If I file for an amendment of the parenting plan, will I have to go to mediation?
A judge can order the parents to go through mediation or counseling (“dispute resolution process”) to resolve any conflicts regarding the amendment a parent requests. However, the judge cannot order mediation or counseling if:
- there has been physical, sexual, or emotional abuse against you or your child or the threat to commit such abuse; or
- the other parent has been convicted of one of the following crimes:
- deliberate homicide;
- mitigated deliberate homicide;
- sexual assault;
- sexual intercourse without consent;
- deviate sexual conduct with an animal or dead human body;
- incest;
- child sex trafficking;
- endangering the welfare of children;
- partner or family member assault;
- sexual abuse of children; and
- strangulation of a partner or family member.1
1 R.C.M. § 40-4-219(9)