What is Family Mediation?
The prospect of separating or getting divorced can be highly stressful, especially if children are involved. Mediation can help reduce those stresses and sort out disputes as they relate to future arrangements for your children and finances. Mediation cannot repair the relationship but will seek to help both parties reach agreement with practical, workable solutions.
What can be the benefits of Mediation?
The benefits can be numerous, not least reducing some of the stress of a naturally emotional period. In addition, Mediation helps you keep control of the process, as it is the parties themselves that seek to secure an agreement – rather than necessarily going to court and having the Judge impose a decision upon you. As a consequence, the Mediation process can be cheaper and potentially quicker than initiating court proceedings. Indeed, the Courts do now place an expectation for the engagement with non-court dispute resolution such as mediation, rather than using the court system as a first port of call.
In addition to securing an earlier agreement – the process may ease future communications between the parties, thus increasing the chances of fresh arrangements being agreed as the circumstances of the parties and their children evolve over time.
An added advantage is that if agreement is reached, it can be converted into a Consent Order.
If you are unable to finance the mediation process yourself, it is still possible to secure financial help via legal aid, should your financial circumstances satisfy the criteria.
Who will be the Mediator?
Mediators come from various professional backgrounds including from the Law and Healthcare sectors and are listed on a Register maintained by a non-profit organisation - The Family Mediation Council. The Mediator must act impartially, avoiding any conflicts of interest and remaining neutral as to the outcome of any Mediation process. As the parties themselves must try to reach agreement, the Mediator should not seek to influence its outcome, nor display a preference.
The Mediator will be under a professional obligation to keep all matters discussed confidential and cannot reveal matters to the court, without consent of the parties. This is save for any serious allegations of violence, or harm to a party, or children.
The Mediation Process.
A party can not be forced to engage in Mediation as the whole process is voluntary, and so any meeting can be suspended or terminated, if either party wishes to withdraw, or fails to participate in the process. Research suggests that it may be best if matters commence only once both parties are emotionally reconciled to the fact, that the relationship has irretrievably broken down.
As a rule of thumb any initial meeting may last only around 45 minutes and will primarily revolve around clarifying what is involved in the process itself. A good mediator will ask questions of the parties sufficient to understand their concerns and hopes. This should allow the mediator to assess how many subsequent mediation sessions may be required to secure an agreement between the parties. The initial meeting is known as a “MIAM” - Mediation Information & Assessment Meeting.
Any successive agreement is drawn up as a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ so that everyone is clear as to the terms of settlement and their obligations/responsibilities going forward.
If the parties or any child’s circumstances change in the future, the Mediator can be invited back and as appropriate a fresh Memorandum of Understanding agreed.
Is Mediation right for me?
The prospects of securing an agreeable solution at Mediation are reasonably high and are to be encouraged. As mentioned, the Courts will expect parties to have engaged in the process, rather than resorting to court action first. Indeed a Judge can stay your action to compel the parties to adopt that approach.
As part of their function a Mediator will however explain what other options are available, whether that be through Solicitors negotiating on your behalf, or through collaborative law.
Some checks and balances are in place, so for example if there has been allegations of domestic violence or abuse, or any child is the subject of a protection plan etc, the Mediator should inform you of your right to bring an immediate application to the court instead.
Sadly, in some cases it will not prove possible to secure an agreement through the mediation process and matters will, put simply, have to go to court. The Mediation exercise will however have served a valuable purpose when narrowing the areas in dispute and giving the parties a better understanding of the former partners issues and expectations.
What are the Costs of Mediation?
Subject to an examination of your financial circumstances, you may be eligible for legal aid to help with the costs of the mediation exercise. Especially if you are not eligible, it makes sense to contact a few local mediators in any event to establish their charges, as they may vary.
The last government established during the covid-era a Family Mediation Voucher Scheme, whereby a one-off payment of up to £500 per family towards mediation costs can be obtained on condition that a mediator must be retained from those registered with the Family Mediation Council.
Next Steps
If you are involved in any form of family dispute our experienced Lawyers in the Family Team are on hand to support you through any difficulties you are facing. To discuss how we can help, please contact your local Kingsfords office in Ashford, Cranbrook or Hythe. Alternatively, you can send an enquiry and a member of our team will get back to you promptly, by calling us on 01233 665544 or emailing via enquiries@kingsfords.net. If you wish to seek advice before engaging in the mediation process and/or want to see how much resolving the issue might cost, we can provide an estimate with no obligations. We will be happy to assist with all aspects of any required separation/divorce or family law matter.