Child Custody Mediation Santa Rosa | Parenting Plans | Marla Keenan-Rivero | Marla Keenan-Rivero Family Law Mediation (707) 525-8800

Child custody is where I see the most anxiety — and the most at stake. Parents come to me worried about losing time with their kids, about what a judge might decide, about whether this process is going to make things worse between them. Mediation almost always makes things better. When parents work out a custody arrangement together rather than having one imposed by a court, they're more likely to follow it, more likely to adapt it when life changes, and more likely to co-parent effectively long after the process is over.

I've helped Sonoma County families navigate custody through mediation for over twenty years. Here's what we work through together.

A parenting plan is the foundation of any custody agreement. It documents how you and your co-parent will share responsibility for your children going forward — not just where the kids sleep, but how you'll handle holidays, school decisions, travel, and the day-to-day logistics of raising children in two households.

In mediation, we build this together. You know your children and your family better than any judge does. My job is to help you and your co-parent get to an agreement that actually reflects your lives — one you can both live with and that puts your kids first.

The custody schedule determines when children are with each parent — school nights, weekends, summers, holidays, and school breaks. There's no one-size-fits-all answer. A schedule that works for a toddler looks very different from one that works for a teenager with a busy social life and school commitments.

Through mediation, we have the flexibility to create a schedule that fits your specific family rather than defaulting to a standard template. We can also build in a process for handling schedule changes as your children grow and circumstances shift — which they will.

Legal custody — which determines who makes major decisions about your children's education, healthcare, religion, and extracurricular activities — is separate from the physical custody schedule. In many cases, parents share decision-making authority jointly. In others, one parent takes the lead in specific areas.

Mediation gives you the opportunity to think through these decisions deliberately rather than having them assigned by a court. We talk through what's worked, what hasn't, and what structure will actually function in your family going forward.

Serving families in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, and Northern California. To schedule a free consultation, call (707) 525-8800 or email Tidwell@perrylaw.net.