A wife and husband, Robert and Margaret Johnson, are currently separated and are contemplating who should receive custody of their four children once the divorce is finalized. The children’s ages are between 4 and 10 years in which Robert has limited time because of his company which makes Margaret thinks that she is the primary parent. According to state law, the primary parent controls the majority of the parental rights to the children as well as receives any financial benefit from the non-primary parent. Another benefit of being the primary parent is the ability to list the children as dependents on their taxes each year. Hence, the ongoing issue that arises is Robert feels that both parents should share custody of the children on an equal basis, but Margaret feels as if she should remain the primary custodial parent. Both have agreed to work through mediation to resolve their issues as moving forward to a judiciary process could be negative in either case. Traditionally, the mothers have been granted primary custody in lieu of any extreme circumstances such as drug, alcohol, and/or child abuse. However, a growing number of fathers have been awarded custody in their state regardless. These statistics are known by Robert and Margaret which is another reason they want to resolve their issues through mediation. Another problem that has come to fruition is that the family has been disrupted by the recent conflict and Robert has since moved out of the primary residence. This has created confusion among the children in which the second youngest, who is in first grade, is becoming increasingly disrespectful to his teachers in school. He is constantly fighting with other students and behavioral issues are becoming more apparent each day as well. Margaret even states that though she is upset with her child’s behavior since the separation, “It will be better for everyone in the long run when some semblance of stability is in order.” Robert on the other hand has stated that he thinks the behavioral malignancy with his child is based on Margaret’s “helicopter parent” theory which permits him to act out with no consequence. Even though there are different outlooks on how to proceed; Robert and Margaret feel that mediation is the best start to resolving their issue about custody of their children. They understand that if mediation is not either performed or successful, that the next phase will be a court mandated agreement between them. Robert and Margaret both want to live in the same town, so that the children do not have to switch schools and neither of them has to change jobs. Their family is also in the area and is usually heavily involved in taking care of the children. They used to spend holidays all together, which is now part of the heated discussion in deciding who has the kids and when. Margaret has begun to ignore Robert’s calls and will walk away if he tries to talk about custody issues or anything related to the divorce in person. She feels he is too aggressive and pushy and doesn’t want to talk with him. She is confident that she will gain full custody because she is the mother, with a steady nursing job, and she is the parent remaining the house that the children grew up in. Robert has an ulterior motive to lessen the financial blow of child support since he will be paying a large sum of alimony to his wife as the bread winner of the family. He also admits that he has little time with his children since he moved out of the primary residence but still wants them to be an integral part of his life regardless of finances. Consequently, his major hidden goal is to have shared or close to shared custody of his children along with the ability to claim them on his taxes since he will most likely be doubling his payments to Margaret with alimony and child support. Furthermore, he feels as if Margaret is using his children against him for not trying to fix their marriage and willfully agreeing to move forward with the divorce. Robert is adamant about gaining shared custody of the children because he exclaims, “I can raise my children to act more responsibly than Margaret can.” Margaret has a hidden agenda of remaining the primary parent and to even take more custody from Robert because she feels he criticizes her parenting skills too much. She also continues from this premise that he is too hard on the children to be successful at such a young age which as she states, “does not give them a chance to enjoy their childhood.” Another area of concern Margaret had of Robert was that he was reluctant to stay married because he had another love interest that he refuses to disclose. Even though she admits that she has no proof of infidelity, Margaret feels that the “signs” are there and “another woman will not be raising her kids.” All in all, Margaret does not want Robert to know that she is resentful of his sullen response to what has transpired and feels he is full of glee that they are getting divorced more than anything. 
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