DBYD Attorneys Dagmar W. Wolf, Esquire and Brian Jason Ford, Esquire were the guest speakers at the June 2010 meeting of the Montgomery Bar Family Law Section. Their presentation focused on those aspects of special education law which have the potential to create conflicts at the juncture of the school’s legal responsibility to the student and the legal custodial rights of divorced and divorcing parents.
Among the topics highlighted were the educational decision-making rights which both parents generally retain in custody agreements as well as the potential use and abuse of those shared rights.
Divorced parents can take steps to enforce their rights without creating havoc in their child’s school, and family law practitioners should know the basics of the special education dispute resolution system - alien in the context of most family law proceedings - if their clients cannot agree about how a child with special needs should be educated.
The complexity of family law cases is compounded when the subject children have disabilities, and DBYD family law attorneys are uniquely positioned to help these parents and children. Our family law attorneys consult with school solicitors and special education attorneys before they steer clients through the dangerous intersection of school and family law.