Mothers challenge court-appointed child-contact intermediary

Several mothers have complained to LRT about the court-appointed intermediary service provided by Taikos raktai, alleging poor communication, a lack of information about specialists’ qualifications and pressure to purchase additional paid services.

When parents with children decide to separate, disputes can overshadow rational decision-making. Before a court sets arrangements for contact with the children, mediation is generally mandatory, regardless of whether the couple was married or simply lived together. An exception applies when domestic violence is being investigated and one party may be the perpetrator and the other the victim.

The state covers up to eight sessions of mandatory mediation, which is required before documents can be submitted to court. However, several mothers told LRT that courts had appointed the public institution Taikos raktai as an intermediary and ordered both parents to split the cost of the service.

The intermediary service is not mediation. In cases involving separated or divorced parents who disagree over contact with their children, a court can appoint an intermediary and impose temporary protective measures until a final decision is reached. The intermediary’s role is to help the child establish or maintain a relationship with both parents and prevent the parental conflict from escalating. The intermediary also provides information to the State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service and to the court.

Child rights advocates have noted that parents sometimes fight not over the child itself, but use the child as an instrument in their conflict.

The mothers who contacted LRT raised several concerns about Taikos raktai. They said its services were relatively expensive, while courts had not allowed them to choose cheaper providers. They also said the institution was unwilling to provide information about its specialists’ education and training. This has caused particular concern because one child has suicidal thoughts, while another is only about 18 months old.

One of the women said Taikos raktai had pressured her in such sensitive circumstances to accept additional paid services that had not been ordered by the court, including a family reconstruction service. She said this created both financial difficulties and a difficult situation because the institution later submits its opinion to the court. The duration of such services may also be unlimited, as it is unclear whether eight or 28 sessions will be needed.

In Vilnius, intermediary services are provided by four organisations: the One Stop Family Crisis Centre, the public institution Sotas, the Missing Persons Families Support Centre and the public institution Taikos raktai. Their prices differ.

Conflict led child to self-harm

One mother who contacted LRT will be called Indre. She asked that her name and surname not be disclosed, so this is not her real name.

Indre has a 12-year-old daughter. She separated from her partner in 2022, but communication remained normal for some time. She said she had not gone to court over child support because she had a good relationship with her former partner’s mother and grandmother, and travelled abroad with her daughter to visit them.

“They asked me not to take him to court, because if I claimed child support, he would not be able to buy a home and would have nothing. They said, ‘We will help you,’” Indre said.

She also said that after the separation she agreed to lend money to her former partner, who is 36 and has been unemployed for a long time.

Indre said conflicts with her former partner over their daughter began at the end of 2024 after two developments. First, she became engaged to her current boyfriend and began looking for separate housing.