Mediation

National Family Mediation has 47 affiliated Services throughout England and Wales. Further details of location and contact details can be found on our Services List.

You've decided to seek a divorce. Your nerves are frayed; the in-laws are asked pointed questions; the children are beginning to act up in all-too-transparent ways; and your pleasantness is in the midst of an earthshaking landslide. What can you do? Clearly, you can hire legal advice. But who? Here's a checklist of reasons why working with a trained mediator can often help.

The following case studies give brief examples of the kinds of personal situations people are in when they seek a solution through mediation.  Mediation can provide practical help in resolving some or all of the issues and problems which result when couples separate – arrangements for children, finances, the home and possessions.

Many services provide the facility for children to be included in the mediation process. Research indicates that at the time of separation children feel as though they no longer have a voice in the future structure of their family. They have anxieties about how the new arrangements are going to work and how it will impact upon their lives in terms of maintaining friendships, schooling, relationships with extended family group members, etc.

Researchers have conducted more than 50 studies since 'divorce mediation' first appeared more than two decades ago. As one researcher puts it, the easiest research has already been done, i.e., comprehensive research on the outcomes of mediation. Enough data has been collected and enough analysis conducted to begin drawing clear conclusions about whether mediation works. Along several key axes, the answers are encouraging.

This article describes the benefits of providing a means for the children to have their say when their parents separate and divorce.

Sadly, when couples split up they are often too immersed in their own grief to consider the feelings of their children or do not understand that children are also fully fledged people entitled to know what is happening, to be heard and to be consulted.

Family Mediation helps couples, who are separated or divorced or in the process of separating or divorcing, reach agreement about important issues - especially those concerning their children.

Mediation can have a number of advantages over the traditional route to divorce. This article explains some of the options available.

Mediation is an approach to settling disputes and reaching an agreement on issues such as finances or child care. It requires the co-operation of the two parties, no-one can be forced to attend mediation. The process typically involves the couple attending a series of face to face meetings in the presence of a mediator, who facilitates the discussion. Mediators can be, but are not always, legally trained.