Mediation Questions

[giftedsanta]

I am in a California mediator recommending county. I do not
have an attorney. I have joint physical/legal custody
with 20% parenting time. I have been asking for equal parenting
time from the start of divorce proceedings.

In all my hearings, the judge mostly went with the mediator's
recommendations.

In the last one year, mediator was saying that she would give
me more parenting time as time passes and we are moving towards
equal time. The mediator was saying that custody issues are
resolved through mediation and parties do not require attorneys for
custody disputes.

However in the last mediation, she told me that she would not
increase because of the "non cooperating parents" and we are
heading towards custody evaluation.

Both the parents work full time and our child is 3 yrs old.

My questions are as follows

1) Is "non cooperating parents" a valid reason for not giving me
more time? Any inputs on how to ask the judge for more time?
2) Can hiring another attorney improve my chances?
3) I heard custody evaluators typically do not change
the status quo. Should I try to opt for custody evaluation?
4) Should I request a replacement of mediator?

Thanks for your time, Dear Soc.

[socrateaser]

>My questions are as follows
>
>1) Is "non cooperating parents" a valid reason for not giving
>me
>more time? Any inputs on how to ask the judge for more time?

You must convince the court that the best interests of the child is served by increasing his/her time with you. You can request a custody eval, and that will put most of the decision weight in the hands of a neutral reporter. But, it ain't cheap, so don't do it unless you believe the evaluator will report back with evidence that weighs heavily in your favor (like the kid is dying to live with you, and is failing in school due to hostility with the other parent -- stuff like that).

>2) Can hiring another attorney improve my chances?

A good attorney can help enormously. A bad one will just cost you a lot of dough.

>3) I heard custody evaluators typically do not change
>the status quo. Should I try to opt for custody evaluation?

They don't, but that's because most people who request an eval don't really have a case of any significance to cause a change.

>4) Should I request a replacement of mediator?

Nope. They're all pretty much the same. All they can do is tell the judge whether or not you were able to come to an agreement, and if so, what that agreement is.