Agreements About Parenting in Family Mediation

The ultimate goal of family mediation is to arrive at agreements between parents in relation to their children, of which there are three different types:

PARENTING AGREEMENT:

• About children's care arrangements, decision-making processes and other specific issues
• Neither signed nor dated by the parents
• Not legally enforceable

PARENTING PLAN:

• About children's care arrangements, decision-making processes and other specific issues
• Signed and dated by each parent
• Not legally enforceable, but somewhat influential to a Family Court judge later making Parenting Orders

CONSENT ORDERS:

• About children's care arrangements, decision-making processes and other specific issues
• Must be in a specific format as part of an application to the Family Court
• Stamped by the Family Court and therefore enforceable