A Kinder, Gentler Divorce?

Author: Richard L. Bolhouse
Date: 04/20/2009

The Kent County Circuit Court has implemented its new Cooperative Parenting Project along with the Michigan Supreme Court and the Family Law Section of the Grand Rapids Bar Association. Parents with minor children filing for divorce in Kent County will have to comply with the project’s requirements. The intent of the project is to change the tone of divorce cases involving minor children and to get the parents to consider the children’s needs first when a divorce is filed. The pilot program attempts to do this in three ways:
First, instead of using adversarial terms such as divorce, plain tiff, and defendant, the program requires the use of terms such as mother, father, parenting time, financial responsibility, etc. By taking adversarial terms and language out of the court documents, the hope is that the parties will be less adversarial as they work through their divorce.
A second requirement is that when a divorce is filed, the parent who files must also submit with their court documents a parenting plan, outlining what he or she suggests as appropriate shared parenting of the minor children. Rather than fighting during the divorce process about how the children will be shared between the parents, the parent filing for the divorce needs to think about what is fair and appropriate regarding parenting ahead of time, and have it in writing.
The third major component is the court’s requirement that the parents participate in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) very early in the divorce process. Again, the goal is to get the parents to commit to moving their case in the quickest, most efficient and civil manner as possible, with the best interest of their children being the primary concern.
The new pilot program has some admirable goals. How the system will actually function and whether it will be effective in all situations in light of the fact that each divorce is factually different remains to be seen. Unfortunately, the project’s requirements will end up costing both parents more money as there are more steps, more court documents, and the added cost of ADR early on in the divorce process.
If you are facing the possibility of a divorce and have questions concerning this issue, please feel free to contact our office.