My husband and his ex were never married and have a 8 year old son together. The child support was handled through the Dept of Revenue when they split up, but there was never any set vistation/custody ordered through the court. Up until now, we've just been going by a typical visitation schedule we found online, however things have started to go sour, so we are well aware it's time to have something ordered through the court.

We can't afford an attorney, so we will be filing everything ourselves, and I've been able to find all the forms and everything online. My question is this..

I called the clerk of court in Putnam County (which is where the child lives) and was told that for these types of cases, they require mediation before seeing a judge. Once we file our petition, does the clerk of court arrange the mediation, or is it my husband's responsilibily to find a mediator and set it up? Also, are the mediator's fees seperate from the court costs, or is that all included into on?

Thanks in advance for any help, this site is wonderful!

My husband and his ex were never married and have a 8 year old son together. The child support was handled through the Dept of Revenue when they split up, but there was never any set vistation/custody ordered through the court. Up until now, we've just been going by a typical visitation schedule we found online, however things have started to go sour, so we are well aware it's time to have something ordered through the court.

We can't afford an attorney, so we will be filing everything ourselves, and I've been able to find all the forms and everything online. My question is this..

I called the clerk of court in Putnam County (which is where the child lives) and was told that for these types of cases, they require mediation before seeing a judge. Once we file our petition, does the clerk of court arrange the mediation, or is it my husband's responsilibily to find a mediator and set it up? Also, are the mediator's fees seperate from the court costs, or is that all included into on?

Thanks in advance for any help, this site is wonderful!

You can find all of that information at http://www.circuit7.org

Click on "family court services" under the Programs/Services section.

You can find all of that information at http://www.circuit7.org

Click on "family court services" under the Programs/Services section.

Ok, I'm embarrassed now for not being able to find that earlier! Thank you so much Xena, you are awesome!