CAN I REVOKE OUR MEDIATION AGREEMENT?

QUESTION: Can I revoke our mediation agreement if I no longer agree? The judge has not signed it because we have a court date coming up. I believe that I should have full custody, since the father of my kids has no residence, we live in different counties, and dad only gets the kids 4 days out of the month. He lied to the court about where he lives and about working. His work and income are under the table. I really want to revoke the agreement and let the judge hear our case.

MY ANSWER: Whether you can change the terms of your mediation agreement is dependent at least in part on the terms of the mediation agreement and when and where the mediation agreement was entered.

If the Mediation Agreement was a Los Angeles Superior Court Conciliation Court Agreement and Stipulated Order re Custody and Parenting Plan, in order to revoke that Agreement, you would need to FAX or mail a written objection to that Agreement to the Supervisor of Family Court Services before the date of the next scheduled hearing or no later than 10 days from the date of entry into that Agreement, whichever occurs first. Other counties have their own rules regarding whether or not you can back out of a Mediation Agreement, and if so, the deadline for doing so.

If the time limit for objection has already passed, you can still try to object to the mediation agreement at the time of the hearing.

If you have just gotten "cold feet" after entering the Agreement, that would likely not provide grounds for the Court to set aside the Agreement.

If you have no admissible evidence regarding the father's income or earnings, the fact that you know or believe that the father lied to the Court about his income does not provide any basis for modifying the existing Child Support Order.

If you just learned since the time the Mediation Agreement was entered that the father has no residence or lives in a different county from the place where he claimed to live, you should bring that to the Court's attention. If you knew those facts at the time you entered into the agreement, you may have a harder time trying to persuade the Judge to change any order that was based on the Mediation Agreement.

Your question implies that the Mediation Agreement provides that the father has the children four days a month, and that there had been a prior hearing where the father lied to the Court about his work and income. Since you didn't set forth the specific terms of the Mediation Agreement, the specific orders that you want to change, or the specific orders that you want the Court to make, I am unable to further comment on your issues.

You would best retain an experienced Family Law Attorney to represent you in child custody and child support proceedings with the father.

This educational blog is brought to you by DONALD F. CONVISER, an effective and aggressive Los Angeles Family Law Attorney and Divorce Lawyer serving clients in the courts of Los Angeles and Ventura County for over 35 years,owner of Warner Center Law Offices, with offices in Woodland Hills and Century City. Call 888.632.4447 or 818.880.8990 for a free confidential consultation with a Certified Family Law Specialist to discuss your divorce or family law issues. | www.conviser.net | www.conviserfamilylaw.com |