What is FRSC?
The Family Resolutions Specialty Court (FRSC) is a problem-solving court using collaborative teams to help parents with a child or children under 18 settle issues in the Probate and Family Court.
FRSC offers:
- Support for co-parents to manage and reduce conflict.
- Help settling parenting and financial arrangements in the child/ren’s best interests.
- Tools for productive future parenting and co-parenting.
- Referrals to community-based services that might be helpful to your family, such as counseling or financial help.
How is FRSC different from the regular court process?
Traditional Court: In the traditional Court process, parties advocate for their rights, usually represented by attorneys who do most of the talking to other side and to the Judge. There are formal rules of evidence about what information can be given to the Judge, and the process is geared towards making arguments in favor or against a party or a position for the Judge to decide. Most cases do settle but usually outside of Court with the help of lawyers or mediators paid for by the parties.
Family Resolutions Specialty Court: In FRSC, your family is assigned a Team that includes, at no additional cost:
- A Family Consultant who is a mental health professional who will guide you through the Court process. They will offer you information about co-parenting, parenting skills, and good communication between parents. They will also help you make a parenting plan and give you referrals for community services if any family member needs outside help.
- A Mediator or other conflict resolution professional who will help you exchange information you need to make parenting and financial decisions. The Mediator will focus on financial issues such as child support and expenses and (in divorce) dividing your marital property. They can help you reach and write up agreement on all the subjects you need to solve to reach the end of the Court process. (There is no cost up to 10 hours.)
- A Team Coordinator who will help the Team work together and plan the process to meet your family’s needs. The Team Coordinator is a family attorney who is familiar with the process. They are neutral in FRSC and do not act as an attorney for either parent.
- A Child’s Attorney, if any, when it’s helpful to bring the child/ren’s voice to the parents and the Team. The Attorney represents their client’s wishes as part of the collaborative team, but they do not investigate or make recommendations about the child/ren’s best interest.
Your FRSC Team will meet in a series of Team Meetings. Sometimes the full team will attend. Sometimes you will meet with just your Family Consultant, the Mediator or other members of the Team to work on the issues you have to solve. If you have attorneys representing you in FRSC, with a general or limited appearance, they will be part of the Team.
You and your FRSC Team will meet with the FRSC Judge in Court Conferences sitting together at a conference table, rather than in formal Court hearings. You will be able to speak directly to the FRSC Judge in the court conferences, even if you have attorneys. The FRSC Judge will offer guidance and help you work towards your agreements. The complex court rules of evidence will be relaxed. In FRSC, the main focus is on helping the parents communicate effectively and make all the decisions. That way, the final agreement really is your own. If necessary, the Judge will make decisions on subjects you and your co-parent can’t agree on.
FRSC team members may offer you referrals for support services, such as therapy, substance use disorder treatment, educational and developmental support for the child/ren, job training, fuel, housing, and transportation assistance, etc.
Can I participate if I have a lawyer?
Yes. You may hire an attorney for a general appearance or for a limited appearance representation (LAR) for just one event or issue. You may also hire an attorney to consult outside of the court process. Your attorney would help you get ready to speak with the Judge and speak for you when necessary. There are some times when you might meet with the Family Consultant or the Mediator without your attorney present, but your attorney will attend all full Team Meetings and all Court Conferences with you. Even in mediation, you may be able to include your attorney if you wish and if everyone in the mediation agrees. You can participate in FRSC if one parent has an attorney and the other does not. The Team will help to make the process feel fair if only one of you has an Attorney.
Can I participate if I do not have a lawyer?
Yes. The FRSC process is less complicated than the traditional court so you may find it comfortable to represent yourself. Even if you do not start with an attorney, you may decide later to have an attorney enter a general appearance or a Limited Assistance Representation (LAR) for a certain event or time. And at any time you may consult an attorney outside of Court to get advice as needed but not be part of your FRSC Team.
What is the benefit to my child/ren of participating in FRSC?
