Family mediation

Family mediation is a process in which separating or separated couples, and sometimes other family members, meet with an impartial, professionally trained mediator to reach their own decisions about arrangements for children, money and property, instead of asking the Family Court in England and Wales to decide for them. The Family Mediation Council (FMC), the standards body for the profession, describes it as a process in which “an independent, professionally trained mediator helps you work out arrangements for children and finances following separation”.[1] The mediator does not take sides, does not give legal advice and does not impose an outcome; the participants keep the decision-making power throughout.[2]

Mediation is voluntary, confidential and conducted on a without prejudice basis, meaning that what is said in the room cannot ordinarily be used later in court, although financial disclosure is given openly.[2] Family mediation is recognised in law as the principal form of non-court dispute resolution: since 22 April 2014 a person must normally attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) with an accredited mediator before applying to court about children or finances, and the court must consider at every stage whether mediation or another out-of-court process is appropriate.[3][4][5] The FMC puts the usual private cost at £130 to £170 per person per hour (2026 guide); means-tested legal aid and, in children cases, a £500 government voucher can meet some or all of the cost.[6][7] Around 70 per cent of cases proceed to mediation where both people attend a MIAM, and government analysis of voucher-funded cases found agreement on some or all issues in 69 per cent.[8][9]

Written by Jess Knauf, Director of Client Strategy at Mediate UK and Associate Member of Resolution. Reviewed by Chris Yaffes, FMC-accredited family mediator (FMCA) and child-inclusive mediator, practising since 2013. Last reviewed 6 September 2026; last updated 6 September 2026; next scheduled review March 2027.

Definition and purpose

Family mediation is a structured negotiation assisted by a neutral third party. The FMC Code of Practice defines the mediation to which it applies as a process in which those involved in family breakdown appoint “an impartial third person” to “assist them to communicate better” with one another and to “reach their own agreed and informed decisions” about some or all of the issues arising from separation, divorce, children, finance or property.[2] The mediator manages the process; the participants own the content and the outcome. Nothing is decided unless both agree to it, and nothing agreed in mediation is binding until it has been given legal effect by a separate step, usually a court order made by consent.[10][11]

The purpose of family mediation is practical rather than therapeutic. It is not counselling and it is not an attempt at reconciliation. Its aim is to help people who have decided to separate, or who have already separated, to settle the arrangements that separation requires: where children will live and how they will spend time with each parent, how the family home, savings, debts and pensions are to be dealt with, and how each household will be supported. The FMC describes the process as usually “less stressful and significantly quicker than going to court”, and as able to save money.[1]

In the Family Procedure Rules, mediation is one of several forms of “non-court dispute resolution”, which rule 2.3 defines as “methods of resolving a dispute other than through the court process, including but not limited to mediation, arbitration, evaluation by a neutral third party (such as a private Financial Dispute Resolution process) and collaborative law”.[12] Mediation differs from each of the others: an arbitrator decides, a mediator does not; collaborative lawyers negotiate for their own clients, a mediator acts for neither. Civil, workplace and community mediation are regulated separately and are not covered here.

Principles

Four principles define family mediation and distinguish it from negotiation through lawyers or a court hearing. It is voluntary: “Participation in Mediation is voluntary and must be the free choice of each Participant at all times.”[2] It is confidential: the mediator may not disclose what is said without the express consent of each participant, save where the law requires or a court orders otherwise.[2] The mediator is impartial: he or she “must at all times remain impartial as between the Participants and conduct the Mediation process in a fair and even-handed way”.[2] And discussions are without prejudice, that is, legally privileged: they “must be conducted without prejudice to legal proceedings”, and the participants agree in writing that the mediator cannot be required to give evidence or produce notes.[2]

Voluntary participation

Either participant may withdraw at any point, and the mediator must end the process if a participant appears unable or unwilling to take part freely and fully.[2] The statutory MIAM requirement does not alter this: attendance at the information meeting is compulsory for most applicants, but mediation itself is not, and Practice Direction 3A confirms that the rules “do not give the court the power to require parties to attend non-court dispute resolution”.[3][13]

