Family Mediation and Dispute Resolution Solicitors in London

Our family mediation solicitors can help you agree on the property settlement or the childcare arrangements after your separation or divorce.

Going to court and asking a judge to decide on child custody and contact or who gets the house can be stressful and expensive. It also places the decision about your future in the hands of a judge. That’s why the family mediation lawyers at OTS Solicitors are committed to helping you reach a negotiated agreement.

Contact our family mediation and dispute resolution solicitors in London

For family dispute resolution advice, you can meet with our mediation solicitors at our offices in London, over the phone or online via Web Conferencing such as Zoom or Skype. For expert help, contact our family mediation and dispute resolution solicitors in London.

Types of alternative dispute resolution in family law

The three main types of alternative resolution methods in family law are:

Negotiation
Mediation
Arbitration

Family court rules say that in most situations you must attempt a non-court-based resolution before you make a court application. Our family law solicitors can guide and support you whether you choose negotiation or require legal advice during mediation or family arbitration.

What is family mediation?

In divorce and family mediation, a qualified and independent family law mediator helps a couple reach an agreement over a disputed family law issue, such as:

Child custody and contact arrangements
Parenting disputes, such as whether one parent can relocate overseas with the children or choice of schools or religion
Whether divorce proceedings should be started
The divorce property settlement including if the family home should be sold, how much spousal maintenance or child support should be paid and if pensions should be shared
Unmarried couple disputes on matters such as property ownership or parental responsibility

If you are unsure if family mediation is suitable for you, a family mediation lawyer can talk to you about what you need to resolve with your ex-partner. Our mediation solicitors will explain the alternatives to mediation and support you with specialist legal advice during mediation sessions. If mediation is successful, we will help you convert your mediated agreement into a binding court order.

If you start court proceedings without trying mediation or a non-court-based dispute resolution option the judge at a preliminary directions hearing could adjourn the application for family court mediation. If agreement is reached the terms can be included in a court order. If agreement cannot be reached the court proceedings can continue and the judge can decide on the terms of the court order after hearing evidence in a contested court hearing.

Mediation Information & Assessment Meeting (MIAM)

The first step in the mediation process is to attend a Mediation Information & Assessment Meeting (MIAM) with a family law mediator to explore how mediation works and to help you decide if you want to use mediation or another type of non-court dispute resolution method, such as solicitor negotiations or family arbitration.

You may be exempt from attending a MIAM if your family law application meets certain criteria. For example, if you need to make an urgent court application, such as a prohibited steps order, freezing injunction order or where there are domestic violence allegations.

What is mediation in divorce?

Divorce mediation tries to resolve any family law dispute associated with your divorce, such as the payment of interim spousal maintenance, contact arrangements or what should happen to the family home or business. It can be also be used to resolve other family law issues, such as grandparent rights, step-parent disputes or if you are in an unmarried relationship.

The family law mediator will hold a MIAM to check that mediation is suitable for both of you and to agree on the type of mediation. A series of joint meetings will then be arranged to see if a resolution can be reached. Normally, a family mediation lawyer will not attend the mediation meeting with you but will provide legal advice on your rights and options outside of the mediation sessions to give you the information and confidence to know whether what is being proposed in mediation is the type of arrangement that a family court might order if either you or your husband or wife were to start financial or children law court proceedings.

How much does family mediation cost?

The cost of family mediation depends on how many sessions you need. Normally between three to five sessions are necessary. In addition to these mediation costs, you will need to budget for legal costs for legal advice from our mediation solicitors and to implement your mediated agreement. If you cannot reach a mediation agreement our family mediation solicitors can let you know your alternative non-court and court options, costs and timescales.

What happens at family mediation?

At the first mediation session, a mediator will agree on an agenda for the mediation and work out the areas that need addressing. For example, in a financial mediation, financial disclosure will be required as without information on the assets and values you cannot come to a fair financial settlement.

A family law mediator is independent and neutral. Their role is not to provide either of you with legal advice but to assist you in facilitating a discussion that leads to a compromise. It normally takes a few sessions to explore how you both feel about an issue in dispute, look at the various ways to resolve the dispute and reach a solution that is acceptable to both of you.

