What is Family Mediation?

Family Mediation is a way of helping you to reach agreements with your ex-partner when you are separating and/or divorcing.

Family mediation is an increasingly popular alternative to asking the court to make decisions about your family – it works by helping you to find practical solutions that feel fair.

Why choose Family Mediation?

Family mediation isn’t about getting back together; it gives you the opportunity to talk directly to each other with the help and guidance of a trained professional to work out the issues that matter most to you both arising from your separation. These may be around children, finances and property and/or communication.

Family Mediation is:

• Mediation is VOLUNTARY
• Mediators are IMPARTIAL
• Mediation is CONFIDENTIAL
• YOU MAKE THE DECISION
• It’s focused on your CHILDREN
• It is FUTURE focused (it’s not about the PAST)

Family Mediation is NOT:

• Counselling or therapy
• Marriage guidance
• A substitute for legal advice
• An opportunity to impose your view on your former partner

How does Family Mediation work?

The first step is to attend a meeting with one of our mediators on your own. In this meeting:

• We will ask you about your personal circumstances
• Give you some information about how mediation works
• Explain the alternatives to you (such as the court process)
• Work with you to decide if mediation is the right way forward for you and your family.

This is called a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM).

Mediation then takes place over 2-4 sessions, depending on your circumstances. During the sessions, you and your former partner will be asked to explore all of the options available to resolve the issues you have.

Mediation is not a substitute for legal advice and we will help you to understand the points where independent legal advice is advisable.

Mediation is a confidential process which means you can feel free to discuss and explore all options, safe in the knowledge that if mediation does not work, any discussions cannot be disclosed in court, which may prejudice your case.

What can Family Mediation help with?

Here are some examples:

• Where children are going to live and with whom
• What arrangements should be made for children to spend time with a parent they aren’t living with
• Communication between parents
• Handovers and managing things like phone calls, Skype, texts
• Schooling
• Holidays and special days (e.g. birthdays)
• Maintenance payments: who should pay for what, how much and for how long
• What should happen to the family home, including the mortgage or rental agreement, and what should happen to the contents
• What should happen to any cars you own
• What should happen to bank accounts, building society accounts or savings
• What should happen to pensions
• Your divorce process.

Professional, accredited, and fully insured, the family mediator will listen to you and your ex-partner explain your concerns and views to each other and will help you both work towards an agreement that you feel is fair.

What is the cost?

We offer private and Legal Aid appointments.

To find out if you’re eligible for Legal Aid, please have a look at this link: https://www.gov.uk/check-legal-aid. If you are eligible, all your costs for mediation will be covered (NB. this is a different, and often more flexible and beneficial assessment than applying for mediation for court purposes).

For private clients, our full cost details can be found at https://brightmediationuk.co.uk/pricing/. But in summary, we charge £99 for the initial, individual and confidential meeting (the MIAM), and then a fee of £120 per hour per person for the joint mediation sessions. We will give you a clear outline of the total expected costs at the MIAM.

Links and Resources

For more help, view and download the following useful resources:

• Survival Guide Using Family Mediation After Break by advicenow.org.uk
• Communicating with your ex-partner by sortingoutseparation.org.uk
• Parenting Plan by Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service
• A survival guide to sorting out your finances when you get divorced by advicenow.org.uk

“Your professionalism and patience have truly got me through this difficult time, and I’m really pleased that my ex-wife and I have reached an arrangement that we feel is fair. Thank you.”

Client R, Aged 52 Bradford