If you are not yet in full agreement, sometimes a good place to start is family mediation, as recommended by family courts, solicitors and Citizen Advice Bureaus across the UK. Mediation provides valuable support,  offering a constructive environment to address disputes around divorce and separation, such as child arrangements and finances.

Unlike solicitors, who offer legal advice and represent individuals, mediation fosters a more amicable approach. Mediators create a structured and neutral setting where both parties can openly discuss their concerns and explore practical solutions together. Our mediators can help facilitate dialogue, ensuring both sides are heard and guided towards mutually acceptable outcomes.

A MIAM is a Mediation Information Assessment Meeting, which is a confidential one-to-one between you and a mediator so that you can exchange information.

It is your minimum legal requirement, unless you can prove you are exempt, to starting a family court application. In it you will learn how mediation can help to resolve the dispute and the methods used in the process.

Not only are MIAMs now a legal requirement for anyone wishing to start a family court application (unless exempt), they are a vital part of setting out expectations for the process. Mediators need to ensure that continuing would be safe and suitable for all involved, and on occasion may need to direct you to other methods of resolution instead. 

Mediation is a neutral and confidential way for separating couples to talk through disputes and work towards an agreement together with the help of a trained mediator.

The mediator wont take sides. Instead they will help both of you communicate more clearly, explore your options and move discussions forward to a resolution you are both happy with.

We offer mediation as an additional service if required, for an additional cost. To keep those costs to a minimum however, we do not include your full financial disclosure but engage with both of you to help you to do it yourselves.

Your mediator will meet with each of you individually to learn of your concerns, needs and wants, before scheduling a joint meeting to bring you both together to start an exploration of what can realistically be achieved to allow both parties to move on. The number of joint sessions is led by the participants and you remain the decision-makers at all times. 

There is no pressure from the mediator to make any decisions you are unsure about and legal advice is always recommended before finalising any agreement.

Anything that needs to be decided. Mediators can help you to agree on how to co-parent, choose where the children reside, changing their schools, what happens on special occasions and holidays in the future.

If you have property, mediation can help to agree who remains in it, or, if it is to be sold, and when, and what share of the proceeds you each get. Maybe its not the right time to sell, so mediators will explore what the alternatives are to protect each party’s interests.

Shuttle mediation is a term used to explain that you and the other party will not see or speak to each other directly when in any joint meetings.

It is usually used in situations where there is historical abuse, or if there are existing Bail Conditions, Non-Molestation Orders, or other preventative orders or undertakings stopping you and the other party from having direct conversations. In these cases we insist that mediation only takes place online in order to protect all involved. Whilst both parties will attend the same meeting, they will be kept in separate virtual rooms throughout, with the mediator “shuttling” between them to pass ideas, proposals and responses. 

You stay in control: Mediation allows time to explore, and if needed, reject, options before legally committing to them. Working together, both sides better understand each other’s needs, to create solutions that truly consider everyone.

We Focus On The Practical: Mediation focuses on practical next steps, rather than emotional closure, meaning decision making is clearer and avoiding revisiting past disagreements. It ensures often overlooked needs are fully considered by everyone.

Reassurance About Your Agreements: With easy hand-overs, mediation agreements can easily be made into legally binding Consent Orders through our drafting service, providing certainty and peace of mind going forward. 

It reality tests future needs: How you agree to split any assets and finances may depend upon how you choose to co-parent in future, or vise versa. Property needs often go hand-in-hand with where children will mainly reside, but what does that look like? Maybe you agree on nothing at all, or on almost everything and just want to make sure you haven’t missed an option.  It’s important to be certain of all the points before finalising any Orders as they are not easy to revisit once issued.

It allows you room to consider: Mediation is a convenient and cost effective method of exploring and reviewing each other’s options before proceeding to drafting your Consent Order. By engaging in mediation, you have the opportunity to clarify your positions, consider various other possibilities, and work collaboratively towards agreements that suit both parties; you always have the option to pause and receive legal advice before committing to a legal agreement. 

You decide on the way forward: Mediators can produce voluntary agreements known as Parenting Plans and Memorandums of Understanding, that you can refer to in future. If you choose to legalise the agreement as part of your divorce, we will take the Memorandum of Understanding and draft your Consent Order from it, giving you the assurance that it contains everything relevant to satisfy the court.  And if mediation ends unsuccessfully, your mediator can issue the required MIAM Certificates to allow you to pursue the matter in the family court instead.

While many assume solicitors are mandatory, the no-fault divorce process makes it easier for couples to reach an agreement without a legal battle. While a solicitor represents one person’s interests, family mediation brings both parties together to reach a fair, collaborative settlement.

If negotiations by solicitor fail, and mediation also fails, you will usually need to provide a MIAM Certificate as part of your court application to show that resolution pre court was attempted. So even if you use a solicitor, if theres the potential for the decisions to be made by court, you will usually need to attend a MIAM as a minimum before starting that process.

Mediation is significantly more cost-effective. Solicitor fees typically start at over £200 per hour per person. In contrast, mediation fees usually start at around £120 per hour per person, helping you resolve financial and child-related matters for a fraction of the cost.

Yes. Many solicitors refer clients to mediation to handle exploratory discussions and reduce overall costs. Once you reach an agreement, you can take the documents created in mediation to your solicitor, or use our Professional Drafting Service to finalise the process yourself.