The FRSC Team and Judge will work with you and your co-parent to keep focus on your child/ren’s well-being. Everyone wants to be sure they aren’t in the middle of any conflicts you have with your co-parent. If your child/ren are having trouble, your Family Consultant and sometimes others on your Team can work with you to make the situation better and offer referrals for outside help.
What is the benefit to me of participating in FRSC?
The FRSC Team and Judge will work with you and your co-parent to help you reduce your level of conflict, improve your co-parenting communication and reach agreements you can both live with. They can offer referrals to services outside of court such as therapy, substance use disorder treatment, financial counseling, housing, employment and fuel assistance.
Do I have to participate in FRSC? Will I be penalized if I don’t participate?
No, not at all. It is your choice to “opt in” and file in FRSC. FRSC will work only if both parents agree to file and participate in FRSC.
How do we figure out our parenting plan?
You will work with the Family Consultant and other Team members to plan a schedule so your child/ren may have a significant relationship with both parents. “Significant relationship” will have a different meaning for each family and for each child. There are many different parenting schedules a family may make. FRSC is open to any parenting plan if it fits the needs of each family member and is agreed upon by the
parents. FRSC doesn’t require that the co-parents have equal parenting time. But FRSC will consider that model if it is what both parents want.
How do we figure out what to do about child support and dividing the things we own?
You will work mostly with the Mediator to understand your family’s finances and figure out the financial issues including child support, sharing of child expenses and (in divorce) dividing your property. The Mediator will make sure that you can get all the information you need about your money and property so that you feel able to work on these decisions. The Mediator and Team Coordinator may refer you to outside resources as may be helpful.
If you have attorneys, they will help you learn what the Court expects in these decisions and the freedom you have to work out an agreement that feels fair to both of you.
What if I decide to participate but change my mind later?
Either parent may decide to stop the FRSC process at any time before the Final Court Conference. We call this “opting out.” If that happens, there may be an Opt-out Court Conference with your Team and the Judge. Once the FRSC process ends, your legal matter will be closed and dismissed. If you had an open case in the traditional process (that was transferred into FRSC), that case will be reopened and you will return to that process with a Judge other than the FRSC Judge. If there were Temporary Orders or Partial Judgments during FRSC, they stay in place unless changed by another Judge in a process that would involve you both. If there was no open case in the traditional process, then any Temporary Orders may stay in place for a brief time to give you a chance to file a new case and incorporate them into the traditional process. Partial Judgments will stay in place unless changed by another Judge in a process that would involve you both.
If your FRSC matter is ended before a Judgment, the Team’s appointments will end. The Family Consultant and Team Coordinator will no longer work with your family. The Child’s Attorney’s appointment will end; however, if you both agree you may ask the Judge in the traditional process to appoint the Child’s Attorney. Free mediation would end; however, you and your Mediator may continue working together if you all agree on the arrangement and payment.
Can anyone else opt my family out of FRSC?
Yes. Any member of the Team can recommend that the FRSC process end, for the Judge to decide. The Judge can order that the process be stopped and the family referred out of FRSC. This might happen if one or both parents are not participating according to the FRSC process or if the Judge determines that the FRSC process is no longer appropriate for your family.
What if I am afraid of my child/ren’s other parent?
Then FRSC may not be a good process for your family. If your child/ren’s other parent is encouraging you to participate in FRSC but you feel like you can’t talk freely in front of them, you can ask to meet alone with the Legal Coordinator or the Family Consultant to talk about your concerns.
Do I have to pay anything to be in FRSC?
All FRSC services including the Family Consultant (up to 15 hours of services), the Child’s Attorney, the Team Coordinator and the Mediator (up to 10 hours of services) are free to parents. You pay for your own attorney, if you hire one.
You will pay the same Court filing fee you would pay if you went through the traditional process. If you have already paid the fee in the traditional process and switch to FRSC, you will not have to pay the filing fee again.
If the Court appoints a guardian to determine whether to waive or assert your child/ren’s therapeutic privilege, there may be a fee. The amount will be based on your income and financial resources and decided by the Judge.
You pay for any out-of-court services that you agree to use, such as counseling, parenting classes, financial advisors, etc. Some of these services may be covered by your health insurance.