Co-Parenting Tools for Guardians ad Litem, Therapists and Mediators

Co-parenting tools you can recommend to the families you work with, whether you serve as a guardian ad litem, a therapist, or a mediator. Messaging between co-parents is free for both parents, and every message is time-stamped and tamper-evident.

Guardians ad litem, attorneys for the child, family therapists, reunification counselors, mediators, and parenting coordinators all meet the same problem in a custody case: two parents with two versions of events, and a record scattered across texts, emails, and memory.

FamilyCourtHelp.com is a self-help platform for parents in family court. It gives the families you work with one organized place for co-parent messages, schedules, parenting plans, expenses, and records. Messaging between co-parents is free for both parents, every message is time-stamped and kept in a tamper-evident thread, and a parent can invite a guardian ad litem or a mediator straight into that thread.

Pick your area below for the details that change at the state line: what your state calls the child's representative, whether custody mediation is required, how parenting coordinators are appointed, and the court that hears custody cases where you practice.

Co-parent messaging (Free): One time-stamped, tamper-evident thread for everything about the children, free for both parents with no message limit. A Tone Meter built into the messenger shows how a message will land before it is sent and offers calmer rewrites.

Invite a professional into the conversation (Free): A parent can add a guardian ad litem or a mediator to the co-parent conversation with a single-use link. You accept with your own free account and can read the thread.

Parenting plan, built and shared (Free to build): Parents draft a court-formatted parenting plan section by section and can share it with a guardian ad litem, mediator, or other viewer, who can read it and comment. Every edit and comment is timestamped.

Verify a chat export (Free): When a parent sends you the exported message record as a JSON file, upload it to check that it has not been changed since it was exported. No account is needed and nothing about the file is stored. The PDF copy cannot be checked there.

Court-Grade Journal (Paid plan): A dated, no-delete journal of incidents and parenting events. A parent can send a guardian ad litem or mediator a share packet of the entries they choose, with personal notes left out unless they turn them on.

Expense Tracker (Paid plan): Shared child costs logged with the receipt kept. A parent can add you by email to view the ledger and receipts; you cannot add, edit, or delete anything.

Parents can create an account and message their co-parent for free, with no credit card. Building a parenting plan is free; sharing, downloading, and printing it, and the tools marked as a paid plan, are part of a monthly plan a parent can start and stop.

For guardians ad litem and the child's representatives

In a custody case, much of the work of a guardian ad litem is finding out what is really happening between two homes. In every state, the parents you meet often arrive with a phone full of screenshots and two different stories about the same weekend.

On FamilyCourtHelp.com you see what a parent chooses to share. A parent can invite you into the co-parent conversation with a single-use link; you accept with your own free account, read the thread, and can review the shared calendar's change requests and approvals. A parent can also share the parenting plan with you to read and comment on, add you to view the expense ledger, or send you a packet of chosen journal entries.

Because an invited professional joins the conversation as a participant, you can also send messages there, so settle with the parents, and within the order that appointed you, how you will use the thread. If a parent hands you the exported message record as a JSON file, you can check that it has not been changed since export, with no account.

Many states use another title for the person who speaks for the child: attorney for the child in New York, minor's counsel in California, amicus attorney in Texas, child and family investigator in Colorado. A parent's invitation works the same whatever your title is, and your area page below uses your state's term.

Invited into the co-parent conversation with a single-use link

The full thread, plus the shared calendar's requests and approvals

Read and comment on a parenting plan a parent shares with you

Check that an exported message record (JSON file) has not been changed

For therapists and counselors

Court-involved therapists, reunification therapists, co-parenting counselors, and custody evaluators everywhere meet the same thing a court does: a conflict that lives in the gaps between two households. When both parents use one message thread, the facts of the week are written down and time-stamped, so a session can start from what happened instead of who remembers it better.

There is no therapist seat in the conversation and no therapist access to accounts. Each parent keeps their own record and decides what to show you, which keeps your role clear and keeps you out of the evidence business. For co-parenting work, the Tone Meter in the free messenger shows a parent how a message will land and offers a calmer version before it is sent. The site gives no clinical advice and does not replace therapy.

One calm, time-stamped message thread instead of scattered texts

A Tone Meter in the free messenger that offers calmer rewrites before a message is sent

A clear, dated history the parents choose to share, without making you the record keeper

No therapist seat and no access to accounts, so your role stays clear

For mediators and parenting coordinators

Mediation anywhere goes further when both parents arrive knowing what they want. A parent can invite you into the co-parent conversation with a single-use link and share the parenting plan for you to read and comment on, so you can see the draft and the open issues before the first session. Between sessions, agreements stay in writing in the one thread, and schedule changes go through the shared calendar as requests the other parent approves or declines. Parenting coordinators can be added to a shared plan as a viewer who reads and comments.

