Parenting Coordination — Your Children, Out of the Middle

When two parents are locked in conflict, the children live in the crossfire — and a judge can’t referee daily life. A parenting coordinator can. A neutral, court-appointed professional keeps both parents functioning, settles the day-to-day disputes, and keeps the children out of the middle.

Rice Law provides certified parenting-coordination services. Mark Spencer Williams is a Certified Parenting Coordinator on the approved list for New Hanover and Pender (6th District); Onslow, Jones, Sampson, and Duplin (5th District); Bladen, Brunswick, and Columbus Counties (15th District); and Hoke and Moore (29th District). We serve virtually, which keeps the role efficient and accessible across that footprint.

What a Parenting Coordinator Is

A parenting coordinator is an impartial professional, appointed by the court and given specific powers by its order, who helps high-conflict parents solve problems involving their children and co-parent better. Courts appoint a PC in high-conflict custody cases — those marked by a pattern of any of the following:

• excessive litigation;
• anger and distrust between the parties;
• verbal abuse;
• physical aggression, or threats of it; and
• difficulty communicating about the children.

Neutral — and Empowered to Decide

This is the heart of the role, and we walk the line with care. As your parenting coordinator, we are impartial: we represent neither parent, advise neither, and take no side.

But a PC is not a mediator. A mediator only facilitates and decides nothing. The court’s order empowers a PC to decide the day-to-day disputes within it — and we use that authority evenly, for the children, never for one parent over the other.

We are also no one’s lawyer. Each parent keeps their own counsel for legal advice. And we cannot serve as PC in any case where our firm has represented a parent.

How a Parenting Coordinator Helps

When parents struggle to co-parent, a PC resolves the disputes and helps build better habits — which protects the children and spares both parents the cost of returning to court over small issues. The decisions get made. The children stop carrying them.

A Parenting Coordinator Supplements the Court — It Doesn’t Replace It

You still need an attorney and a court order establishing custody and child support. The PC works inside that order to make it function day to day. The structure stays with the court; the daily friction comes to the PC.

Not Confidential Like Mediation

One distinction to know up front: a parenting coordinator reports to the court. Unlike mediation, parenting coordination is not confidential, and what you tell the PC is not privileged. We say so plainly, so no one is surprised later.

What a Parenting Coordinator Can Address

Parenting coordinators are governed by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-90 et seq. and by the order appointing the PC. Within that order, a PC’s authority generally covers issues such as:

• Matters that help the parties comply with the court’s custody order
• Disputes over issues the custody order doesn’t address, or terms in it that are ambiguous or conflicting
• Transition time, pickup, or delivery
• Sharing of vacations and holidays
• Method of pickup and delivery
• Transportation to and from visitation
• Participation in child care, daycare, and babysitting
• Bedtime
• Diet
• Clothing
• Recreation
• Before- and after-school activities
• Extracurricular activities
• Discipline
• Healthcare management
• Schedule changes that don’t substantially interfere with the basic time-share
• Participation in visitation, including significant others or relatives
• Telephone contact
• Changes to appearance, including tattoos or piercings
• The child’s passport
• Education
• Other areas the court or the parties specifically designate

How We Work

We usually meet with the parties virtually to fulfill the parenting-coordinator role — efficient for both households and consistent across the counties we serve.

Contact Us

If a North Carolina family-law matter calls for a qualified parenting coordinator, Rice Law can serve. We first run a conflicts check and receive a court appointment. Call (910) 762-3854 or contact us for more information.