How much will it cost?

Mediation is about helping you work together to reach a solution. Because mediation is collaborative rather than adversarial, you make progress much more quickly and at a much lower cost than through the traditional solicitor route.

The mediator will give you an idea of the likely overall cost of mediation at your initial one-to-one assessment meeting (known as a MIAM). This initial meeting provides an opportunity to get a clearer idea of the issues to be resolved, to discuss the different options that are available to you, and to assess whether family mediation will be helpful and suitable for you at this time. The initial assessment meeting has a fee of £120 including VAT.

For mediation sessions and all other client work we charge you each an hourly rate of £150 including VAT. How many hours of the mediator’s time will be required depends on many factors – whether you are trying to sort out arrangements in relation to children or for both children and your finances, the number and complexity of the issues, whether you will require any documentation to be drafted once you reach an agreement and so on.

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To give you some idea of the potential cost of a mediation, once you have both decided to proceed, it can be anywhere between 2 and 6 hours to discuss arrangements for your children and preparing a Parenting Statement. Compare that with the typical cost of using a solicitor which can often be between £5,000 and £10,000 each and sometimes much more.

Depending on your financial situation you may be eligible for Legal Aid for family mediation. We offer a free, no obligation assessment for Legal Aid. If you are eligible then all of the costs of mediation for you will covered by government funding. Legal aid will also cover some of the costs for the other person too.

If you do not qualify for legal aid then we can apply for a Ministry of Justice voucher worth £500 per family to put towards the cost of mediation.

YOUR NEXT STEP: CALL US ON 0330 320 7600 TO ARRANGE YOUR ONE-TO-ONE MEDIATION INFORMATION AND ASSESSMENT MEETING (MIAM). Please bear in mind that a MIAM is a legal requirement if you are thinking of issuing court proceedings. Also, if you are not sure what to do next it gives you dedicated time with one of our accredited and expert mediators so you can explain your situation. They can then give you bespoke information outlining the different options available to you and the pros and cons of each. Our intention is that you leave this initial meeting knowing what you are going to do next, why and how. This meeting – just between you and the mediator – is free if you qualify for Legal Aid or, if you are not eligible, there is a fee of £120.

Mediation is more amicable and obviously cheaper than fraught litigation and solicitors’ letters

Mediation gets you communicating. I think this is better than a court situation, and less costly