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How TalkingParents Boosts Your Work with a Mediator

How TalkingParents extends the benefits of working with a mediator.

While mediation is an excellent tool for divorcing couples, it's sometimes mistakenly considered a one-time occurrence that helps you get through your divorce. Instead, it's best to approach the mediation process as a springboard for your post-divorce life. Working with a mediator is an investment in your co-parenting relationship with your ex, and your work during mediation needs to be nurtured even after your last session.

One way to carry the lessons you learn in mediation into life after your divorce or separation is by using a co-parenting communication service. TalkingParents offers all-inclusive features that can help divorcing parents extend their progress from mediation into their co-parenting arrangement. Here are 4 ways that TalkingParents can boost the benefits of working with a mediator and sustain its usefulness throughout the co-parenting process.

Co-parents meeting with a mediator

1. Start better communication habits early

Mediation sets the scene for both parents in a divorce or child custody case to approach issues as a unified team instead of two opposing sides. Divorce and child custody mediators help divorcing or separating couples learn how to communicate with each other more efficiently and peacefully. By keeping discussions focused on solutions for the benefit of the children involved, mediation teaches parents how to work together and avoid conflict when possible. After a few sessions, you may internalize the motivation to reach better outcomes for your child and use these guidelines in conversations even if your mediator isn't involved.

Regardless of whether those communication habits remain, co-parents can use TalkingParents to communicate safely and efficiently about anything related to their shared parenting situation. Secure Messaging uses conversations that cannot be deleted for those who prefer written communication. With Accountable Calling, the same level of documentation is achieved with a recording and automatically generated transcript for every phone and video call. Because all interactions are thoroughly documented, you and your ex may feel more inclined to communicate effectively. Even if either of you reverts to old habits, you have every conversation recorded and ready to share with another mediator or a lawyer.

2. Set and stick to co-parenting boundaries

Through mediation, co-parents learn to identify and avoid points of contention to create a more harmonious shared parenting situation for themselves and their children. Mediators help co-parents keep discussions focused on appropriate issues and avoid irrelevant topics. In going through mediation, parents can collaborate on matters related to their divorce and custody agreement while being redirected away from attacking or upsetting their ex. By practicing over time with a mediator, co-parents can learn how to focus their conversations on important issues and avoid unproductive discussions.

While mediation helps you learn how to work with your co-parent more appropriately, that doesn't mean you have to ignore any of your feelings and concerns that could cause conflict. The Personal Journal in TalkingParents offers a blank slate for parents to write whatever they want and include relevant attachments. Whether you want to take notes from your mediation session, vent about your feelings, or even draft a message before sending it, the Journal is a helpful feature that's entirely private and serves whatever purpose you need. By writing out what matters to you, you can better focus your efforts on what benefits your children the most.

Mother budgeting on her laptop

3. Commit to being financially accountable

One of the most significant parts of a divorce is how finances are handled in the separation. In addition to addressing the division of shared assets, mediation typically involves determining whether spousal or child support payments are needed. While some divorcing couples get into the habit of sharing expenses with the cost of working with a mediator, others need some warm-up time to adjust to a new normal of splitting expenses. In either case, those payments and shared expenses must be managed appropriately, especially once a judge grants the divorce filing and makes any form of support required.

Starting strong by making consistent payments and staying financially transparent is easier with Accountable Payments. If your parenting plan includes child support, you or your co-parent can set recurring monthly payments in TalkingParents to avoid forgetting a payment. If you choose to split mediation costs or need to handle unexpected expenses, you can also request or schedule one-time payments. All requested or completed payments come with timestamps, so you and your co-parent can maintain clarity in whatever requirements you establish in mediation.

4. Accept both consistency and compromise

Even if you start on opposite sides, successful mediation involves you and your ex collaboratively making significant decisions like setting a parenting plan and custody schedule. In going through the process of working with a mediator, parents are almost guaranteed to make compromises when making these decisions. While most divorcing couples would appreciate consistency that stretches past their last mediation session, there will likely be some bumps in the road. Co-parents often have to modify their parenting plans as their circumstances change, and switching between consistency and compromise can be challenging to track.

Using TalkingParents as you transition out of mediation and into co-parenting can help you navigate the process of sticking to and modifying your plans. The Shared Calendar offers a hub to track custody schedules, special events, and more in the same service that handles messaging, calling, and more. Calendar events are easy to modify, and notifications are sent to the other parent once changes are made. With the Calendar and other communication features, co-parents can discuss changes to their parenting plan, adjust as needed, and access the most up-to-date information.

Mediation is a helpful asset that can set you and your co-parent on the path to successful co-parenting. Combining your work with a mediator with TalkingParents can extend the benefits, so you and your co-parent can enjoy a more amicable shared parenting situation long after your last session. By providing parents with the tools needed for accountable, dependable communication and organization, TalkingParents strives to make co-parenting easier for parents and kids.

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