There are many reasons:

• Clients choose mediation to find creative and bespoke solutions, and have greater control over the separation process compared with what can be achieved in the court process. Clients often feel empowered that they have reached a decision together rather than have a decision imposed on them.

• Cost – this is known upfront and there are no hidden costs. You pay for face to face meetings and preparation of documents (agreed in advance). It is much more cost effective than litigation, as the clients share the mediator’s costs rather than each paying a solicitor separately.

• Mediation generally preserves better relationships between spouses, civil partners and parents as it encourages you both to talk and listen. The mediator works with you to consider the interests of the children and reflect on your co-parenting relationship. Mediation can mean that you avoid potentially acrimonious and costly correspondence between solicitors.

If you do not wish to try mediation and need to make an application to the court about your children or financial matters, the court requires you first to attend a statutory Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting, also known as a MIAM. I offer this type of meeting and issue a certificate required for a court application if required. My fee is £150 for this meeting. If mediation has started and broken down, then I can also issue a certificate for a financial or child related court application upon request.

Before the first meeting, the Mediator sends a document known as an ‘Agreement to Mediate’, which sets out the terms of mediation. In the first meeting, you both set the agenda, aims and objectives. Meetings can be used to discuss all or some of the following issues: separation, interim living arrangements whether under the same roof or not, divorce process, money, time spent with the children and the future arrangements. Often the mediator goes through a key financial document known as a Form E in the first meeting. This helps build the individual and joint financial picture during the process.

It depends on whether you wish to discuss financial or children matters, or both. There are no fixed number of sessions as the process is flexible.

As a guideline, mediation about financial matters involves at least five sessions (after the individual meetings) as it is necessary to have an exchange of financial information with your former partner or spouse. In a similar way to how matrimonial and divorce solicitors work, there is a duty for each client to provide full and frank financial disclosure in mediation. The mediator will explain the process in more detail in the individual meeting, and provide you with the relevant forms when mediation begins. If you both reach a resolution, then the mediator drafts the outcome documents, which is usually passed onto one or both sets of solicitors.

Separated parents often find it helpful to dedicate session(s) to talk about their children and agree how they will communicate in the future after a recent separation. Sometimes mediation is needed later when the arrangements start well and then a dispute arises, for example when discussing dividing time during festivals or holidays, or when dealing with a change of school or introducing a new partner to the children. It is always possible to come back to mediation. Sometimes parents wish to record the arrangements in a Parenting Plan, which can be drafted by the mediator.

Kate offers a pay as you go service. The majority of clients share the cost of the joint meetings equally or use funds from a joint account. The costs can be agreed in whatever proportion you both agree.

Individual Meeting – also known as a Mediation Information & Assessment Meeting (MIAM)  – £150 per person (online rate). Includes signed court form.

Joint Meetings are charged on an hourly basis and is dependant on type of mediation: All Issues (divorce, financial and co-parenting) or Co-Parenting only. The hourly rate for All Issues is £250 per hour and Co-Parenting only is £200 per hour.

Review and preparation of documents between meetings and at the end of mediation (if required) is charged – A fixed fee is agreed with you both first.

My services do not attract VAT.

Lovegrove Mediation is a private practice and does not offer Legal Aid for mediation. For further information about Legal Aid, you may wish to contact South West Family Mediation Service on 01392 678010. You can check whether you are eligible for Legal Aid, using the eligibility calculator here.