Mediation is voluntary and confidential. You can end the mediation at any stage. What you discussed in mediation normally cannot be referred to in any subsequent family court proceedings.

How to prepare for family mediation

Preparing for mediation is an important first step and will help you have the confidence to negotiate an agreement with the help of the mediator and your family law solicitor.

You can prepare for mediation by:

Taking family and divorce legal advice from a mediation solicitor on your legal rights and what sort of court order you might expect to get if you or your ex-partner applied to court for an order
Getting your paperwork in order. The documents you will need will depend on the purpose of the mediation. For example, in a contact dispute, you may want to bring a list of missed contact visits or in a financial dispute you may want to work with your solicitor on the financial disclosure you will need to provide to the family law mediator during the mediation process
Taking financial advice if you mediating to resolve a financial dispute. For example, you may need financial advice on your ability to take over the mortgage on the family home or how much income your pension will provide you with in retirement

How successful is family mediation?

When divorce mediation works for you, it is usually a quicker means of resolving a family law dispute. A family mediation law resolution is normally:

Less expensive than traditional court proceedings
Less adversarial as you are not filing witness statements or giving evidence in court
More successful in real life as you are working with a parenting arrangement or financial settlement negotiated by you with the help of a family mediation solicitor in mediation rather than a court-imposed decision

Our family mediation solicitors will support you through divorce and family mediation and ensure that any mediated agreement is one that you are comfortable with and can be enforced if necessary.

Contact our family mediation solicitors in London

For family law and mediation advice, you can meet with a family mediation lawyer at our offices in London, over the phone or online via Web Conferencing such as Zoom or Skype. For expert help, contact our family mediation and dispute resolution solicitors in London.

Your Questions and our answers about Family Mediation and Dispute Resolution

You may be able to apply for an order such as a Specific Issue Order or a Prohibited Steps Order, that can address matters regarding children, including permission to take a child abroad. A Specific Issue Order is used to address a particular issue concerning a child’s upbringing when parents cannot agree, such as whether a child should travel abroad.

However, before applying for such an order, it’s advisable to attempt to reach an agreement with the other parent regarding the proposed travel plans. If an agreement cannot be reached and there are concerns or disagreements about taking the child abroad please contact us regarding the next steps on 02039599123 or click here

Thank you for your enquiry. We are pleased to hear that you have reached a financial agreement in family mediation.

The mediator is right when she says that a Memorandum of Understanding is not a family court financial order. The Memorandum of Understanding is a document that is prepared by a mediator to record the agreement you discussed in mediation. The Memorandum of Understanding is not a binding legal agreement. You therefore need to convert the Memorandum of Understanding into a financial court order and ask a family court judge to approve the financial court order.

Unlike the Memorandum of Understanding, a financial court order is a legally binding document. That is why it is so important that a financial court order is obtained to give both you and your wife financial security.

If a financial agreement has been reached you and your spouse should not need to attend a court hearing in order to secure the financial court order. A family solicitor can draw up the paperwork for you.

To discuss your situation and the obtaining of a financial court order we would need to see you. We can give you family law advice and advise you on the best way forward. Please call us on 0203 959 9123 to arrange an appointment to discuss how we can help you.

Thank you for getting in touch with us.

Your enquiry is being reviewed by our team and one of our solicitors will contact you shortly.

In the meantime, you can also call us on 0203 959 9123 or contact us here.

Thank you for your enquiry. It would be better if your son enquires about a DNA test but he would have to seek permission from the court to do so because he has unfortunately not been named as the birth father on the birth certificate. Hence he has no parental responsibility (PR) over the child but may apply to the courts for permission to seek PR. We will be more than happy to assist and talk you through the law and procedure – please call us on 0203 959 9123 for a quick chat or to arrange a consultation.

Thank you for your enquiry.

I totally empathise with you and your predicament but I’m afraid that it will be very difficult to get any money backdated and the chances are very slim as your children are all grown up now.

I would advise that you seek assistance outside the Family courts or perhaps get in touch with Child Maintenance Service to see if there is anything they can do to help you with.

Thank you for your enquiry.

