At the end of mediation, the proposals you and your former partner have agreed to will be recorded in a document by the Mediator. These proposals can be made legally binding with the assistance of a solicitor, should you wish.
Mediation sessions are usually joint meetings between you and your former partner. A Family Mediator will facilitate the meeting, helping you to clarify the issues, identify options, negotiate constructively, and arrive at joint proposals on matters that commonly include property, finance, and children.
MIAM stands for Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting. In this meeting, you have the opportunity to talk through your situation with your Mediator, decide whether the process is right for you, and make plans for future joint mediation sessions.
Family mediators are facilitators and will support you in having difficult conversations. A family mediator will help you stay focused on the topics you have chosen to discuss during sessions, ensure that conversations are balanced, and challenge unhelpful or abusive behavior.
Family mediators can also provide valuable information on various matters related to divorce or separation, such as the law concerning children, divorce, and finances, legal processes, child development, and research about children and divorce. However, family mediators are not permitted to give advice as it would compromise their impartiality. If advice or additional support is needed, your family mediator will be able to direct you to other services.
Yes, joint proposals reached in mediation can be legally binding through various methods. The most common approach is to have mediation outcomes converted into consent orders or private agreements by a solicitor. These consent orders are then submitted to the court for official approval. Additionally, Parenting Plans can be signed as a way to confirm your commitment to abide by the agreements made, effectively creating a private agreement.
Your mediator will assist you in understanding the available options based on the specific details of your case.
At your first meeting with a mediator, known as the Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM), meetings usually involve individual sessions where each client meets the mediator separately. During this meeting, the best approach for the mediation process will be determined.
Once mediation is underway, the most common model is for both parties to meet together with the mediator in the same room. This approach allows for more meaningful dialogue, reducing conflict and promoting a better future relationship as co-parents, if applicable. This model is also faster and therefore more cost-effective, as discussions flow more smoothly.
However, if meeting in the same room is too uncomfortable or not possible, there are alternative mediation models that can be considered. For example, mediation can occur in the same venue but in separate rooms, with the mediator moving between the rooms. This model is known as shuttle mediation.
The mediation process is flexible, and there are other options to consider depending on the specifics of your case. If you or your mediator believe that a different model may be appropriate, involving a solicitor, financial advisor, or other relevant professional, this can be discussed and agreed upon between us.
This is a difficult question to answer, as it depends on a great number of factors, including how many issues there are to deal with, how able you are to communicate constructively, how willing you are to look for solutions that are mutually beneficial, and how organized you are in terms of bringing the right things to sessions.
As a general guide, we estimate 1-2 sessions for mediations about children only, 3+ sessions for child-inclusive mediation, 4 sessions for mediations about property/finance only, and 5+ sessions for mediations dealing with children and property/finance issues.
Sessions can be close together or spaced out, depending on circumstances and preferences. For example, if you are discussing matters related to children, it is usually appropriate to have sessions reasonably close together to maintain the momentum of the process. However, when mediating regarding financial matters, it is sometimes necessary to have breaks of several weeks to allow you time to gather necessary information/documents.
Family mediation is charged at an hourly rate, so the costs depend on how many hours of mediation you have had and what outcome documents you require.
Our full rates, as well as estimates for overall costs, can be seen here.
Full financial disclosure describes the process of both parties openly showing each other information about all their assets, debts, liabilities, income and expenses.
Whatever process you chose (mediation/solicitor negotiation/court), full financial disclosure will be a requirement as the court obliges all parties to go through a full financial disclosure process before meaningful negotiations can take place. This is on the basis that you can’t fairly decide how to divide what is in the pot until you know what is in the pot!
This process usually requires each person to fill in a form separately (Form E or the mediation equivalent) and produce supporting documents for the other party to inspect and keep copies of. The information from both parties is then written up into an Open Financial Summary by the mediator.
When we say something is legally privileged, it means that you cannot use it as evidence in court unless all affected parties give their permission.
In mediation, with a few exceptions, everything is legally privileged. This is crucial because it allows you to freely discuss and explore ideas during mediation without the fear that your statements could be used against you in court if an agreement cannot be reached.
If substantial agreements are reached in mediation, they can be easily converted into legally binding form, typically with the assistance of a solicitor.
