A Comparative Study of the Rates of Return to Court in Litigated, Mediated and Parental Agreement Parenting Plans

Divorces in Tennessee involving minor children are granted by the court upon proper completion and submission of two separate documents: the Marital Dissolution Agreement; and the Permanent Parenting Plan (PPP). Current Tennessee Law permits the disputants to create either or both of these documents via three forms of dispute resolution: litigation, mediation or parental agreement. Marital Dissolution Agreements permanently dispose of the disputants' marital assets and debt, so there is seldom an occasion to revisit or revise any of its contents once approved by the court. The PPP differs because the needs of their minor children change over time. Occasionally, one or both of the disputants seek to modify the PPP to accommodate changing circumstances. Like the original divorce proceeding, modifications to PPPs may be litigated, mediated or by agreement of the disputants. This study sought to determine if there was a statistically significant difference between the rates of return to court of litigated, mediated and parental agreement Parenting Plans in a Tennessee Family Court and revealed that mediated cases had a significantly lower rate of return to court than those litigated or reached by parental agreement. This study utilized a comparative method design and analysis of secondary data from 865 divorce cases (with minor children) filed during the periods of January 1 through December 31, 2007 and January 1 through December 31, 2009 with the Family Court of Davidson County, Tennessee. Data collected from these public records are under the care and maintenance of the Clerk of the Court and included: the date of the original petition for a Permanent Parenting Plan Order; which parent (Mother, Father or Other Legal Caregiver) was petitioning or moving the court for judicial action in the initial and subsequent Petitions; which parent was the Primary Residential (custodial) Parent of the child/children at the time of each pleading; the date of each subsequent pleading; the method of resolution used for each pleading; the date of adjudication of the disposition of each pleading; and whether the parties were represented by attorneys at the time of filing of each modification petition.