Special Master

In certain family law cases involving the custody of minor children and parenting time, the parties may request and the court may order, appointment of a Special Master to assist with disputes between the parents in matters involving their minor children. A Special Master is a family law attorney, mental health professional, or mediator, who can help parents resolve disputes about what is best for the children. The Special Master has time to evaluate a situation, and can use a directed mediation process to help the parents reach a good decision regarding the issue. If the parties cannot come to an agreement, the Special Master then makes a recommendation to the court for a court order. Using a Special Master can be a useful alternative to repeatedly going to court to have a judge make the decision.

Sacramento County maintains a Special Master Panel list of those individual whom the court approves to provide this service. Parents may agree to use a special master and agree to a specific person from the Panel, or they may ask the court to choose a special master for them. Ms. Campbell is on the Court’s Special Master Panel.

Special Masters are also useful in families where parents have concerns about drugs, alcohol, abuse or the stability of the other parent.

One of the Special Master’s goals is to help families learn effective problem-solving strategies. Whenever possible, a major goal is to help families develop their skills so they will not need a special master. If this can be accomplished, the power to make decisions about their children is back in the hands of the parents, where it should be.