The Process
And the Prices
Initial Phone Call
Free of Charge
Please call for an initial chat. I am very happy to answer any questions you may have about mediation. Many people will not have come across it before so this is an opportunity for me to explain a bit about it before your first meeting.
Information & Assessment
MIAM
A MIAM is a confidential one-to-one meeting which lasts around an hour. Its long name is the Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting and is often referred to as an intake meeting. The mediator has separate meetings with each partner during which time the issues are outlined and the process is explained.
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It is worth noting that all couples looking to divorce need to have attended a MIAM before they can apply to court. This will expire after four months.​​
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The Intake meeting (or MIAM) is a good opportunity to discuss what you are hoping to achieve and to weigh up if mediation is the best approach for you. Once you are happy to proceed, the mediator will contact your partner to invite them to a meeting of their own.
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The price for the Information and Assessment meeting is £120 per person.
The advantage of mediation is that it is confidential. Nothing that is said in mediation could be quoted in court as it is "privileged." This allows for all options to be discussed openly, in private.
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On average, couples require 3-5 sessions depending on what they need to sort out. The Family Mediation Council data indicates that over 70% of couples who engage in mediation successfully resolve their disputes.
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Joint Sessions are £130 per person.
Joint Mediation Sessions
In person or online
These sessions last up to 90 minutes.
The purpose is to lay out what the issues are for discussion and to explore options as to how these issues could be resolved.
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After each session I will send you a summary outlining the ground covered and including the action points agreed.
There is often information to be sought in between meetings so that the issues can be further progressed. Part of the mediator's role is to signpost clients to additional sources of information and expertise that will help them, including specialist pension advice for example.
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Final Documents
OFS & MOU
At the end of the process, when the issues have been resolved I will write up two documents. If you are planning to have the proposals formalised in law, these documents are what your solicitor will need in order to write up a consent order.
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The cost of these documents is £150 per document, per person.
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The Open Financial Statement (OFS)
sets out your assets and liabilities. It is an open document that the judge will be able to see along side the consent order.
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The Summary of Proposals or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is a confidential document that you share with your solicitor only. It is the mediator's account of how you and your partner propose to resolve the issues. ​​