Family Mediation Week 2024

Family Mediation Week takes place in January each year, and this year will run from the 22nd to the 26th of January 2024. It's an opportunity to raise awareness of family mediation and its benefits for separating families. The aim is to let more people know about the advantages of family mediation and encourage separating couples to think about it as a way of helping them take control, make decisions together and build a positive future for their Family.

Family mediation is a voluntary, confidential and privileged form of alternative dispute resolution ("ADR"). It involves appointing a neutral and impartial third party (the mediator) who helps the parties reach a negotiated solution to their dispute. It's important to note that the mediator has no authority to impose a decision on the parties involved. Instead, the mediator helps facilitate discussions, identifies potential solutions and assists the parties in making informed decisions. The parties retain control over whether to settle the dispute and on what terms.

Family mediation is commonly used by couples who are married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting to resolve disputes relating to:

• Separation
• Divorce or dissolution of civil partnership
• Property and financial matters.
• Children, including contact, residence and financial arrangements.

Other family members can also use and benefit from family mediation. For example, where a dispute concerns a child, depending on the nature of the dispute and the child's age and maturity, the child can also participate in the mediation process if the parties agree.

Family mediation does not replace the need for parties to take independent legal advice on the terms of any agreement that may be reached during the mediation process. Neither does mediation exclude the involvement of lawyers. However, it is common for the parties to attend family mediation without their lawyers and take legal advice outside of the process.

In recent years, there has been a significant shift towards encouraging the use of ADR, specifically mediation for family disputes. For example:

• Judges have encouraged parties in proceedings to engage in ADR and penalised them in costs if they refuse to do so.
• On the 26th of March 2021, the Ministry of Justice introduced a Family Mediation Voucher Scheme, which offers £500 towards mediation costs in eligible cases, further incentivising parties to utilise mediation as a starting point in family disputes. 
• In his speech at the Family Mediation Association Conference in September 2022, McFarlane P. stated that family mediation must be the norm rather than litigation. This led to a consultation in 2023 on amendments to the Family Procedure Rules (FPR), with amendments to the rules expected to come into force this year.
• On the 1st of March 2023, in response to questions from the House of Lords Constitution Committee, the Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, Dominic Raab, revealed that the Ministry of Justice would consider "cost shifting or fees" to actively discourage certain private law family cases from going to court. The measures are being considered to deter parties already using mediation and close to reaching an agreement from turning to the courts in cases where the outcome would be more favourable. 

Advantages of mediation

Mediation offers several advantages compared to court proceedings and other forms of dispute resolution, such as collaborative law. These include the following:

• Speed
• Saving costs
• Party autonomy
• Preserving better relationships
• Confidentiality
• Flexibility
• Creative outcomes
• Lasting settlement - The mediation process involves reality-testing various settlement options. This rigorous scrutiny and assessment means that a mediated settlement has a far greater chance of being adhered to by the parties and enduring than an order imposed on the parties by a judge. The latter may fail due to unintended consequences or non-compliance by either party.

Disadvantages of mediation

It can be challenging to persuade a party to mediate for the following reasons (some of which may be misconceived):

• Inability to compel disclosure.
• Inability to verify disputed facts. 
• Waste of time and duplication of costs if unsuccessful. 
• Uncertainty of outcome. 

Above, we have summarised Family Mediation and its key advantages and disadvantages. For more information and guidance on Family Mediation, please do not hesitate to contact our Family Legal team on 023 8063 9311 or email enquiries@warnergoodman.co.uk. Alternatively, please visit our Family Mediation page.