Confidentiality and privilege

Confidentiality is the mediator’s obligation not to disclose information outside the process; privilege is the rule that the content of the negotiations cannot be put before a court by either participant. The Code sets out both, with defined exceptions: the mediator must stop where the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 is engaged; the without prejudice basis “will not apply” to information indicating that a child has suffered or is at risk of significant harm; and the mediator may notify the appropriate agency where an adult is at risk of significant harm.[2] Financial disclosure is the major exception in the other direction. Under paragraph 6.5.2 of the Code, “all factual information material to financial issue must be provided on an open basis, so that it can be referred to in legal proceedings”.[2] This is why financial mediation produces two documents, a privileged memorandum of understanding and an open financial statement. See confidentiality in mediation.

Impartiality and independence

The mediator acts for neither participant and has no stake in the outcome. The Code requires mediation to be “conducted as an independent professional activity” distinguished from any other professional role, so a solicitor-mediator may not advise either participant in the same matter.[2] The mediator may give legal and other information and set out the possible courses of action and their implications, but “must make it clear that he or she is not giving advice”.[2]

Safety and the welfare of children

Two further principles run through the Code. The mediator must assess, initially and continuously, whether there is or has been fear of harm, domestic abuse “including coercive and controlling behaviour”, or an imbalance of power that would make mediation unsafe or unfair, and “must end the Mediation if they consider that it is no longer safe”.[2] And the mediator must have regard throughout to the welfare of any children; under paragraph 6.6.1, “all children and young people aged 10 and above should be offered the opportunity to have their voices heard directly”.[2] See domestic abuse and mediation and child-inclusive mediation.

No statute defines family mediation or licenses mediators. The process rests on the agreement to mediate that participants sign, on the common law of without prejudice privilege, and on self-regulation through the Family Mediation Council. Around that core, four pieces of law give mediation its public standing.

The legal and regulatory framework for family mediation in England and Wales
ProvisionEffectIn force
Children and Families Act 2014, s.10“Before making a relevant family application, a person must attend a family mediation information and assessment meeting.” Delegates the detail, including exemptions, to the Family Procedure Rules[3]22 April 2014[4]
Family Procedure Rules 2010, Part 3 and PD3ADefines non-court dispute resolution; imposes a duty on the court to consider it “at every stage in proceedings”; sets the MIAM requirement, the exemptions in rule 3.8 and the mediator’s duties in rule 3.9; provides for Form FM5 and for adjournment to allow mediation[12][5][14][15][13]22 April 2014; substantially amended 29 April 2024[16]
Family Procedure Rules 2010, rule 28.3(7)(aa)Failure without good reason to attend a MIAM or non-court dispute resolution is conduct the court takes into account when deciding costs in financial remedy proceedings[16][17]29 April 2024
LASPO 2012, Schedule 1, Part 1, para 14“Mediation provided in relation to family disputes” and civil legal services provided in connection with it remain within the scope of civil legal aid[18]1 April 2013[19]
FMC Code of Practice and Standards FrameworkBinding on every FMC-registered mediator as a condition of registration; sets the principles, conduct rules and training and accreditation standards; the Family Procedure Rules define an “authorised family mediator” by reference to FMC accreditation[2][20][13]Current versions August 2025

The court-facing rules were strengthened by the Family Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2023, in force from 29 April 2024, and in X v Y [2024] EWHC 538 (Fam) Mrs Justice Knowles said that a failure without good reason to engage in non-court dispute resolution could justify departing from the usual rule of no order as to costs in financial remedy cases.[16][17] The court’s powers are set out on mediation and the Family Court and on Family Court Wiki’s page on FPR Part 3.