Invited into the co-parent conversation with a single-use link

Read and comment on the parenting plan before and between sessions

Review the shared calendar's schedule requests and approvals

Agreements kept in writing in one time-stamped thread

Step 1. The parent creates a free account. Point the parent to FamilyCourtHelp.com. Creating an account takes about a minute, with no credit card, for parents in every state and everywhere else.

Step 2. The parent invites the co-parent. From the messenger, the parent sends the other parent an invite link. Messaging is free for both, so cost is never the reason one parent says no.

Step 3. Everything about the children goes in one thread. Schedules, exchanges, school, health, and expenses go in the one thread, so there is a single time-stamped record instead of two phones' worth of screenshots.

Step 4. A parent invites you in. A parent can add a guardian ad litem or mediator to the conversation with a single-use link that expires in 14 days. You accept it by signing in with your own free account.

Step 5. Plans and records, shared on purpose. A parent can share the parenting plan for you to read and comment on, add you to view the expense ledger, send chosen journal entries, or send an exported record you can verify.

Step 6. Therapists: ask for what you need. Therapists work from what the parents choose to show them, such as the message history, a draft parenting plan, or a schedule.

If you searched for a guardian ad litem, a family therapist, or a custody mediator, the court that has your case, the order in it, or your lawyer is the place to find who is appointed or approved. This site does not appoint professionals or refer you to one.

What you can do here is come prepared. Keep every message with your co-parent in one time-stamped thread, write down what happened with dates while it is fresh, track shared costs with receipts, and work on a parenting plan before the meeting. A guardian ad litem, therapist, or mediator can only work with what you bring.

FamilyCourtHelp.com is a self-help platform, not a law firm and not a court, and nothing on this page is legal, clinical, or mediation advice. Court rules and local programs change, so confirm anything that matters for a case with the court, the order that appointed you, or the program itself.

Frequently asked questions

What can FamilyCourtHelp.com do for the families I work with?

It gives parents in a family court case one organized place for co-parent messages, schedules, parenting plans, expenses, and records. Messaging is time-stamped and kept in a tamper-evident thread, which helps guardians ad litem, therapists, and mediators work from facts instead of screenshots.

What does it cost the families I work with?

Parents can create an account for free with no credit card, and text messaging with a co-parent is free for both parents with no message limit. Inviting you into the conversation is free, and so is your own account. Sharing a parenting plan, the journal, the expense tracker, and record exports are part of a paid plan a parent can start and stop. Current plans are on the pricing page.

Can a guardian ad litem see a family's case on FamilyCourtHelp.com?

Only what a parent shares. A parent can invite you into the co-parent conversation with a single-use link, share the parenting plan for you to read and comment on, add you to view the expense ledger, or send you an exported record. No professional can open a family's account without a parent sharing it.

Can a mediator or parenting coordinator join the parents' message thread?

Yes, if a parent invites you. A parent can add a mediator or a guardian ad litem to the co-parent conversation with a single-use link that expires in 14 days, and you accept it by signing in with your own free account. Invited professionals can read the thread and send messages. Parenting coordinators can also be added to a shared parenting plan to read and comment.

I am a therapist. Will I see my clients' messages?

No. There is no therapist seat and no therapist access to accounts. Each parent keeps their own record and decides what to show you, which keeps your role clear.

Can I check that a message record a parent gives me has not been changed?

Yes, for the exported record's JSON file (the PDF copy cannot be checked). Upload it on the Verify a chat export page and the site re-checks its signature and hash chain. No account is needed and nothing about the file is stored. Whether a court accepts any record is always up to the judge.

Will a court accept the message record?

Every message is time-stamped and kept in a tamper-evident thread. Whether a record is admitted is up to the judge and the state's rules of evidence, and no app carries an official court endorsement. This is not legal advice.

Our order names a co-parenting app. Can we use this one?

Follow the order. If it names a specific app, use that app, and talk with your attorney or the court before switching. If it only requires written communication through an app, or names none, parents can agree on the platform they use together. This is not legal advice.

Is FamilyCourtHelp.com a law firm, or a stand-in for my role?

Neither. FamilyCourtHelp.com is a self-help platform for parents. It does not give legal, clinical, or mediation advice, it does not evaluate a family or recommend a custody outcome, and it does not stand in for a guardian ad litem, a therapist, a mediator, or a lawyer.