Anne Heche & Ex Hire Parenting Plan Coordinator

Actress Anne Heche and her ex-husband Coleman Laffoon continue their family court drama.  The cease-fires have been few and brief since their initial divorce filing back in February 2007. They settled their differences, including custody and visitation of their young son Homer, in June 2008. The divorce was finalized earlier this year.

Heche and Laffoon were back in the news a few weeks ago when Heche appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman. Heche, who pays $3,700 a month in child support to Laffoon, told Letterman that Laffoon was a “lazy ass” who was overly excited to open the mailbox and get his monthly child support check.

It appears that the comments were likely the result of escalating frustrations between the former couple. It now appears that they are having serious problems communicating with regard to Homer. They have now hired a “parenting plan coordinator” to help.

The coordinator gets paid $375 an hour for his or her work – which includes coaching Heche and Laffoon on effective co-parenting, helping them make joint parenting decisions and resolving disputes between the parents concerning the court-ordered parenting plan.

In my experience, these types of coordinators or case managers are only brought in when the parents are almost completely incapable of communicating with each other. Constant drama, persistent calls to the court and unrelenting conflict wear judges and divorce attorneys out. When the family court judge gets frustrated enough with the parties, he or she will resort to a parenting coordinator or case manager. These are generally legal and/or mental health professionals who are brought in as impartial third-parties to resolve daily conflict – to the tune of $375 an hour.

Regardless of the parental conflict, Heche is probably best advised to stop bad-mouthing her son’s father in the press. It accomplishes nothing constructive and will ultimately probably damage Homer. (Side note: same advice goes to Jon Gosselin and Kate Gosselin…) Hopefully, the new coordinator will help these two get their act together.

Also See:

• Anne Heche Bitter Custody Dispute May Be Successfully Negotiated by Attorneys
• Anne Heche Can’t Pay Her Child Support Obligation
• Anne Heche Divorce Finalized; Support Lowered