The first preliminary hearing the parents can get is a conciliation appointment where a judge takes the time to sit down with them and a court welfare worker and attempts to solve individual problems. If the children are of a certain maturity, they may be required to attend. If they seem to be necessary, further conciliation appointments will be arranged. If these first meetings are definitely unsuccessful, the judge requires the welfare officers to prepare an investigative report. At any point in this process it can be diverted into conciliation and mediation proceedings.
Courts are very reluctant to order costs or fees against either of the parties.
Because the courts will say that they do not have time for it. We have not got time to make orders about who does the pediatrician appointments, and the ski trips, and who chauffeurs to pony club and soccer practice and who gets to do Girl Scouts. No, they would rather spend those days and half days in the courtroom hearing parents and their many witnesses natter on about who took the kids to the pediatrician how many times and how Mrs. failed to get little Jennifer to Girl Scouts that time because she is obviously the world's worst mother, etc. They would perhaps think twice if they thought of the tens of thousands of dollars that the attorneys earn preparing for that day and handling all the motions practice that fills the months and years that you have to wait for a custody trial. But you see, they do not believe custody attorneys do all that preparation.