Mary V Halbert

Initially I had hired Mary as a mediator, and then later as a parental coordinator. After I signed a contract to have her as a hired PC, she canceled the mediation contract which had unfinished business — there was no warning, and nothing I could do. As a PC, it took days — sometimes weeks — to get a...n answer from her, and when I finally did, I found out she didn’t respond because she was away. Typically, when working with individuals in this professional my experience has shown they send notifications when they’re out of town — this one did not. There were also instances where Mary would be speaking with another professional then later, I’d be unexpectedly charged for a conversation I not only wasn’t a part of, but also wasn’t unaware of. The whole point to working with Mary was to help us (my ex and I) better co-parent and communicate with one another … I was reaching out constantly asking for rules around improving communication between parties with little help in return. The situation never improved. I highly recommend you look elsewhere and diligently research who you plan to work with before signing any contract.

It's hard to write a review for Mary, because she seems like a very nice and reasonable person, and I imagine that she's a good attorney. She's a terrible parent coordinator, however. I couldn't agree more with the comments written by the other reviewer. I worked with Mary for 2 years, and found ...her to be as non-responsive and unhelpful as the other reviewer did. She was unwilling to make difficult decisions, and her lack of follow through was disappointing. After two years, she couldn't even get my email address or children's names right. Confused by Mary's approach to our case, I spoke with two other families who were working with her, three highly respected family law attorneys in Marin and a mental health professional who happened to be working with a family who was also using Mary as a PC. ALL of them also felt that Mary is quite ineffective as a parent coordinator.

We have been using Mary Halbert as a Parenting Coordinator for the past 6+ months. While she seems to be a perfectly nice person, I find her to be ineffective and unprofessional. Her communication, or lack there of, is extremely frustrating. After all, we are seeing her to help with our communication... regarding parenting our children yet she herself completely ignores emails and requests which are focused on helping to address current ongoing issues that are impacting our children. I do not get the sense that Mary cares about our children. She still can't get their genders or names correct after 6+ months, yet she is making decisions for them based upon what she thinks is best for them? Needless to say as a parent this concerns me that Mary remembers nothing about my children, but then is going to tell us what she thinks is best for them and then we are to follow her directives. Mary refuses to consult with others whom have intimate knowledge of our family structure despite repeated request for her to do so. She operates in a bubble as though she has all the answers. I don't know if Mary is burned out or if her ego is getting in the way, but it concerns me when someone does not want to gather information from other professionals prior to making choices for and about them. If you are looking for someone to support and guide your family as you navigate post divorce custody issues I would look elsewhere. My experience with Mary Halbert is she simply lacks what it takes to be an effective and supportive Parenting Coordinator. I would suggest using someone who is trained first as a clinician as they would be more in tune with family dynamics/systems which is paramount for a Parenting Coordinator.