The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that divorcing parents to have the right to agree to avoid the judicial process and engage in binding arbitration of custody disputes. The reasoning behind this holding is important as it is based on the parents’ fundamental right to parent. “The constitutionally protected right to parental autonomy includes the right to submit any family controversy, including one regarding child custody and parenting time, to a decision maker chosen by the parents.”
In New Jersey, the standard of review of an arbitrated custody or parenting time decision is not “best interests of the child”, but is a review for “adverse impact or harm to the child”, a much higher standard.