The process: from MIAM to memorandum of understanding

Family mediation normally follows a fixed sequence. Each person first attends a MIAM, usually alone, lasting about an hour, at which the mediator explains the options, screens for domestic abuse and risk to children, and assesses whether mediation is suitable.[21][15] If both people and the mediator agree to proceed, a series of joint sessions follows, each typically lasting around 90 minutes; National Family Mediation estimates one to two sessions for children’s arrangements, three to five for finances, and four to seven where children, finance and property are all in issue.[22] At the end the mediator records the proposals in a memorandum of understanding and, in financial cases, an open financial statement, which the participants take to a solicitor or the court to be made binding.[22][10]

The MIAM and the agreement to mediate

Only an FMC-accredited mediator may conduct a MIAM. The mediator must provide information about “the principles, process and different models of mediation” and about other forms of non-court dispute resolution, assess whether there has been or is a risk of domestic abuse or of harm to a child, and indicate which process may be most suitable and why.[15][20] Practice Direction 3A expects the meeting within 15 business days of contact; the FMC Code requires assessment meetings to be conducted separately.[13][2] Before joint sessions begin, each participant signs an agreement to mediate recording that the process is confidential and without prejudice, that the mediator cannot be called as a witness, that financial information will be given openly, and the fees and complaints procedure.[2]

Joint sessions

Joint sessions follow an agenda the participants set with the mediator. In children cases the discussion usually covers living arrangements, the pattern of time with each parent, holidays, schooling and communication between households; the outcome is often recorded as a parenting plan. In financial cases the first task is full disclosure, after which the participants explore options against the criteria the court would apply, which for married couples are those in section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973.[2] That framework is described on Family Law Wiki’s page on financial remedies. Where children are old enough, the mediator may propose a separate meeting with them; see child-inclusive mediation below.

Outcome documents

When proposals are reached, the mediator prepares a memorandum of understanding, which “generally sets out what has been discussed and the proposals that have been reached”.[10] It is a privileged document, and the FMC guidance, agreed with Resolution and the Law Society, states that it “should not be signed by them until they have each received independent legal advice”.[10] National Family Mediation puts it plainly: the memorandum “is not legally binding, but is intended for your solicitor or yourselves to use in preparing a legally binding agreement, where appropriate”.[22] The open financial statement, by contrast, records the disclosure on which the proposals were based and can be produced to the court.[2][10] For married couples and civil partners, financial proposals are made binding by a consent order; GOV.UK states that a couple who agree how to divide money and property “need to apply for a consent order to make it legally binding”.[11] The court fee for an application by consent for a financial order is £62 (fee 5.1, EX50, 13 July 2026).[23] See memorandum of understanding and open financial statement.

Models of family mediation

The Family Procedure Rules require a mediator at a MIAM to explain “the principles, process and different models of mediation”.[15] The models differ in who is in the room, how the participants are separated, and whether lawyers or children take part. The principles above apply to all of them.

Recognised models of family mediation in England and Wales
ModelDescriptionTypical use
Sole mediationOne mediator works with both participants together, in the same room or video call. The standard model and the basis of the legal aid fee structure[24]Most children and financial cases
Co-mediationTwo mediators work together, often one with a legal and one with a therapeutic or social work background. Recognised in the Legal Aid Agency fee scheme as a distinct session type[24]Complex finances, high conflict, all-issues cases
Shuttle mediationThe participants are in separate rooms, or separate video breakout rooms, and the mediator moves between them; they do not meet[2][9]Domestic abuse cases assessed as suitable; entrenched conflict
Child-inclusive mediationA mediator with additional training and an enhanced DBS check meets the child separately and, with the child’s agreement, feeds back their views. Children aged 10 and above must be offered the opportunity; the child may decline and the parents keep all decisions[2][25][26]Children’s arrangements where the child is old enough to express a view
Online mediationMIAMs and sessions by video. The FMC confirms both “can both take place online”, the Legal Aid Agency permits video for both, and 69 per cent of voucher-funded cases analysed in 2023 were online[27][24][9]Now the most common format
Hybrid mediationAdapted from civil mediation: the mediator may hold separate confidential meetings with each participant and their lawyer, and may hold information given by one in confidence from the otherComplex financial cases with lawyers instructed
Lawyer-assisted mediationEach participant’s solicitor attends some or all sessions so that advice is given in real time. Distinct from collaborative law, which has no neutral mediatorFinancial cases where participants want advice within the session

