Family mediation is about to take off

The Office for National Statistics latest reports showed that there were 118,140 divorces in total in 2012, which is the equivalent to 13 divorces every hour of every day of the year.

The question for every one of these couples and society at large is; How is each couple managing their separation and what effect is all this having on the children.

Most separating couples want to protect their children, avoid court and save costs but struggle to work out their best options, ending up bewildered by all the apparent choices they have and, far too often ending up in court.
In a survey commissioned by Resolution (formerly the Solicitors Family Law Association) in August 2012, 45 per cent of respondents thought that ‘most divorces involve a visit to court’. 40 per cent agreed with the statement that ‘divorces can never be without conflict’.

At the same time, 78 per cent said putting their children’s interests first would be a high priority and 53 per cent would prioritise making the divorce as conflict-free as possible.

People seem to want to avoid a battle, but awareness and a clear understanding of the alternatives to court proceedings is poor.

The Government is committed to steering family cases away from the courts. As part of this commitment, next month, on the 22 April 2014 most separating couples will have to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting before going to court, where they will learn from a mediator how to avoid court.

To date attendance at a MIAM has only been an obligation, not compulsory. As a result, attendance has been patchy, to say the least.

If anything, the number of children applications to the court has increased, many of these by parents who are unrepresented because they cannot afford a lawyer and are not aware of or misunderstand the purpose and benefits of mediation.

The tragedy also is that many of these same parents would have qualified for legal aid for mediation and most likely reached their own parenting plans outside court. Instead, the conflict has been perpetuated and the children continue to suffer.

Every parent and separating couple will now have to attend a MIAM before they go to court. In this meeting they will learn about what mediation involves from a mediator before going on to mediate where the focus will be on sorting out their own agreements for their children and finances without ever going to court and at a fraction of the cost of court proceedings.

Compass Resolution is an Exeter based Mediation company. For more information, please visit www.compass-resolution.com.