It’s Family Mediation Week (FMW) from 27 to 31 January, a now-annual event organised by the Family Mediation Council that looks to raise awareness of family mediation and the benefits it can bring to separating families.
To mark this year’s initiative, Shrewsbury-based Family Lawyer Nikki Pickering gives an overview of the mediation process and explains how it is used in family law.
What is family mediation?
When you meet with your solicitor, they may advise you to try family mediation.
This is where an independent, professionally trained third party helps you and your former partner agree on important issues such as arrangements for your children, your finances, or your property.
While your solicitor can recommend and refer you to a mediator and support you through the process, mediators are completely independent.
Mediation is not counselling, and its purpose is not to assist with a reconciliation; it is to help you resolve the problems you are experiencing following the end of a relationship.
In some cases, mediation can involve your children, making it different from the court process.
Mediation takes place in an informal environment but can also be undertaken remotely or in separate rooms if you are worried about being in the same room as your former partner.
What are the benefits of family mediation?
The benefit of mediation is to try and avoid the need for lengthy correspondence between solicitors and possibly the need for stressful court proceedings.
If you reach an agreement via mediation, although it is not legally binding, your solicitor can advise you on the next steps to ensure the agreement becomes enforceable. This usually involves lodging a consent order with the court, which can often avoid the need to attend court in person.
Mediation can be a cost-effective way of resolving disputes, and you can continue to seek the advice and support of your solicitor throughout the process.
Legal aid remains available for mediation, subject to a means assessment, which is not the case for all family law disputes.
Read our previous article on how mediation helps in family law here.
Family Lawyer Shrewsbury
Nikki qualified as a Chartered Legal Executive in 2003 and has spent her career specialising in family law in her home county of Shropshire.
Our experienced team of family solicitors at Berlad Graham LLP advises individuals and families on matrimonial, finance and child law, and is committed to delivering excellent standards of service in an empathetic and caring way.
We are members of Resolution’s Specialist Accreditation Scheme and the Law Society’s Family Law Advanced Panel. Our specialist family law solicitors are committed to providing the highest levels of practical assistance to achieve a positive outcome that is sustainable for all the family.
If you have a query relating to family law and want to speak to Nikki or another of our solicitors, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can call our team on 0330 175 5655 or enquire online.