Child-inclusive mediation

Child-inclusive mediation gives effect to the principle that a child’s wishes and feelings should inform the arrangements made about them. The FMC’s working group papers set the requirements: participation depends on the “informed consent and support of both parents (or those holding PR)”; the child is “free to accept or decline the invitation to meet with the mediator”; and conversations with the child “are confidential and are not reportable to the court or to third parties” except for safeguarding concerns.[25] Mediators consulting children must have completed at least three days of specific training and hold enhanced DBS clearance, and every family mediator must attend a one-day awareness course.[25][20] The FMC’s 2025 survey found direct consultation in about 16 per cent of cases involving children aged 10 and over.[8]

What mediation can and cannot do

Family mediation can produce agreed arrangements for children, a full financial settlement including the family home, pensions and maintenance, and interim arrangements pending divorce or a sale. It can be used after an order has been made, to vary arrangements as children grow. It cannot grant a divorce, make a court order, compel disclosure, enforce an agreement or protect a person from abuse; those remain functions of the court.[2][11] Nor can a mediator advise either participant on what a court would order in their case, though the mediator may explain the legal framework in general terms.[2]

The subject matter suitable for mediation is broad. The Code applies to disputes about “separation, divorce, children, finance or property”, and includes disputes between unmarried parents, between grandparents and parents, and within wider families.[2] Child maintenance can be agreed in mediation as a family-based arrangement, although the statutory Child Maintenance Service remains available to either parent. See financial mediation.

Mediation is unsuitable, or requires adaptation, where the mediator’s assessment identifies domestic abuse that would prevent free and fair participation. The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 defines abusive behaviour to include “controlling or coercive behaviour” and “economic abuse” as well as physical violence, and the FMC Code requires the mediator to screen for all of them.[28][2] Evidence of domestic abuse of the kinds listed in Practice Direction 3A also exempts an applicant from the MIAM requirement altogether.[14][13] Where abuse is present but the mediator and both participants consider a safe process possible, shuttle mediation may be used; where it is not, the person proceeds to court. Mediation is also limited by what the participants bring to it: it depends on honest disclosure, which the mediator cannot compel, and on both people being willing to attend, which the FMC estimates fails in about one-third of cases because the second person does not respond.[8]

Cost and funding

Fees are set by individual mediators and services. The Family Mediation Council’s guide states that a person can expect to pay £130 to £170 per person per hour for mediation sessions and for documentation to be drafted, and puts the MIAM at about £120 per person, a figure GOV.UK also uses; the FMC’s 2025 survey found £101 to £150 to be the most common MIAM fee band.[6][21][29][8] Government analysis of the voucher scheme found that families used an average of two sessions totalling about three hours and claimed an average of £424 against the £500 voucher.[9] Where either person is financially eligible for legal aid, the Legal Aid Agency pays for both people’s MIAMs and the first joint session, and for all of the eligible person’s sessions.[13][24][29]

Family mediation remained within the scope of civil legal aid when the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 removed most private family law from it on 1 April 2013; paragraph 14 of Part 1 of Schedule 1 covers “mediation provided in relation to family disputes”.[18][19] Eligibility for mediation legal aid is assessed by the mediator, under a Legal Aid Agency contract, on means alone. From 6 April 2026 the thresholds are gross income of £2,657 a month, disposable income of £733 a month and capital of £8,000, with people on Universal Credit and certain other benefits passported on income; GOV.UK states the gross income figure and the £8,000 asset limit, and the compiled table is published by Legal Aid 60, an information site operated by Family Legal Ltd, the publisher of this wiki.[30][31] There is no requirement to show evidence of domestic abuse for mediation legal aid; that evidence gateway applies only to legal aid for a solicitor in private family proceedings, which is separately means-tested.[32][30] See legal aid for family mediation.

The Family Mediation Voucher Scheme

The voucher scheme was launched by the Ministry of Justice on 26 March 2021 with a £1 million fund, as a measure to relieve pressure on the family courts after the pandemic.[33] It provides up to £500 towards mediation, without a means test, in a dispute about a child or a financial dispute where there is also a dispute about a child; the mediator applies and is paid directly once mediation concludes, one voucher is available per family, and it does not pay for the MIAM.[7][34] By May 2026 the Ministry reported more than 54,000 parents supported since 2021, and funding was confirmed for the 2026-27 financial year.[35][36] See Family Mediation Voucher Scheme.

