What is mediation and why should you attend?
Family Mediation, what is it and why should you attend? You may have been contacted by a mediator asking you to attend or it may have been suggested to you by your ex-partner or you could be looking for an alternative to Court to help settle your disputes.
Family mediation is a confidential process where an independent, trained professional (the mediator) tries to help you and your ex-partner reach an agreement on practical issues following separation. This can involve making arrangements for your children, resolving financial and property matters.
The mediator's role is not to make decisions for you but to instead guide conversations to allow you to reach an agreement. The mediator is a neutral party, meaning they do not take sides, supporting each party making sure everyone has a chance to speak and voice their concerns in the hope to reach a mutual agreement.
A Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting, often known as a MIAM is usually the first meeting where the mediator explains mediation and how it works and what you can expect. During the meeting the mediator will assess whether they think mediation is for you and will also invite the other party to attend a MIAM separately before you both attend a mediation session. Hopefully mediation will be suitable and successful for you and means you will not need to apply to Court. However, if you do wish to apply to Court you will need to show the Court that you have attended a MIAM before you apply, if you apply without showing you have attended a MIAM the Court may pause your application until you have attended.
Following a MIAM if both parties wish to continue with mediation, the next sessions will focus on reaching an agreement. The mediator cannot provide legal advice, but they will listen to both parties and suggest practical steps, if mediation is for child arrangements the mediator will focus on what is best for the children. If you do not feel comfortable sitting in the same room as your ex-partner you can sit in separate rooms, however this type of mediation often takes longer and can therefore be more expensive.
Mediation may be beneficial to you as it allows you to contribute towards the arrangements, and voice what you agree and don't agree to, unlike in Court where this will be left to the Judge to make the decision. You may find mediation less stressful than attending Court, as it is in a less formal environment. However, you may find it difficult to talk to your ex-partner and work together to reach an agreement, but mediation aims to provide a safe and supported environment with trained professionals to help and support each party.
Exemptions to mediation
As mentioned above, when applying to Court they will expect to see you have attended a MIAM before applying to Court to see if mediation would be suitable for you. However, there are exemptions to attending a MIAM these are:
- -Any of the children in the application are involved in emergency proceedings, care proceedings or supervision proceedings or are subject to an emergency protection order, care order or supervision order.
- -You have evidence of domestic abuse.
- -There are concerns over your child's safety.
- -It is an emergency application
- -You have previously attended a MIAM for either the same or very similar application within the last 4 months.
How much does mediation cost?
Although mediation is not free, it is often found to be a much quicker and cheaper option than going to Court. The Government currently runs a Family Mediation Voucher Scheme which contributes £500 towards the cost of mediation, the mediator will be able to tell you if you are eligible for this voucher and the availability of the voucher. The voucher scheme is not available to be used for a MIAM, only for mediation sessions. However, if either party is eligible for legal aid this will qualify both parties to attend a free MIAM. You may be eligible for legal aid to cover your mediation sessions, however, unlike with the MIAM this would not cover the other parties costs if they are not eligible for legal aid.
