Property and Financial
Mediation
Helping you and your ex-partner agree how to split money and property within the relevant legal framework.
What is Property & Financial Mediation?
Most relationship breakdowns are emotionally difficult. Whilst trying to cope with this, there are practical things to sort out too. This might be separating joint finances, such as bank accounts and property, and working out future living arrangements. It can be overwhelming.
A mediator will help you have those difficult conversations to enable you to decide what you want to do with the family home, pensions, businesses, debts, and so on. They will make sure that you are aware of any legally necessary steps you will need to take.
This will enable the agreement to be formalised and if appropriate made into a court order.
Common Property & Financial
Mediation Matters We Help With
- deciding what to do with the family home and other assets.
- the approach to take around a family business.
- understanding the true values of pensions and what the options are.
- creating future-living budgets.
- reality testing proposals to check they are workable.
What are the Benefits of
Property & Financial Mediation?
You’ll engage one professional mediator to help you both sort out your problem, rather than a lawyer each. Getting guidance and information from a single person leaves little room for misunderstandings.
By focusing on constructive communication, you’ll waste less time on combative arguments. It tends to be quicker and cost much less than the lawyer route, leaving you both with more of your own money for your futures. Finally, you will get to decide the outcome you want, not someone else.
What is a MIAM?
A MIAM is a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting. It’s a private, confidential 60-minute meeting with one of our accredited family mediators, on your own. It can take place at our meeting rooms in Ipswich or online by Zoom.
If you want to apply to the family court about arrangements for children, or about finances after separation, you must first attend a MIAM, unless an exemption applies. We also meet each person separately like this before any mediation starts, whether or not court is being considered.
At your MIAM, the mediator talks with you about what has happened and explains how mediation works, and how other processes work, such as court and arbitration. If you have children, we also tell you about child-inclusive mediation and other services that can help. You can ask any questions you have.
If we go on to meet the other person separately, we then decide whether mediation would be a suitable way forward. If it isn’t, or either of you decides not to go ahead, we can provide a MIAM certificate if you need to apply to court.
To book your MIAM, fill in our online form.
Frequently asked questions
Some of the questions people ask us most often about property and finances.
What happens at a MIAM?
A Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) is a private, confidential 60-minute meeting with one of our accredited family mediators, on your own. It can take place at our meeting rooms in Ipswich or online by Zoom.
Before the meeting, you complete our online information form, so that the meeting can focus on you and your options.
At the meeting, the mediator discusses with you what has happened and explains how problems like yours can be addressed. They explain how mediation works, and how other processes work, such as court and arbitration. You can ask any questions you have.
If we go on to meet the other person separately, we decide afterwards whether mediation would be a suitable way forward. If it is, we write to you both to invite you to mediate. If it isn’t, or either of you decides not to go ahead, we can provide a MIAM certificate if you need to apply to court.
Do I have to attend a MIAM before going to court?
In most cases, yes. If you want to apply to the family court about arrangements for children or about finances after separation, you must first attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) with an accredited family mediator, unless an exemption applies.
The other person doesn’t have to attend a MIAM before you apply, but we will invite them to one.
There are some exemptions, for example where there is evidence of domestic abuse, where an application is urgent, or where you have attended a MIAM about the same problem or dispute in the last four months. The exemptions are narrower than they used to be, and the court checks that any exemption claimed is valid. If it isn’t, the court can order you to attend a MIAM and pause your case until you have.
What if I don't understand our finances?
That’s very common, especially where one person has always looked after the money. You don’t need to understand everything before you start.
In financial mediation, you each provide full information about your income, property, savings, debts and pensions. We help you understand what that information shows, and what you still need to find out. Until you both have the full picture, nobody should be asked or expected to make decisions.
Where something needs specialist help, such as valuing a pension or a business, we can suggest independent experts who work alongside mediation. They help you both understand the figures together.
Is what we agree legally binding?
For finances after separation, there are three stages.
Mutual proposals. In mediation, you reach mutual proposals: what you have both agreed, once there has been full disclosure and you have each thought about what it will mean for you. These are not legally binding on their own. At the end of mediation, we can write them up for you. There is usually a separate charge for this.
A signed agreement. A lawyer can turn your proposals into a single document that records what you have agreed and sets out the wording a judge needs to approve it. It’s often called a consent order. Once you have both signed it, you are each expected to keep to it, and the court will normally hold you to it, provided neither of you has hidden anything or given false information.
A court order. Your agreement becomes a court order once a judge approves it. This can only happen as part of your divorce or dissolution proceedings. The court will typically approve it without anyone having to attend a hearing.
For arrangements for children, many parents don’t need a court order. They agree a parenting plan and keep to it. If you want your arrangements made into a court order, a lawyer can help you apply.
Will the outcome be fair?
“Fair” is a word used a great deal when relationships end. People are often told that what they are asking for is fair, and so what the other person is asking for seems unfair to them. And when feelings are running high, it’s natural to see things from one side, and to feel that what happened in the relationship should be reflected in the outcome. What feels fair to one person rarely feels fair to the other.
Mediation itself is fair-minded. We are neutral, the process is impartial, and we treat each of you with respect. But rather than aim for an outcome we call fair, we help you reach an agreement you can both accept, made with a clear understanding of your options.
Part of that is understanding the law, and the kinds of order a court can make, so you can see where your proposals sit. We also make sure each of you has the information you need, so that you can make informed decisions and neither of you agrees to something without understanding it.
It’s worth remembering that even a judge’s decision can feel unfair to one or both people. Fairness is rarely as simple as it sounds.
If you want an opinion on whether a proposal is right for you, you can speak to a financial planner or a lawyer.
Do I need a lawyer if I'm mediating?
You don’t need a lawyer to take part in mediation, and you don’t need to see one before you start. In most situations, proper legal advice is only possible once all the facts and information have been disclosed, and that disclosure takes place during mediation.
There is a difference between legal information and legal advice. Much of what lawyers do is give legal information rather than advice. As mediators, we can also give you legal information: what the law says and what your options are. What we can’t do is tell either of you, in clear terms, what your realistic best and worst outcomes would be if you went to court. That assessment is legal advice, and a lawyer can give it once all the facts are known.
Many people get everything they need from mediation. During the process, and at the end of mediation, we talk with you about getting legal advice. Some people choose to ask a lawyer about their proposals, and a lawyer can draft the legal paperwork needed for court approval.
Can mediation take place online?
Yes. We have mediated online since 2012, and Stephen Anderson was the first family mediator in the UK to offer online mediation routinely. Online meetings take place by Zoom, with everyone on screen together.
Online mediation can suit people who live in different parts of the country or abroad, who find it hard to travel, or who need to fit meetings around caring for children or their working hours. We decide with you whether meetings take place in person at our meeting rooms in Ipswich, or online.
For mediation, you need a laptop, desktop computer or tablet with a camera, propped up rather than handheld. A phone is fine for a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM). Our guide to mediating online explains how to prepare.