Telephone Mediation For Child Custody Amid COVID-19

Our lives have all been changed, at least temporarily, by the new coronavirus. One of the most challenging situations presented by the virus involves divorced co-parents and their children. As people in New York State have been ordered to stay home until further notice, divorced parents are struggling to grasp with matters related to child custody and parenting time. The ultimate goal of any parent is to ensure their child’s safety, however, it becomes very difficult when they cannot see their children according to their established child custody agreement. In these situations, one could see how a parent may be tempted to ignore child custody orders and refuse to exchange the child for fear of dropping that child off in a home that may be potentially infected. However, history shows that generally speaking, nothing good can come of this, and that parent will most likely have child custody terms reduced or terminated in the future because of it. Some of the unique scenarios we have seen pertaining to child custody matters in the wake of COVID-19 are as follows:

• One parent not wanting to exchange the children for fear of having them infected with the virus.
• One parent believing he/she deserves make-up child custody time with their child if that child was living with the other parent for the duration of the pandemic.
• One parent being fearful of leaving their child with an immuno-compromised person.
• One parent believing their former spouse is not following recommendations by the CDC, such as social distancing, and therefore not wanting to leave his/her children with that spouse.
• One parent feeling uneasy about leaving their child with a parent who may be exposed to the virus as a nurse, doctor, or otherwise.

Unfortunately, as of now, courtrooms are closed for all non-essential legal matters. Because of this, we want you to know that here at our Nassau County firm, we are offering telephone child custody mediation sessions. Our child custody mediator will work as an unbiased third party, with the goal of reaching a temporary child custody agreement that works for you, your former spouse, and your child during the remainder of the pandemic. There is nothing more important than your safety, which is why these over-the-phone mediation sessions are frequently so valuable. If you have any additional questions about the mediation process, please do not hesitate to give our Nassau County family law attorney a call today.

Contact our experienced Nassau County firm

The Pollack Law Firm, P.C., rated Nassau County’s “BEST” divorce lawyers and proudly serving clients in Nassau and Suffolk County for more than 22 years, is always available to assist and represent parties in divorce, separation and all other matrimonial and family law matters. Contact us online or call today to schedule your complimentary case analysis: (516) 938-3330.