Yes, we are very careful to ensure that clients have a clear understanding of what can and cannot be kept confidential in mediation. Prior to attending your Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM), you will receive a summary of the exceptions to confidentiality. During the MIAM, we will go through this information in more detail and ask you to sign a Confidentiality Agreement, which includes details about the exceptions. You can read this in full here.
Mediators produce a number of different types of documents. The most common ones are:
Although it is a mandatory requirement to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) before applying to court, joint family mediation sessions are not. Below is a summary of factors and situations where mediation may or may not be suitable.
There is the best chance of success in mediation when both clients are:
Mediation could be more difficult or deemed unsuitable for the following reasons:
It is important to find a family mediator who is well-trained and in whom you can feel a sense of both professional confidence and personal trust.
The following lists those attributes we believe are of vital importance to making a good mediator:
Compassionate, patient, hopeful, and kind: When experiencing relationship breakdown and/or dealing with conflict related to significant aspects of our lives, many people go through an emotional rollercoaster, experiencing a wide range of emotions. Good mediators understand this and strive to practice with compassion, patience, hope, and kindness.
Family Mediation sessions are usually joint meetings. Mediation generally takes 1-6 meetings that last around 90 minutes, depending on whether the issues are related to children, finance, or both. The decisions made in mediation are made by you. The role of the mediator is to enable you to speak freely and negotiate decisions that you both accept.
Concerning Children and Finance: Where mediation concerns finance, you are expected to disclose all your financial facts, assets, income, and liabilities before arriving at settlement proposals. In the case of mediation about your children, you will, of course, be expected to prioritize their upbringing and every other aspect of their future above all else.
End of Mediation: At the conclusion of mediation, documentation is produced by the mediator setting out everything that has been decided, including finances and contact proposals. At any time during the process leading to these decisions, you are free to seek advice from a solicitor or specialist. Mediation proposals are not legally binding until endorsed by a court. Your solicitor can assist you with this.
You can view more in-depth information, including the stages of mediation, benefits of mediation, and frequently asked questions on our ‘About Family Mediation’ page.
Family Mediation helps couples who are separating or getting a divorce to work through their issues in a more supportive, constructive, and less expensive way than going to court. A Family Mediator will help guide you and your family members through issues such as property, finance, arrangements for any children, and considerations for extended family in an impartial way, not taking sides or making judgments. Family Mediators are specialists in dealing with conflict. They will help you consider other options and make well-informed decisions. Family Mediation helps you find better solutions to all issues surrounding separation, divorce, and family dissolution in a constructive and supportive way. An impartial Family Mediator, with formal training and experience in dealing with conflict and emotional situations, will help you and your former partner work through topics such as property, finance, and childcare.
If you wish for Able Mediation to contact you or to book mediation sessions or a MIAM, please fill out either the Self-Referral Form or the Solicitor and Agency Referral Form, and we will get in touch with you shortly. We, at Able Mediation, are fully accredited Family Mediators with over 10 years of family mediation experience. We also work as Professional Practice Consultants, supporting and supervising trainee mediators and other practices, and we have experience in dealing with all issue cases, including difficult parenting disputes and high-value financial cases. You can find out more about us and who we are here.
We hold memberships with the Family Mediators Association and College of Mediators, organizations which make up the Family Mediation Council.
PLEASE NOTE: As per the General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018, when you (or someone on your behalf) ask us to contact you, this implies your consent for us to do so. Therefore, this also marks the beginning of a contract between us, with the prerequisite that we store your contact information for as long as necessary to facilitate the mediation process. You can read our full Privacy Policy here.
Family Mediation helps you and your former partner to reach mutual decisions on issues including but not limited to arrangements for children, property and finances, debts, pensions, pets, possessions, etc.
Child Inclusive Mediation provides a neutral and supported space for children to express their thoughts and feelings about their situation, to enable more suitable child-focused arrangements to be made.
The Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting is the first meeting between client and family mediator. It is an individual, confidential session to get to know you, understand the issues and prepare you for joint meetings.
Richmond Office
Regus, 5 Kew Road,
Richmond,
TW9 2PR
Islington Office
Voluntary Action Islington,
200a Pentonville Road,
London, N1 9JP
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