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Family restoration

Family mediation is a way of solving disagreements in your family relationships if your relationship has gone wrong. Read on to find out how mediation works and how we at our family mediation centre can help you by offering family mediation to settle disputes.

In many cases Family Mediation can offer a better resolution of a dispute such as custody of children than can be achieved in court which often costs several thousand pounds and can take years to conclude. Family Mediation is normally completed within 3-5 meetings and our costs for the first 3 sessions is fixed at £205 per person (for those earning under £30,000pa) which is paid before the start of mediation. For others on a low income we provide a free mediation service at our family mediation centre.
You can access Family Mediation to settle disputes before applying to court, or if your case is suitable, during a court process.

HOW FAMILY MEDIATION CAN HELP 

In many cases, family mediation is a better way of sorting out family disputes like access or custody of children disputes than going to court.
The court will expect you to have attended a ‘Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting’, which we provide at our family mediation centre, if you’re divorcing or applying to court about:

  • money
  • property
  • possessions
  • arrangements about children including custody of children

If you haven’t been to one of these meetings, the court may ask you to do so before it proceeds with your application or at any time once your court case starts, they can order you to attend the meeting. We provide this free mediation service as part of our free legal aid service.

FAMILY MEDIATION AND CHILDREN

Using family mediation at our family mediation centre where you can’t reach agreement over children in child custody or contact cases is less disruptive to the children than going through the court process to get custody of children (now known as a child arrangements order).
If you, the children and the mediator agree, children can speak to the mediator themselves at our family mediation centre. These independent mediators are specially trained to talk to children.

BEFORE YOU GO TO COURT – MEDIATION INFORMATION AND ASSESSMENT MEETINGS

Before you start court proceedings over money, property or possessions or arrangements for children e.g. custody of children, you must usually have attended a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting which is one of the free mediation services we offer.

At a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting held at our family mediation centre, the independent mediator will try to work out if mediation can help you reach an agreement for example in relation to custody of children. They can also give you advice on any other services that may be able to help you and assess you for eligibility for the free mediation service. During the meeting, you’ll be able to find out more about mediation and ask any questions you may have.  You can attend the meeting alone or with your ex spouse or partner.

If you want to meet the mediator alone, the mediator will ask you for your spouse’s or partner’s contact details before the meeting. The mediator will contact them to find out if they are willing to try mediation at the family mediation centre. If they don’t want to try family mediation, you won’t have to attend the meeting. If they agree to meeting the mediator, then as part of our free mediation service for eligible individuals you will be able to meet the mediator alone.

After the meeting, if you and the mediator feel that mediation can help you reach an agreement on finances, access or custody of children matters, you can start mediation sessions at our family mediation centre.
If you are not going to start mediation sessions at the family mediation centre, the mediator will fill in a form FM1 and give it to you or your solicitor. You should include the FM1 form with your application papers if you decide to go to court.

CONTACT US FOR FAMILY MEDIATION

Our family mediation is open to all sectors of the community and we seek to help families reach agreement at our family mediation centre without the stress and cost of delayed court proceedings.

Please click here to complete a REFERRAL form and book an appointment.

Information crown copyright and sourced from Directgov.

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