The Family Stabilization and Soft Landing Divorce Act

Section 1. Short Title

This Act may be cited as the “Family Stabilization and Soft Landing Divorce Act.”

Section 2. Purpose

The purpose of this Act is to encourage family-stabilizing practices in separation, divorce, custody, and related family law matters by reducing unnecessary conflict, improving access to plain-language education, supporting child-centered decision-making, promoting financial transparency, and encouraging resolution-focused pathways whenever safe and appropriate.

Section 3. Legislative Findings

The Legislature finds that:

• Divorce and separation are significant life transitions that may affect children, parents, housing stability, financial security, and emotional wellbeing.
• Prolonged adult conflict may increase stress for children and families during and after the legal process.
• Many families enter family law proceedings without sufficient education regarding conflict reduction, financial impact, mediation readiness, or child-centered communication.
• Legal costs may become financially unsustainable for some families, increasing the number of self-represented litigants.
• Families benefit when courts, professionals, and community resources support stabilization, informed decision-making, and lower-conflict resolution whenever safe and appropriate.
• Early education, organization, and stabilization resources may help reduce unnecessary escalation and preserve family resources needed for housing, parenting, and rebuilding.

Section 4. Definitions

Family Stabilization Orientation

A plain-language educational resource or program designed to help parties understand conflict reduction, child impact, communication boundaries, financial risk, resolution options, and preparation for family law proceedings.

Child-Centered Decision-Making

A decision-making approach that considers how adult conflict, process choices, communication, and litigation activity may affect children’s stability, emotional safety, and long-term wellbeing.

Mediation Readiness

A party’s practical and emotional preparedness to participate in mediation or settlement discussions, including issue organization, financial document preparation, communication boundaries, and safety considerations.

Self-Represented Party

A person participating in a family law matter without legal representation.

Conflict-Reduction Resources

Educational tools, orientation materials, preparation guides, communication supports, and community resources designed to reduce unnecessary escalation.

Section 5. Policy Goals

The goals of this Act are to:

• Reduce unnecessary escalation in family law matters.
• Encourage early education before repeated adversarial filings whenever appropriate.
• Support child-centered decision-making and reduce children’s exposure to adult conflict.
• Improve financial transparency regarding the potential cost of prolonged litigation.
• Strengthen access to plain-language resources for self-represented families.
• Encourage mediation readiness, conflict-reduction tools, and family stabilization practices.
• Support pilot programs that evaluate family-stabilizing approaches.

Section 6. Family Stabilization Orientation

Courts, agencies, or approved community partners may develop or provide a plain-language Family Stabilization Orientation for parties entering separation, divorce, custody, or related family law proceedings.

The orientation may include:

• Child-impact awareness and reducing children’s exposure to conflict.
• Communication boundaries during separation.
• Emotional stabilization and decision-making under stress.
• Overview of mediation, settlement, and resolution pathways.
• Basic financial impact education regarding prolonged conflict.
• Information for self-represented parties.
• Document organization and preparation guidance.

Section 7. Financial Transparency and Proportionality

Courts, professionals, and stakeholders may explore procedures that help families better understand the financial impact of litigation choices and encourage proportionality between the issue being disputed and the resources being spent.

Possible tools may include:

• Plain-language cost awareness materials.
• Educational disclosures explaining that prolonged litigation may reduce family resources available for housing, parenting, and rebuilding.
• Encouragement of early settlement discussions where appropriate.
• Information about mediation, structured negotiation, and lower-conflict alternatives.
• Voluntary proportionality checklists before repeated adversarial filings.

Section 8. Child-Impact Review Principle

In matters involving minor children, courts and professionals are encouraged to consider whether major litigation steps, communication patterns, or process choices are likely to reduce or increase children’s exposure to prolonged adult conflict, while preserving safety, due process, and access to the court.

Possible child-impact considerations may include:

• Whether the proposed step may increase instability or conflict exposure for children.
• Whether a lower-conflict pathway has been considered when safe and appropriate.
• Whether communication boundaries or parenting stability tools may reduce harm.

Section 9. Mediation Readiness and Safety Screening

Mediation and alternative resolution pathways should be encouraged when safe and appropriate, but should not be treated as equally appropriate for every family at every stage of conflict.

Readiness considerations may include:

• Emotional readiness for productive negotiation.
• Safety concerns, coercive dynamics, intimidation, or power imbalance.
• Need for structured communication support.
• Need for document preparation before settlement discussions.
• Need for parenting or financial issue organization before mediation.

Section 10. Support for Self-Represented Families

Courts and community partners may expand access to plain-language procedural information, document organization tools, family law navigation resources, and stabilization-focused education for self-represented parties.

Resources may include:

• Plain-language process maps.
• Document organization guides.
• Hearing and mediation preparation checklists.
• Settlement readiness tools.
• Educational materials explaining communication boundaries and child-centered decision-making.

Section 11. Professional Best Practices

Legal, mediation, mental health, and family support professionals are encouraged to develop and adopt best practices that reduce unnecessary escalation, support child-centered outcomes, promote financial transparency, and encourage family stabilization whenever safe and appropriate.

Best-practice topics may include:

• Conflict-reduction communication.
• Early settlement readiness.
• Child-impact awareness.
• Financial proportionality education.
• Trauma-informed and safety-sensitive process design.

Section 12. Pilot Programs and Review

Jurisdictions may establish voluntary pilot programs to test family stabilization orientations, financial transparency tools, mediation readiness screening, pro se support resources, child-impact education, and conflict-reduction pathways.

Pilot programs may evaluate:

• Reduction in repeated filings.
• Improved settlement readiness.
• Parent satisfaction with clarity and process understanding.
• Usefulness of self-represented party resources.
• Child-centered planning outcomes.
• Whether early stabilization education helps reduce unnecessary escalation.

Section 13. Public Reporting and Research

Pilot programs may collect non-identifying information to evaluate whether family stabilization resources improve clarity, reduce unnecessary escalation, support earlier resolution, or increase access to understandable information for self-represented parties.

Any public reporting should protect family privacy and avoid disclosure of sensitive personal case information.

Section 14. Public Collaboration

This model draft is intended to support public comment, expert review, professional feedback, research development, and lawmaker collaboration before any final legislative language is proposed.

The draft should be reviewed and improved with input from families, judges, attorneys, mediators, mental health professionals, researchers, child-development experts, domestic violence advocates, self-represented litigant support organizations, and policymakers.

Section 15. Preservation of Rights and Safety

Nothing in this model draft is intended to limit access to the court, reduce due process, restrict emergency relief, or require mediation in circumstances involving safety concerns, coercion, abuse, intimidation, or other conditions that make alternative resolution inappropriate.