Comparison with court costs

The court fees for the applications that mediation most often replaces are £270 for an application about a child under the Children Act 1989 (fee 2.1) and £321 for a contested financial order application (fee 5.4), before any legal costs; the divorce application itself is £628 (fee 1.2). All figures are from the HMCTS fee list EX50 dated 13 July 2026.[23] Provider prices vary; as one dated example, Mediate UK, a trading name of Family Legal Ltd, the publisher of this wiki, published prices on 10 August 2026 of £115 per person for an online MIAM and £120 per person per hour for online mediation, both plus VAT.[37] Fees, funding and worked examples are set out on mediation costs.

Outcomes and statistics

No official series counts every family mediation in England and Wales, because privately funded cases are not centrally recorded. The available evidence comes from the Legal Aid Agency’s statistics, the Ministry of Justice’s analysis of the voucher scheme, government-commissioned research and the FMC’s periodic survey of its register.

Selected published figures on family mediation in England and Wales
MeasureFigureSource and period
Cases proceeding to mediation where both attend a MIAMAbout 70 per centFMC survey, 2025[8]
Voucher-funded cases reaching agreement on some or all issues69 per cent of 7,214 casesMinistry of Justice analysis, March 2023[9]
Agreement rate, together in one room (online or in person)73 per cent of 5,539 casesAs above[9]
Agreement rate, privately funded mediation68 per cent full or partial agreementMinistry of Justice research, 2015[38]
Legally aided mediations ending in agreement61.75 per cent, 2013/14 to 2024/25 combinedFMC, from Legal Aid Agency data[8]
Legally aided MIAMs and mediation starts12,837 MIAMs; 9,841 starts, up 37 per cent, in 2024/25As above[8]
Change in legally aided mediation outcomesUp 8 per cent on a year earlier; “around half of pre-LASPO levels”Ministry of Justice, January to March 2026[39]
Parents supported by the voucher schemeMore than 54,000 since March 2021Ministry of Justice, May 2026[35]

Two cautions apply. “Agreement” in the voucher and legal aid data includes partial agreement and is reported by mediators. And the population that reaches mediation is self-selected: cases involving the most serious abuse or the least willingness to engage are screened out at the MIAM or never reach it, so success rates describe what happens to cases that mediate. Government research in 2015 found that after LASPO the conversion rate from MIAM to mediation rose from 44 per cent to 63 per cent while absolute numbers fell sharply.[38] See family mediation statistics.

The profession

Family mediation in England and Wales is self-regulated. The Family Mediation Council is “a not for profit organisation that maintains a professional register of family mediators”; it does not provide mediation itself. Its members are four national bodies: the College of Mediators, the Family Mediators Association, National Family Mediation and Resolution.[40] Registration and accreditation are operated on the FMC’s behalf by the Family Mediation Standards Board, an independent board that also handles complaints and disciplinary appeals.[40][20]

Every registered mediator must follow the Code of Practice, hold professional indemnity insurance, undertake continuing professional development, have a Professional Practice Consultant (a supervising senior mediator) and operate a complaints procedure.[40][20] Initial training courses “must cover the delivery of mediation online as well as physically in person”.[20] Full accreditation, denoted FMCA, is reached by completing an approved course and a supervised portfolio of casework; accredited mediators “are authorised family mediators for the purposes of the Family Procedure Rules and are qualified to conduct” MIAMs.[20] In 2025 the register held 1,025 mediators, of whom 67 per cent were accredited.[8] Mediators come from legal, social work and therapeutic backgrounds, and the tensions between these traditions have been studied academically.[41]

History

Family mediation in England and Wales grew out of the conciliation movement of the 1970s. The Finer Committee on One-Parent Families recommended in 1974 that the family courts should provide “the best possible facilities for conciliation”, and the first out-of-court service, the Bristol Courts Family Conciliation Service, opened in 1978.[41][42] By July 1983 a Member of Parliament could tell the Commons that “there are now more than 50 conciliation services of all types in existence”.[42] The National Family Conciliation Council, later National Family Mediation, was formed in 1982 to coordinate them, and the Family Mediators Association followed in 1988 as a body for lawyer-mediators dealing with all issues including finance.[41]

