Family Mediation – General Info & Costs

Fewer Costs & Conflicts When Separating or Divorcing

Our Family Mediation Service has been helping separating & divorcing couples for the last 30 years. Our success rate is 90%.

What is family mediation?

Family mediation is where separating or divorced couples meet with professionally trained and experienced mediators in a neutral and confidential environment in order to reach agreement on all issues surrounding the divorce or separation. It can save you money because it reduces the conflict and enables couples to reach agreement in a safe & secure environment.

Mediation is for:

• Parents – before or after separation
• Divorcing or separating couples
• Teenage parents
• Grandparents
• Adult siblings
• Parents & adult children
• Other members of the extended family where communication and/or relationships are problematic.
• Contact arrangements

What can be mediated?

• Residence of children
• Parenting
• Communication
• Maintenance
• Child support
• Finance
• Holiday arrangements
• Property
• Sharing possessions
• Pensions / Endowments
• Settling of debts
• Wills and probate
• Re-establishing contact
• Care of older relatives
• Education

Family mediation can help improve communication, help you make decisions about future arrangements for the children and help you make decisions about property and finance as it affects your separation.

Can anyone access mediation?

Our mediation service is committed to equality and is therefore sensitive to issues of gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and disability that may be relevant to the resolution of family disputes.

What do people say about family mediation?

“Mediation gave me a chance to talk with my ex-partner without shouting.”
“Thanks to mediation, I am now making a fresh start in seeing my daughter.”
“It all seemed impossible, but mediation made a difficult situation a lot easier for us all.”

What are the costs?

Your initial meeting with the mediator is always free and without any obligation or commitment. At this meeting, the mediator will assess whether you would be eligible for publicly funded (legally aided) mediation. You will need to provide your National Insurance number together with evidence of your income (including tax credits and/or benefits status). If you prove to be eligible, mediation will be completely free to you and you may also be able to obtain free legal advice and support from your solicitor alongside mediation. The Statutory Charge (ie the obligation to pay back the cost in the future) does not apply to mediation, so in this case ‘free’ really does mean free.

If you are not eligible, or choose not to be assessed, you would usually be required to meet your own mediation costs. Our charges are linked to your gross income (ie before stoppages) and range from £70 per hour (under £25,000 pa) to £110 per hour (over £45,000 pa), with those in the middle band paying £90 per hour.  VAT will be added to these charges.  An average 1½ hour mediation session would therefore cost £135 (+ VAT) to someone in the middle income bracket. Mediation on child issues generally takes between one and two sessions, whilst finance and property matters or All Issues Mediation (a combination of financial and children issues) are likely to require around three or four meetings.

We do not make any extra charge for letters, phone calls and other essential administration. The only additional charge we make is for the preparation of the Memorandum of Understanding, if required. This is a lengthy and detailed document summarising the outcome of any case involving financial and property matters and for which you will be billed for two hours, payable at the same hourly rate as for mediation.

What are the next steps?

If you would like to know more
please go to our Contact us page
where you can find email and phone details.

Click here for more information about National Family Mediation

Case Study

Steve and Sarah
Steve and Sarah separated soon after John (5 months) was born. Although acknowledged as John’s father and paying Child Support through the CSA, Steve was not registered as John’s father on his birth certificate and did not have parental responsibility.

When Steve and Sarah first came to mediation there had been no contact between them for 2 months and each was unwilling to give any ground.

At the first mediation session the parents were helped to focus on John’s needs and acknowledge each other’s perspective. They made arrangements for Steve to spend time with Sarah and John, so that eventually Steve and John could spend time alone once their relationship was established.

The parents arrived for the second session together and said that they now talked more often and had enjoyed spending time together with John. However Sarah still had reservations about John spending time alone with Steve. Discussion helped both Sarah and Steve to share their concerns and they agreed an arrangement for Steve to spend time alone with John.

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mediationplus formerly Family Mediation (North Wiltshire)
Registered Office: 34 Milton Road, Swindon SN1 5JA
Registered charity number: 1077743
A company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales Number: 3771140