Mediation Information & Assessment Meeting

(MIAMs)

MIAM stands for Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting. Simply put, it is the first meeting between you and your mediator. It takes the form of an individual chat to hear about the background to your situation and what you think needs to be sorted out. Mediation cannot take place unless both you and your former partner have attended a MIAM first.

How MIAMs work

MIAMS meetingA MIAM can only be undertaken by a mediator who is accredited with the Family Mediation Council (FMC.)

It usually lasts about 60 minutes and takes place by video call. Although in-person meetings can sometimes be arranged by request at our offices in Ealing or Richmond. It costs £140.

You attend the meeting with your mediator on your own, without your former partner, so that you can speak freely about your perspective on the situation, what you wish to achieve and any hopes or concerns that you have. If you wish, you can have someone else with you to support you in this meeting.

Mediators cannot give legal advice, but for our part we provide you with lots of information about the mediation process, alternatives to mediation, divorce, separation, relevant legal principles, co-parenting, improving communication, financial settlement, relevant research, and so on.

What you will be expected to share

You will be expected to share background information about you and your family, and what decisions need to be made.

It is compulsory to attend a MIAM before an application to court to ask for help to resolve a family dispute. As part of these rules, it is also a requirement for MIAM providers to contact both of you, so that you can both make informed decisions. For this reason we will ask you to share contact details for your former partner when we meet, if we don’t already have them and it is safe to do so.

If there are any court orders or injunctions already in place we will ask you to share these with us, as they may be relevant.

What happens after a MIAM

If mediation is going ahead, your mediator will let you know what the next step is. Depending on what you wish to achieve in mediation, this may involve gathering together financial documents, speaking to other professionals, or it may lead straight into joint mediation meetings.

If mediation is not suitable, you will need to consider what other step/s you will take. If you plan to apply to court, you can ask your mediator to provide their signature on your court application to facilitate this. The rules for this say that the information given in the MIAM lasts for only 4 months. If you need the mediator's signature after this time a further MIAM will be needed.

In summary:

The purpose of a MIAM is:

  • for the mediator to hear about your background, what decisions need to be made and to determine whether mediation is suitable.
  • to give you information to help you understand and evaluate the options available to you
  • to help you resolve your dispute/s.
  • to prepare you for mediation, if it is to go ahead.
  • to prove to the court that you have considered mediation if an application to court is needed.