The Family Law Act 1996 was the first statute to build mediation into the divorce process, but its Part II was never implemented after pilots found that only 7 per cent of information meeting attendees went on to mediate, and the Lord Chancellor announced its abandonment on 16 January 2001; public funding for mediation nevertheless continued under the Access to Justice Act 1999.[43] The Family Mediation Council was formed in 2007, the Pre-Application Protocol of April 2011 and the Family Justice Review of November 2011 led to the statutory MIAM requirement of 22 April 2014, and LASPO in 2013 kept mediation within legal aid while removing most other family work, after which publicly funded MIAMs fell from 30,662 to 13,354 in a year.[41][38][44][3][19][45] The McEldowney review of 2012 produced the single register and accreditation standard now in force.[46] The pandemic of 2020 moved most mediation online, the voucher scheme followed in March 2021, and the 2023 consultation on compulsory mediation ended in the rule changes of April 2024.[27][33][47][16] The full account is on history of family mediation.

Criticism and debate

Three criticisms recur. The first concerns safety. Domestic abuse organisations have long argued that any pressure towards mediation risks exposing victims to further harm and that coercive control is hard to detect in a one-hour screening meeting. The list of evidence that exempts an applicant from the MIAM requirement has been widened in response, and when the Ministry of Justice consulted in 2023 on making mediation compulsory, respondents warned that “the proposed exemptions would not be enough to adequately protect survivors”; the government did not proceed.[13][47]

The second concerns fairness and the absence of advice. Since 2013 most participants have no legal aid for a solicitor, and the House of Commons Justice Committee found in 2015 that the removal of solicitors from the process, far from increasing mediation as the government expected, caused referrals to collapse; lawyers had done “an awful lot of selling of out-of-court solutions”.[45] Critics argue that mediating without advice risks agreements a court would not have approved, particularly on pensions. The FMC’s guidance that a memorandum should not be signed before legal advice, and the Legal Aid Agency’s “Help with Family Mediation”, respond to this concern; the FMC reports that only about 2 per cent of legal aid cases used the latter in 2024/25.[10][24][8]

The third concerns compulsion. Some practitioners and judges regard the MIAM as a formality and argue that the only effective lever is compulsion, whether of mediation itself or through costs; others regard compulsion as incompatible with the voluntary principle on which the process depends. In Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council [2023] EWCA Civ 1416 the Court of Appeal held that a court may lawfully order parties to engage in non-court dispute resolution, and the 2024 family rule changes moved towards stronger encouragement and costs consequences without mandating mediation.[48][16] The Ministry of Justice’s statistics continue to describe legally aided mediation as “around half of pre-LASPO levels”, which both sides cite in support of their position.[39]

Providers and getting help

Family mediation is provided by sole practitioners, local not-for-profit services, solicitors’ firms with mediation arms and national organisations. The FMC register is the authoritative list of practising family mediators.[40][13] Examples of national services include National Family Mediation, a charity and FMC member body, and Mediate UK, a trading name of Family Legal Ltd, the publisher of this wiki, whose mediators hold FMC accreditation individually and which holds a Legal Aid Agency mediation contract from August 2026.[22][37]

