Divorce update

Twelve months have passed since mediation information assessment meetings (MIAMs) were introduced on 6 April 2011, during which time FAMIA has seen more than 60 privately funded clients for children and financial mediations.

In September 2011, Coronation Street characters Steve and Becky mentioned that they were taking part in family mediation together. The storyline was positive, in that Steve mentioned that the couple were getting on better than before. I believe this is true of a lot of mediation cases; often with each session that passes communication and trust between the couple, which may have been strained since their separation, improves. This is vital where there are children involved as the parents will still need to communicate despite planning to lead separate lives.

Court referrals

Many of the mediators I have spoken to have commented on how many judges have asked whether the parties have tried other options to court and, if they have not, the judge has suggested that they do so. I have experienced this with clients three times in the past year from London courts.

In the first case I received a referral from a north London court where the judge was deeply concerned about the parents arguing over where the children would reside and how contact would work when it was clear that both parents were committed to being competent carers. The mother was suffering from a serious illness but had the support of her immediate family and the judge could sense that the court proceedings were not helping. He suggested that proceedings were paused while mediation was attempted. I have conducted the intake session for both parents and am now waiting for a date to start the joint session to see if an agreement can be reached between the mother and father based on their contact and residence proposals.

In the second case I was contacted by the mother after the judge adjourned proceedings. The parents are from different countries but both reside in England. There were long protracted divorce proceedings and also child abduction hearings. Finances had been resolved through the court. However, there was a dispute over contact now that the children were older and one party to the case felt that the children contact order needed to be updated as it was five years old.

I met both parties for their intake session. Their issues were defined but little progress was made at the first joint session. Nevertheless, both parents agreed that the children should have a voice and be involved in the mediation process. I arranged for the children to see a child-trained mediator. The case is now moving to a co-mediation model. The agreed wishes and feelings of the children will be explained to the parents from what the children have agreed to be passed back to the parents. We will then return to exploring solutions for the children issues that have been raised.

The third case was also referred from the Principal Registry. The first appointment had taken place but the father requested mediation be attempted before the financial dispute resolution hearing. The couple were both of Asian background and married in India. Both had children from a previous marriage but no children from their short marriage, which lasted 18 months. Financial disclosure took place and options were then explored for settlement. This case returned to court as the parties would not compromise on how the financial assets could be divided but found that a lot of the issues that were originally raised had been narrowed for the next court hearing.

A judge promoted the benefits of mediation in the case of V v V [2011] EWHC 1190. Justice Peter Jackson ensured that the parties were aware of the court's powers to adjourn the case and the requirement to bear in mind mediation. The judge said he 'expected this option will be very much in the mind of judges concluding any future cases'. This follows the comments of Nicholas Wilson, Lord Justice of Appeal, in the foreword to Lisa Parkinson's excellent book, Family Mediation '“ Appropriate Dispute Resolution in a new family justice system (2nd Edition), where he says: 'For long mediators have been forecasting a breakthrough for family mediation. Today, at least, the forecast is solidly based.' And then goes onto say: 'Mediation will no longer be outside the system nor even running in parallel with the system. It will indeed be in the system.'

It is apparent that month by month at FAMIA there are an increasing number of clients selecting mediation as the process to resolve their financial and/or children issues and I think that the implementation of MIAMs is playing a key role in this.

How it works

Arranging sessions

Whether this is for a MIAM or the first mediation session it can sometimes take several hours to get everything arranged and scheduled, of which only half of this time will be the meeting itself. After speaking to the clients to explain how mediation works, I send the client's proposed schedule dates from Doodle (www.doodle.com) to make scheduling the event easier.

90-minute joint sessions on different days

Two mediation cases have requested for family mediation to take place in a day or half day rather than have sessions over several meetings. At FAMIA we tend to discourage this as we find that family mediation agreements are best reached when the parties are not being rushed and have time to reflect on issues between sessions. There will also be cases where clients need to obtain legal advice in between sessions or collect further information.

In one case, the parties had already completed form E through their solicitors. There were two properties and it was proposed that the mother could retain the holiday home and that the former matrimonial home would be sold and the proceeds divided 60/40 in favour of the father. The father was in agreement for the children to reside with the mother and then holiday contact and weekly contact arrangements were discussed and agreed with a review to follow when the children were older. In this case we agreed to the one full-day mediation which had regular breaks as the mother was going on holiday for a month and there was a danger that the former matrimonial home would be repossessed if nothing was acted upon urgently. Both parties sought legal advice after the session before the memorandum of understanding was prepared into a consent order.

Shuttle cases

I have acted on two shuttle cases recently. In one case the parties argued a lot in their first joint session so it was agreed that future sessions move to shuttle. Sessions two and three discussed a name change for their children and contact issues with the parties being in separate rooms and the parties then decided to come together for the fourth session where a proposal for everything was agreed upon. Time was of the essence as the court proceedings had already been adjourned once for mediation. The memorandum of understanding was drafted into a consent order by the client's solicitor to vacate the hearing. This case demonstrated that a variation of shuttle and joint sessions can sometimes work well.

In the other case there had been allegations of recent domestic violence.

Both parties did not want to be in the same room but wanted to try and reach an agreement together outside of court on financial issues. Also, in this case one party left the office 15 minutes before the other at the end of the session so that they would not meet when leaving the office premises.

Shared experience

After I had completed my family mediation foundation training in 2009 I was fortunate to be able to observe family mediation sessions at several family mediation services that were based both inside and outside of London.

Each mediator and practice followed pretty much the same structure for each session but it was useful for my development to see a number of practices as each mediator had their own style which they had developed according to their personality and professional background.

I wanted to create a group where mediators of all levels can meet every few months to discuss family mediation concerns, practices and marketing.

The first meeting took place in May 2011 in Knightsbridge and the next London family mediation group breakfast meeting is on Tuesday 8 May 2012. If you would like to be part of the group or be a guest speaker on a family mediation topic, email austin.chessell@famia.co.uk and we will add you to the group mailing list.