My Background in Family Law: Guiding Co-Parents After a Divorce or Separation

Key Takeaways:

• Christina Perrone has focused exclusively on family law since 2016, after almost a decade working in commercial litigation.
• More specifically, Attorney Perrone tends to focus on custody dispute resolution and the crafting of mutually agreeable, sustainable co-parenting plans.
• In addition to being a Family Law Attorney, Attorney Perrone is certified as a Parenting Facilitator, a Mediator, and an Amicus Attorney.
• This book is meant for both divorcing/separating couples learning to co-parent, and professionals who work with separating co-parents (and/or their children).
• The ultimate aim of parenting facilitation and mediation is to foster a co-parenting relationship between parents or caretakers that is based in respect, love, and the best interest of the child or children involved.

I started the Perrone Law Firm in 2016, after almost a decade working in commercial litigation. While I initially enjoyed my career in commercial litigation, I eventually lost some of the passion that originally led me to pursue a career in law. I realized that my true calling was in helping families, and specifically in helping children.

This led me to make a complete switch from commercial work to focus exclusively on child welfare and private family law cases, opening my own firm in 2016. I began to specialize in sub-fields like divorce and custody disputes, child welfare litigation, and adoption.  I represent parents, caregivers, foster parents, and families looking to adopt in a variety of family law cases.

In 2021, I became a certified Parenting Facilitator, devoting a large portion of my time and legal resources to helping caregivers co-parent. A parenting facilitator is an attorney who works with parties that have their own counsel in divorce or child custody litigation, specifically as to matters of co-parenting. As a parenting facilitator, I help parents or caregivers work together to create a sustainable, mutually agreeable parenting plan, focusing on the best interests of the children involved. Our goal is ultimately to establish a parenting plan that works for the family outside of the courtroom.

In fact, the whole premise behind parenting facilitation is to settle these cases outside of the courtroom. If successful, parenting facilitation settles these matters without requiring the decision of a Judge.  Instead of an arbitrary Court decision that the parties then have to adhere to, parenting facilitation gives the parties a chance to work together to make an agreement they are all happy with and agree to implement.

Through my work as a parenting facilitator, I have really started to focus on helping parents learn to co-parent their children, and to keep putting the children first. I help them zero in on the key issues and really encourage them to work together to develop agreements and parenting plans that will actually work in the real world. Ideally, this prevents the families from having to continue to go back to Court year after year to modify or change a court-ordered possession schedule or parenting plan.

I’m also certified as a Family Law and Child Welfare Mediator. This means that I can host a mediation in Texas in an official capacity. There are some requirements to complete (including hours of real-life practice that must be completed) before you can be certified in family law and child welfare mediation. I do hold all of the necessary certifications, so that if I’m not a parenting facilitator or an attorney representing one of the parties, then I can help the parties reach a parenting solution through a mediated settlement agreement. These agreements then get taken to Court and incorporated into a Final Order.

In addition, I have completed the necessary continuing legal education (CLE) hours to serve as an Amicus Attorney for children. Often, when children are stuck in the middle of a pending custody case, the Court will appoint an Amicus Attorney to work with the children and the parents/caregivers to help determine what is in the children’s best interests. The Amicus Attorney then writes their recommendations, which is taken directly back to the Court.

Those are the four different areas in which I am eager and determined to help parents and children going through the divorce process: Attorney, Parenting Facilitator, Mediator, and Amicus Attorney.

Who Would You Say You’re Writing This Book For? What do You Want Your Readers to Get From These Pages?

I want this book to be used primarily by two different groups of people:

• Caregivers Learning to Co-Parent. I think that caregivers who are learning how to co-parent their children and maintain the health of their family through a divorce or separation are going to find a lot of successful tools in this book. I also want this book to both teach them how to put the right focus on creating a healthy co-parenting relationship, and encourage them to do so.
• Professionals Who Work With Co-Parents: I also wrote this book with professionals who work with co-parents in mind. This could include other family law or divorce attorneys, other facilitators, and counselors who work with both children and adults in these cases.

I think the book will be valuable for both professionals as well as parties to the litigation.

How Do You Define Co-Parenting for the Purposes of This Book?

Co-Parenting is a relationship between caregivers that facilitates good and healthy parenting by both parties. The best kind of co-parenting, in my opinion, comes from the creation of a respectful partnership.

Generally, one of the main prerequisites for “co-parenting” is that the separated parties are now living apart. As such, their child or children generally go between two different homes.

It is our hope and aim to focus adult custodial parties on caregiving for their children, and on creating a relationship that’s built on trust, with love and compassion for each of the individuals involved, and a focus on the best interest of the child or children that they are seeking to raise together.

For more information Family Law in Texas, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (903) 964-1122 today.