Charges for Mediation from 1 April 2009

Family Mediation Worcestershire (FMW) is a non profit making registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. We are able to offer free family mediation to those who are eligible for Community Legal Service (CLS) funding. Those who are assessed as not eligible for CLS funding will be asked to pay a fee for mediation according to their assessed ‘disposable income' (see table below).

Initial Meeting

Your first appointment with a mediator is primarily an information meeting, to help you decide whether mediation could be helpful for you and your family. It can be attended on your own or with your former partner, if he/she agrees. The appointment will last about 45 minutes (60 minutes if your former partner attends as well) and some of this time will be spent completing a financial assessment to determine whether or not you will have to pay for mediation, and if so at what rate.

When you or your former partner are referred to us by a solicitor as part of an application for CLS funding, the initial meeting will be free to you both.

In all other cases, the mediator will individually assess whether you will have to pay for the initial meeting. If either you or your former partner is assessed as eligible for CLS funding then neither of you will be charged for the initial meeting.

However, if both you and your former partner are not eligible for CLS funding, we will charge  £40  per person for the initial meeting.

Mediation Meetings

If after the initial meetings you and your former partner decide that you would like to proceed with mediation, a first joint mediation appointment will be arranged. If you are eligible for CLS funding you will not be charged for this or for future mediation appointments.

If you are not eligible for CLS funding you will be charged a fee per session according to the sliding scale of charges, shown below. A mediation ‘session’ can last up to 1.5 hours.

If you reach agreement on finance and property matters in mediation and we draw up a comprehensive written agreement (called a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’), we will charge each of you the equivalent of one mediation session for completion of the final document.

If you are not eligible for CLS funding but your financial circumstances change, your eligibility for free or reduced cost mediation can be reassessed at any time during the mediation process.

Charges for Mediation (per person, per session)

Financial Assessment

If you want us to work out whether you are eligible for free or reduced cost mediation we will need to see evidence of your income and, if you have a new partner, his or her income as well. We will also need to know about any savings or capital assets you may have. A checklist of the information required will be sent to you when we confirm your first appointment.

If you are in receipt of Income Support, Income Based Job Seekers’ Allowance or Guarantee State Pension Credit, you will automatically qualify for free mediation (although you will need to provide evidence of this at the initial meeting).

You will NOT be eligible for free mediation if your gross income (before deductions) is more than £2,657  per month (£31,884  per annum), or if you have more than £8,000  in savings and capital assets.

OVERALL MEDIATION COSTS (per person)

The estimated total cost of mediation in each charging band is as follows:

• Children’s issues only: we would expect to see you for an initial meeting and two mediation sessions (Band A: £210; Band B: £280; Band C: £340

• All Issues’ (property/finance/children): we would anticipate seeing you for an initial meeting and three mediation meetings (Band A: £430; Band B: £550; Band C: £640 .
  

We are required by the Legal Services Commission to give you information about the relative costs in this area of using legal representation in the courts. Costs can vary significantly from one legal firm to another, however we understand that a divorce where issues of property, finance and/or children are in dispute can cost in the region of £8,000 - £12,000 . High conflict cases can run into many thousands of pounds.

Mediation can reduce conflict and therefore reduce court and legal costs.

THE MEDIATION SERVICE DOES NOT TAKE THE PLACE OF SOLICITORS. WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU OBTAIN YOUR OWN INDEPENDENT LEGAL ADVICE FROM A SOLICITOR OF YOUR CHOICE.

(A list of local family law solicitors is available here)

Confidentiality

Mediation is a confidential process. We will not give information to your legal or other advisers or to any other third parties without obtaining your joint permission. However, there is an exception to this confidentiality where you or any other person (most particularly a child) is at risk of serious harm. In these exceptional circumstances, we would take the necessary action to safeguard/protect the child or adult concerned, in line with the Family Mediators Code of Practice.

The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has a contract with us and from time to time checks our publicly funded mediation work; however, the LSC is also bound by confidentiality.

File Storage

We will return to you any original documents requested during mediation.
Mediation files are securely stored at the FMW office for no less than 3 years from the conclusion of the case.

How to make an appointment

Please use our online contact form or call us on 01905 610925 (quote website). We are open for telephone enquiries and arranging appointments between 9.30am and 1.30pm. Monday through Friday. An answer phone is in operation at other times.