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Mediation is entirely voluntary, totally confidential and the mediator is always impartial. You and your ex-partner will meet with a trained family mediator to discuss your post-separation financial arrangements and arrangements for any children. It is a service that aims to reduce stress and conflict and is provided as an alternative to solicitors and going to the family court — a quicker and more cost-effective route to resolving these issues.

Mediation works by improving communication between you, helping you to feel more in control and to make decisions around children and finances that will help you move forward — arrangements between you that will last well into the future.

Once all issues have been addressed, the mediator will help you to make proposals to resolve each issue. Through the impartial process of mediation, the goal is to have a set of agreed proposals in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or an Open Financial Statement (OFS). The mediator will then provide each of you with a confidential summary of these proposals, and these can be drafted into an agreed consent order for the court.

The proposals are confidential and cannot be used in court without everyone agreeing. The proposals are not legally binding until they have been approved by the court.

Most individuals will require some degree of legal advice during the process of mediation to agree on the terms of their separation or divorce. The mediator can provide legal information but is not able to advise either party, as they are impartial. The number of hours of work for a solicitor — and therefore the costs — will be greatly reduced by using mediation.

A one-hour MIAM is charged at £120. Joint sessions are charged at £130 per person, per session, with each session lasting approximately 90 minutes. It is difficult to predict how many sessions will be needed to reach agreed proposals, but it is typically between 3 and 5. Some work will need to be undertaken between joint sessions and this is charged at £100 per hour, per person.

Lasting agreements (Memorandum of Understanding or Open Financial Statement) are charged at £150 per person, per document.

Dominick French Mediation is a private mediation practice and does not offer mediation funded by Legal Aid. You can check eligibility for Legal Aid on the gov.uk website, and search the Family Mediation Council for a list of mediators who do offer Legal Aid-funded mediation.

For cases that involve children, depending on your income you may also be entitled to a £500 voucher towards your mediation costs. Although I am not currently part of the scheme, I am very happy to recommend other mediators who are able to claim those vouchers on your behalf.