Staying Connected with Clients During the Pandemic

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, family law practitioners are finding new ways to remain visible and available to the clients and families they serve. Many are looking for solutions that provide support to parents as they transition their families through separation or divorce.

With nearly 20 years of offering its technology to families, OurFamilyWizard has been a reliable resource for helping co-parents communicate while keeping their practitioners in the loop. In light of the pandemic, the platform has provided an easy way for practitioners to connect with clients or entire families and remain well-informed even at a distance.

Greater visibility 

Facts and accurate information are key when working to assess the true issues that exist between parties. Practitioner Access on OurFamilyWizard provides a secure avenue through which professionals can oversee communication between co-parents in real-time.

With Practitioner Access, you can connect with an unlimited number of families using just one account and oversee each family's private communication forum on your own timeline. This can help mediators and other neutral practitioners prepare for upcoming sessions with parties and streamline the process of formulating recommendations. For lawyers, access to just their client's account makes it easy to get a bird's eye view of co-parenting communication from their perspective. As soon as your work is done regarding a particular case, they can remove their access to the client or family, assuring that professionals are only connected as long as required.

Collaborative capabilities

When granted access by both parents in a family, a professional will have more than view-only access to their account activity. They will also be able to interact with both parents and set up various entries within their family forum.

Professionals working with a family may utilize this functionality to send group messages and share documents with both parents. They can also help parents to build schedules, propose one-time modifications to parenting time, and even create categories for breaking down expenses between parents. This assistance can ensure that any agreements are reflected accurately for parents with the platform.

Secure documentation

Clear records of communication and decision-making processes can paint a clearer picture of how co-parents managed their joint and individual responsibilities over time. This makes it much easier to look back to see how agreements were implemented or recall who said what—both of which can become especially important if a dispute arises in the future.

Built with accountability in mind, OurFamilyWizard keeps detailed records of all parent activity within the platform. Parents cannot delete or manipulate records, ensuring that an accurate history of their communication and entries is maintained indefinitely. While a professional's involvement may only last a set amount of time with parents, OurFamilyWizard leaves them with a tool that accurately records their efforts to uphold their agreements over time.

Equips parents to move forward respectfully

Even after parents have ended mediation or another ADR process, it's possible for certain issues or negative emotions to still make it challenging for them to communicate effectively. Poor or disrespectful communication can sometimes lead to children getting put in the middle of conflict if used as messengers for their parents or, worse, continuously burden them with emotional stress.

OurFamilyWizard can provide the framework to make communication much easier for parents. The platform predicts common pain points in co-parenting communication to ease often-difficult situations like asking to swap a day of parenting time or request a reimbursement. It also offers a built-in feature that assists parents in communicating with a respectful tone in their messages to one another. 

When co-parents can communicate respectfully and with confidence, they are working to create a healthy and predictable environment for their children. This paves the way for the whole family to experience a more positive outcome after a challenging situation.

 

Over 1 million parents and family law practitioners around the world have used OurFamilyWizard to promote better outcomes for families after divorce or separation. Get started today by creating your free Practitioner Account and linking to your first family on OurFamilyWizard.