A parenting coordinator is a neutral professional appointed in some high-conflict cases to help implement parenting orders, resolve parenting disputes, and reduce litigation between parents who cannot resolve disagreements on their own. In Arizona parenting coordinators may have authority to make decisions on specific lower-level parenting issues within the scope of their appointment.

Parenting coordinators are not mediators and they are not judges. Their role is defined by the court order appointing them. Some parenting coordinators have binding decision making authority within their scope. Others serve only an advisory or facilitative function.

Parenting coordinator appointments are expensive for clients. They are most appropriate in cases where the parenting conflict is chronic and severe and where the cost of ongoing litigation exceeds the cost of coordination. Assess whether a parenting coordinator appointment actually serves the child before recommending one.