Family Mediation - The Way Forward? (Pt. 2)

Missed part 1? Read now…

Mediation

Advantages

Cost – The average cost of resolving child related issues in mediation is £400 – £500 (court costs £5,000). Mediation costs in relation to property and financial issues average £600 – £650 with an addition fee of £300 for drafting documents should issues be resolved (court costs £10,000 – £20,000).

Timescale – Mediation is generally a faster process than both solicitor negotiations and contested court proceedings.

Mediation is non adversarial, often reduces conflict and improves communication between the participants enabling them to continue to effectively parent their children following separation.

Participants are actively involved in the process and keep control of their own decision making rather than have a solution imposed on them by the court.

Participants are often able to be more creative with solutions.
Mediated outcomes are often longer lasting than those imposed by the court.

Hopefully the above summary provides food for thought.

Clearly not all cases will be appropriate for mediation but it would appear that mediation may play a more active role within the court process in the future. In Autumn 2018 the President of the Family Division invited a consideration of practice and processes when dealing with children cases in the family court. Reports of the Working Groups are now available and include mediation amongst their recommendations, something I’ll consider next time.