MORE INFORMATION AND FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

It is a way of helping families to reach agreements about what should happen about their children, property and finances following a relationship breakdown.

It is an increasingly popular alternative to asking the court to make decisions about family issues. It is also usually far less daunting than attending a court and it allows you both to make decisions rather than have those decisions made for you by a judge.

In family mediation, you will usually negotiate face to face with your former partner (although this can be done remotely online) about arrangements that need to be made for your future.

Speak to our staff when you make your appointment and we will endeavour to accommodate any special circumstances.

It is where you will first meet your mediator and discuss your personal situation. This will always be on a confidential basis. We usually conduct MIAMs individually, although sometimes you can attend part of the meeting with your former partner if you both want to do so.

Yes, you must first attend a MIAM. This is so both you and your mediator can assess the suitability of your case.

Family courts will expect you to have at least attempted mediation before taking your case to court.

We can provide a court form for you following your MIAM if you decide that you wish to attend court rather than continue with mediation.

No. We can conduct mediation remotely where you do not have to physically be in a room with anyone.

If your case is a ‘face to face’ mediation at one of our suits, we can provide what is called ‘shuttle’ mediation which means your former partner and yourself would be seated in different rooms and the mediator would work with you both.

You will be expected to work with the mediator and your former partner in the following ways:

 Explain your family situation.

 Set the agenda on what you want to achieve. It may be one, small issue or could comprise many areas and issues. We tailor the sessions to suit your needs.

 You both have to agree the issues that you need to discuss.

 You need to decide the priority of the issues. Some issues are more pressing than others and need to be resolved first, e.g., short-term financial support, holidays, contact.

 Agree time scales to deal with certain matters e.g., for separation or divorce.

 Consider whether any other specialists might be able to help you.

 Find the common ground.

 Provide/obtain information, e.g., complete a financial questionnaire or have a form explained to you. If you have financial issues to discuss, it is particularly important to make sure everyone has a very clear picture of the family’s financial situation. This involves each of you providing details about any property you own, and your income and expenditure.

 Look at the various options and reality test those options. When there are financial issues you will need to give consideration to what everyone in the family needs, especially the children.

 Arrive at the option that best suits both of you and work out the details of your proposals.

We understand that many people find talking to their partner about what should happen very stressful and upsetting.

We ensure that we provide a safe place to resolve your differences at your own pace.

Our mediators are specially trained to look out for any domestic abuse issues that may affect you or your family.

We would never allow you to mediate if we did not believe you will be safe.

Our mediators are always completely impartial and they are there, equally for both of you.

Either of you can stop the mediation process at any time if you feel that you are not being treated fairly – it will only ever go ahead if you want it to.

Our mediators do not ever make any decisions for you; the decisions are agreed between you and your former partner.

You can change your mind at any time during the mediation process.

Nothing you do or say during a mediation will create a legally binding agreement.

At the end, your mediator will explain how to turn your agreement into a legally binding document and/or a court order.

Both you and your former partner will sign our confidentiality agreement prior to mediation.

This explains that the information you share with your mediator is kept confidential, with some very limited exceptions (for example safeguarding issues).

Proposals put forward during mediation cannot be referred to in court proceedings. If your mediation does not work, and the case then proceeds to court, the court will never be told why the mediation wasn’t successful.

If you qualify for legal aid assistance the entire process is cost free to you.

If you do not qualify for legal aid, but your former partner does, then the cost of your MIAM and first mediation session will be cost free to you.

In some circumstances, we can make an assessment of your financial position and if necessary use a bursary to reduce or cover the cost of your mediation.

The cost of private mediation is shown on our ‘fees’ page.

You will have to attend a MIAM as will your former partner. Following this, the amount of sessions required to successfully complete your case will depend on your personal circumstances and the nature of the mediation.

For example, some cases involving child only issues may complete within 2 sessions whereas others may proceed to 3 or more. Property and finance cases are often more complicated and may extend to 3 or 4 sessions with some taking more than this to conclude.

We will always encourage you to involve your children to give them a voice in the process. Usually, children must be at least 10 years old to become directly involved.

You both must agree for us to approach your children and once you have done, we will do so, inviting them to take part in the process. If they agree, they will be spoken to alone but the mediator will provide feedback so you both know their thoughts.