols between the parents and monitor whether they are followed.
Make decisions on the specific matters an order of appointment expressly delegates to her, and only those.
Recommend to the court, where the order provides for it, and file the reports the order requires.

What she cannot do

Change the parenting plan. Only the court can modify a plan, including the residential schedule and the primary residential parent designation.
Decide child support, property, or anything financial between the parents.
Give either parent legal advice or act as anyone's attorney. She is not your lawyer in this role and no attorney-client relationship exists.
Provide therapy, counselling or a custody evaluation, or hold herself out as favouring either parent.
Enforce her own decisions. Enforcement is for the court.
Not confidential the way therapy is

Say this to yourself before your first contact: the parenting coordinator reports to the court. What you write to her, what you say on a call, and how you conduct yourself can all appear in a report the judge reads and the other parent's attorney receives.

She is not on your side and she is not on the other parent's side. There is nothing you can tell her in confidence, and there is no benefit in trying.

What a report contains

Dates and form of contact with each parent, and the disputes raised.
Decisions made within the delegated authority, with the reason for each.
Whether the plan's terms were complied with, factually stated.
Any recommendation the order of appointment authorises her to make.

And what it does not

No psychological opinion, no diagnosis, no fitness assessment, no opinion on the ultimate question of custody unless the order expressly asks for a recommendation, and no verbatim account of what either parent said in a moment of anger.

How a dispute is handled

1
Either parent raises the issue in writing through the portal. Both parents are notified separately that an issue was raised.
2
The other parent has a set period to respond. Each parent sees the substance of the other's position; neither sees the other's contact details.
3
A conference is held, jointly or separately depending on the case and any safety concern.
4
A written determination is issued to both parents separately, stating what was decided and on what authority. If the matter is outside her authority she says so and says what would be needed to resolve it.
5
A parent who disagrees may take the matter to the court. A coordinator's determination does not remove your right to be heard by a judge.

Fees and duration

Hourly, retainer held
Charged hourly against a retainer held for each party, covering conferences, correspondence review, determinations and reports. Statements are issued to each party separately and show time by task.
Allocation
Divided as the order of appointment directs, equally by default. Where a court finds one party has generated disproportionate work, the order may allocate accordingly; that allocation is the court's to make, not hers.
Duration of appointment
A fixed term stated in the order, commonly twelve or twenty-four months, ending on that date unless extended by further order. She will also withdraw where a conflict arises, where the appointment is no longer productive, or where either party's safety requires it.
Not PEMF-funded
The Rule 38 fund covers parent education and mediation. Parenting coordination is not compensated from it, and cost should be weighed before an appointment is sought.