Parenting plan mediation in San Diego
Parenting Plan Mediation Built for Real Life
Mary Levin, Certified Co-Parenting Specialist™, helps parents work through the decisions, transitions, and pressure points that shape daily life in two homes—not simply divide the calendar.
Choose focused parenting mediation with Mary, or bring Scott Levin into the process when neutral legal guidance and formal drafting are needed.
More than the minimum terms
A divorce is not just a legal case—and a parenting plan should not just check boxes
“A thoughtful plan anticipates the hard moments before they become the next conflict.”
Many divorce processes reduce parenting discussions to the minimum terms needed for a court order. We intentionally go further. Mary helps parents identify the real-life situations most likely to create resentment, confusion, or repeated arguments—and decide in advance how they will be handled.
The details that protect everyday peace
What your parenting plan can address
For general legal information about parenting plans, see the California Courts Self-Help Guide.
Parenting mediation at different stages
You do not need to be in a traditional divorce
We work with parents who are establishing their first court orders, revisiting an existing plan, or responding to circumstances that require greater care and specificity.
Unmarried co-parents
Unmarried parents still use a court case to obtain enforceable orders, but it is generally a parentage and custody matter—not a divorce. If legal parentage has not already been established, that must also be addressed.
Mediation can resolve the children-related issues together:
- Legal and physical custody
- The regular, holiday, vacation, and travel schedules
- California guideline child support
- Health insurance and uninsured medical costs
- Childcare, activities, school costs, and other child-related expenses
Already divorced or separated parents
A parenting plan that once worked may stop fitting when children grow, schools change, work schedules shift, a parent relocates, or the same disagreement keeps resurfacing.
Parents can mediate the disputed terms without reopening every part of their divorce. When an agreement is reached, Scott can prepare the updated stipulation and proposed order for submission to the court. In many agreed matters, the judge can approve the revised terms without either parent appearing for a contested hearing.
California Courts: make an agreement a court orderSafety and continued connection
Parenting plans when substance use or addiction is a concern
When a parent is struggling with alcohol or drugs, the answer does not always have to be either unrestricted parenting time or no relationship at all. When mediation is safe and appropriate, parents can build a plan that protects the child while creating a realistic path for the parent-child relationship to continue.
California courts consider habitual or continual illegal drug use, alcohol abuse, and abuse of prescribed controlled substances when deciding a child’s best interests. The exact safeguards should therefore match the history, current risk, treatment progress, and child’s needs—not a generic formula.
California Family Code § 3011A carefully structured plan may address:
- Testing or remote alcohol monitoring
- No use before or during parenting time
- Sober and reliable transportation
- Supervised visits or protected exchanges
- Treatment participation and recovery support
- Clear responses to a missed or positive test
- Step-up parenting time tied to objective milestones
- Emergency contacts and temporary backup care
Mediation is not appropriate when immediate danger, coercion, or an inability to participate voluntarily prevents a safe process. Emergency and child-safety concerns may require court or professional intervention.
Choose the level of support you need
Mary-led parenting mediation or Scott and Mary together
Mary and Scott are neutral mediators. They do not represent either parent. Either parent may obtain independent legal advice before signing an agreement.
Professional expertise, human perspective
Meet Mary and Scott Levin
Mary and Scott are a married co-mediation team and parents of three. They understand that a parenting agreement cannot be designed in the abstract. It has to work around school mornings, changing work demands, children’s activities, holidays, family traditions, and the emotions that come with reorganizing a family.
Mary focuses deeply on how the family will function after separation. Scott brings more than 20 years of family law experience and prepares the legal language when that service is needed.
Together, they help parents move from broad promises—“we will be flexible” or “we will decide together”—to agreements that explain what those intentions mean when a difficult moment arrives.
How it works
Thoughtful without becoming unnecessarily complicated
What clients say
Families remember how the process felt
“He was fair and respectful to both parties and most of all ensured that our kids would have the best outcome in this very sad breakup of our family.”
— The B., Google Review
“Scott is compassionate and informative. I trusted his calm disposition to take me through the highs and lows of mediation.”
— Madelyn H., Google Review
Common questions
Parenting plan mediation FAQs
What is included in a parenting plan?
A detailed plan can address the regular schedule, holidays, vacations, transportation, childcare, parent-child communication, school and medical decisions, activities, travel, schedule changes, and a process for resolving future disagreements.
Can Mary mediate our parenting plan without a full divorce mediation?
Yes. Parents may work with Mary on parenting and co-parenting issues as a focused service. If neutral legal information, formal drafting, court filing, or broader family-law issues are needed, Scott can participate as an attorney-mediator.
Can a parenting plan be flexible?
Yes. A plan can combine a reliable base schedule with agreed flexibility. The goal is enough detail to reduce confusion without making normal family life unnecessarily rigid.
What if we agree on most things but not everything?
That is a good use of mediation. We can preserve what is already working, focus on the remaining issues, and compare practical options without reopening every decision.
Can a parenting plan be changed later?
Yes. Parents can return to mediation as children grow or circumstances change. If the current plan is a court order, an agreed revision generally must be submitted to the court to become enforceable.
Can unmarried parents use parenting plan mediation?
Yes. Unmarried parents can mediate custody, parenting time, child support, health insurance, childcare, and other child-related expenses. If legal parentage has not been established, that must also be addressed through California’s parentage process.
Can divorced parents modify custody without returning to court for a hearing?
Often, yes. Parents can mediate agreed changes, and Scott can generally prepare the updated stipulation and proposed order for a judge’s approval without a contested hearing, subject to court requirements.
Can a parenting plan address substance use or addiction?
Yes, when both parents can participate safely and voluntarily. A plan may use safeguards such as testing, supervised parenting time, sober transportation, treatment milestones, step-up schedules, and clear responses to a missed or positive test while preserving a safe parent-child relationship.
What should a military parenting plan address?
A military parenting plan can address duty schedules, temporary duty, deployment, leave, virtual contact, transportation, advance notice, temporary schedule changes, and how the prior schedule resumes when the service member returns.
Can the plan address expenses that child support does not cover?
Yes. Parents can discuss childcare, activities, camps, medical expenses, school costs, approval procedures, reimbursement deadlines, and related practical details. Scott can participate if broader financial or legal issues are part of the engagement.
Build the plan your family will actually live with
A free 15-minute call is the easiest way to learn whether Mary-led parenting mediation or co-mediation is the better fit.