See also

References

  1. Family mediation. Family Mediation Council. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  2. FMC Code of Practice for Family Mediators, version 1.5. Family Mediation Council. August 2025. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  3. Children and Families Act 2014, section 10: Family mediation information and assessment meetings. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  4. The Children and Families Act 2014 (Commencement No. 1) Order 2014, SI 2014/793. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  5. Family Procedure Rules 2010, rule 3.3: The court’s duty to consider non-court dispute resolution. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  6. What does mediation cost?. Family Mediation Council. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  7. Family Mediation Voucher Scheme. GOV.UK. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  8. The State of Family Mediation 2025. Family Mediation Council. September 2025. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  9. Family Mediation Voucher Scheme analysis. Ministry of Justice. March 2023. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  10. Helping participants realise an enduring outcome to family mediation. Family Mediation Council, with Resolution and the Law Society. 2019. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  11. Money and property when you divorce or separate. GOV.UK. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  12. Family Procedure Rules 2010, rule 2.3: Interpretation (definition of non-court dispute resolution). legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  13. Practice Direction 3A: Family Mediation Information and Assessment Meetings (MIAMs). Ministry of Justice. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  14. Family Procedure Rules 2010, rule 3.8: Circumstances in which the MIAM requirement does not apply. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  15. Family Procedure Rules 2010, rule 3.9: Conduct of MIAMs. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  16. The Family Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2023, SI 2023/1324. legislation.gov.uk. Rules 3 and 5 to 19 in force 29 April 2024. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  17. X v Y [2024] EWHC 538 (Fam). Find Case Law, The National Archives. 8 March 2024. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  18. Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, Schedule 1, Part 1, paragraph 14: Mediation in family disputes. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  19. The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (Commencement No. 6) Order 2013, SI 2013/453. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  20. Manual of Professional Standards and Self-Regulatory Framework, version 1.6. Family Mediation Council. August 2025. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  21. What is a MIAM?. Family Mediation Council. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  22. Family mediation FAQs. National Family Mediation. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  23. Family court fees (EX50). HM Courts and Tribunals Service. updated 13 July 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  24. Family Mediation Guidance Manual, version 6. Legal Aid Agency. September 2024. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  25. FMC Working Group on Child Inclusive Mediation, Paper 1: CIM principles and requirements. Family Mediation Council. 2017. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  26. Can my children be involved in sessions?. Family Mediation Council. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  27. Online mediation. Family Mediation Council. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  28. Domestic Abuse Act 2021, section 1: Definition of domestic abuse. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  29. Making child arrangements if you divorce or separate: make an agreement through mediation. GOV.UK. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  30. Legal aid: financial eligibility. GOV.UK. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  31. Legal aid means test: the current thresholds. Legal Aid 60 (Family Legal Ltd). Accessed 5 September 2026.
  32. Legal aid: what you can get legal aid for. GOV.UK. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  33. £1 million voucher scheme to help families resolve disputes outside of court. Ministry of Justice. 26 March 2021. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  34. Family Mediation Voucher Scheme. Family Mediation Council. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  35. Families spared time and money during separation thanks to government action. Ministry of Justice. 15 May 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  36. FMC welcomes funding of family mediation voucher scheme for 2026-27 financial year. Family Mediation Council. 27 March 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  37. Family mediation costs and payments. Mediate UK (Family Legal Ltd). updated 10 August 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  38. Mediation Information and Assessment Meetings (MIAMs) and mediation in private family law disputes: quantitative research findings. Ministry of Justice Analytical Series. 2015. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  39. Legal aid statistics England and Wales bulletin, January to March 2026. Ministry of Justice. 25 June 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  40. About us. Family Mediation Council. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  41. Rachael Blakey. ‘Mediators mediating themselves’: tensions within the family mediator profession. Legal Studies, vol. 43, pp. 139-158 (Cambridge University Press). 2022. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  42. Matrimonial Disputes (Conciliation), House of Commons debate. Hansard, UK Parliament. 29 July 1983. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  43. Family Law, House of Lords debate (statement on Part II of the Family Law Act 1996). Hansard, UK Parliament. 3 May 2001. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  44. Family Justice Review: final report. Ministry of Justice, Department for Education and Welsh Government. November 2011. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  45. Impact of changes to civil legal aid under Part 1 of LASPO: Eighth Report of Session 2014-15, chapter on family mediation. House of Commons Justice Committee. 4 March 2015. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  46. John McEldowney. Family mediation in a time of change: FMC review final report. Family Mediation Council. 2012. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  47. Supporting earlier resolution of private family law arrangements: government response. Ministry of Justice. 12 February 2024. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  48. Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council [2023] EWCA Civ 1416. Find Case Law, The National Archives. 29 November 2023. Accessed 5 September 2026.

This article is part of Family Mediation Wiki, published by Family Legal Ltd. It is general information about the law of England and Wales, not legal advice. Last reviewed 6 September 2026. About this site and editorial policy · Report an error.