Q: Can my child’s dad change his mind on what we agreed during mediation?
I filed for custody. My child’s father has not submitted a response even though it has been way past 21 days. He has not filed ANY paperwork into our case. However, he has attended the ISC and mediation. During mediation we agreed to him getting our son one weekend per month as we live 3 hours apart. We also agreed he would get him one month during the summer. Recently I had contacted him to come up with a holiday schedule as the mediator put in the agreement that we both signed that we would come up with that before our court date. When I asked him to get on the phone so we can discuss and put on a new parenting plan the things that we agreed; he responded (it was his girlfriend typing and responding for him) saying “what exactly did we agree on? Because I do not agree to getting him one weekend a month I am fighting for 50/50 like I said from the beginning. There was a lot that we had agreed on but now he is denying it saying he will let the judge know he never agreed. Can he do this
A:
It depends upon the specific language of the written mediated settlement agreement both parties signed at the conclusion of the mediation. Ordinarily, a party cannot change his mind and recant an specific agreement definitively detailed in the signed written agreement. But anything not definitively detailed in the signed written agreement likely is not part of the parties' agreement.
For instance, maybe you clearly and definitively documented that he is entitled to possession of the child one weekend per month, but you didn't agree who gets possession of the child any other part of that month. Neither you nor he can change your mind about him getting possession of the child at least one weekend per month, but that does not necessarily mean you get possession of the child the remainder of the month. It may very well set a floor for his time of possession without setting a ceiling.
Or maybe you clearly and definitively documented that he is entitled to possession of the child ONLY one weekend per month, but you didn't agree who gets possession of the child on weekdays. Neither you nor he can change your mind about him getting possession of the child only one weekend per month and you getting possession of the child every other weekend during the month, but that does not necessarily mean you (or he) get possession of the child on weekdays.
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