What’s Involved in Family Dispute Mediation
If you have family disputes that might end in court proceedings that you would rather avoid we can help with our family mediation service. Just make contact by telephone or by completing the contact form below to arrange your private meeting with a mediator.
Whether you are the first or second person to contact us we will arrange for you to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM). You will meet, on your own, with your mediator. Your mediator will learn what you would like to discuss in your mediation, explain what will happen and make sure mediation is safe for everyone involved. Joint meetings will take place when everyone in process has attended a MIAM.
If everyone is willing to go ahead with the family dispute mediation your mediator will make arrangements for everyone to meet. This will take place in one room. These meetings normally last around 1 ½ hours. Your mediator will help you set an agenda and will help you talk through your difficulties.
If you are able to reach agreed proposals
Mediation is very flexible and every case is different. Some family dispute mediations can be dealt with in one joint session. Other cases, especially financial cases, will need more than one joint session. If you are able to reach joint proposals your mediator will prepare a document setting those proposals out and will discuss what you need to do next.
Impartial, Private & Voluntary
Your mediator is impartial and will be working with you both. As a result you mediator cannot deal with either of you in secret and cannot hide information from either of you. Your mediator is not a judge nor a legal advisor.
Your mediation is private. You cannot talk about what happens in mediation in court although you can share information with your legal advisor if you have one. Your mediator will keep your discussions private. There are some rare situations in which that can change and your mediator will tell you about that at your MIAM
You do not have to mediate. We hope that you will want to mediate and will find a value in doing it. Mediation is not compulsory and you may leave at any time.
