Mediation advice
Mediation is the name for help from an independent third person to reach decisions.
Family mediators can assist couples to communicate when they are separating, or disagreeing about issues like care of the children or money matters. The mediator helps people to make decisions which are acceptable to both of them and to reach an agreement but cannot makes decisions for them.
Family mediators can give general information about the law and the way the legal system works. But, they cannot provide advice about a person's legal rights or their best course of action. Family mediators are trained in mediation: some are also lawyers.
Mediation usually takes between two and four sessions, each lasting about an hour and a half. It may be free for people who are on a low income.
If you are thinking of mediation, you can find out more about it from any of these websites:
How to find a family mediator in Devon or Cornwall:
- Search our database of Mediators in Devon and Cornwall
- Resolution, the family lawyers' organisation, has details of lawyer mediators on its website
- Your solicitor can advise you about local mediation services.
- Publicly-funded family mediation is available for clients with low income. The LSC funds family mediators directly. You can find your local publicly-funded family mediation service by calling 0845 345 4 345.
What do mediators do?
A trained mediator will meet with you both for a series of sessions in which you will be helped to:
- Identify all the matters you wish to consider
- Collect the necessary information
- Talk about the choices open to you
- Negotiate with each other to reach decisions that are acceptable to you both
- Discuss how you can consult your children appropriately about arrangements
The mediator's job is to act as an impartial third party and manage the process, helping you to exchange and share information, ideas and feelings constructively and ensuring that you make informed decisions. The mediator has no power to impose a settlement - responsibility for all decisions remains with you since you know better than anyone else what is right for your family. The mediator will not advise you about the best option either for your children or your financial affairs, nor can the mediator protect your individual interests.