Please may I suggest we have a quick chat over the phone as there are quite a few complexities in your query but I would advise you not to agree to anything until we speak or until you get proper advice.

Rest assured he cannot unilaterally dictate what “custody” you should have or, how much or little contact you are entitled to.

Please do get in touch when it is convenient to talk or let me know when it is a good time to call. You can reach us on 0203 959 9123.

Thank you for getting in touch with us.

The first thing we would need to ascertain is whether there are any court orders in place, e.g. child arrangements order that the granddaughter lives with you, and whether you have acquired parental responsibility.. As the grandparent, there are a few options for your granddaughter to remain living with you, for example, applying for a child arrangements order or a special guardianship order (as the granddaughter had been living with you for nearly 4 years, you would not require permission of the court to apply for either). There is a difference between the two orders and we would need detailed instructions in respect of all the facts in order to advise you appropriately.

To discuss this in more detail over an appointment, please call us on 0203 959 9123 or contact us here.

Thank you for getting in touch with us.

Your enquiry is being reviewed by our team and one of our solicitors will contact you shortly.

In the meantime, you can also call us on 0203 959 9123 or contact us here.

Thank you for getting in touch with us.

Your enquiry is being reviewed by our team and one of our solicitors will contact you shortly.

Dear Katie,

We are sorry to hear that the Father of your children has failed to return the children to you after contact since May. We can definitely assist you and can help you make an application to the family court to get your children back. However you will need to act sooner rather than later as the children have been in the father’s care for a few months now. Please get in touch for advice and immediate assistance in your matter.

You can call us on 0203 959 9123 or contact us here.

I am sorry to hear about the difficulties with seeing your grandchildren. You do not mention if your daughter and son in law are agreeable to your keeping in contact with your grandchildren through facetime, phone calls and sending presents. If they are agreeable to this type of contact then we would recommend that you keep it up until you can see your grandchildren as it will be easier to get a court order if you are maintaining an ongoing relationship with your grandchildren.

If you are not able to talk things through with your daughter and new son in law to find out the reasons why they are not letting you see your grandchildren, you could try writing to them or you could suggest family mediation. You may think that family mediation is just for couples but a family mediator can help families resolve all sorts of issues including contact with grandparents. The family mediator is impartial and whilst they cannot give you legal advice, they will focus on the two children and their needs.

If you are not able to resolve matters by direct discussions, letter or mediation, then as a last resort court proceeding could be started. The court has the power to make an order to enable you to see your grandchildren. If you were to make a court application the court would make its decision based on what it thought would be in your grandchildren’s best interests. Normally a court thinks that children should have a relationship with their grandparents. As you were close to the grandchildren but have now not seen them for nearly 12 months, we would suggest that you do pursue seeing the grandchildren as leaving it for too long might make it more difficult to secure an order.

To discuss your situation and your options we would need to see you. We can give you expert children law advice and advise you on the best way forward. Please call us on 0203 959 9123 to arrange an appointment to discuss how we can help you.

The family law team at OTS Solicitors

We are sorry to hear about your separation.

A mediation information and assessment meeting is a meeting between you and a family mediator to give you information about how family mediation works and to see if you would be suitable to go to family mediation. Normally the information and assessment meeting is an individual meeting with you alone, but you could double check that your wife will not be at the meeting if you are concerned about it.

If you decide to go ahead with mediation, your wife would attend the mediation sessions that would be led by an independent and impartial family mediator. The mediator’s job is to help you reach an agreement. For example, in mediation you could decide whether you are going to get divorced and, if so, who should start the divorce proceedings or you could agree the split of your assets or parenting arrangements.

Mediators are not able to give legal advice and therefore most do recommend that you get legal advice on your family law rights. Taking expert advice means you are

more likely to be comfortable in attending mediation sessions, as you will know where you stand legally.

If you do not go to the mediation meeting, your wife could get a family solicitor to write to you or she could start court proceedings. The first step is for you to take some legal advice on your rights and options.

To discuss your situation and your options we would need to see you. We can give you expert divorce, financial and children law advice and advise you on the best way forward. Please call us on 0203 959 9123 to arrange an appointment to discuss how we can help you.