Helping you to Sort out Arrangements for Your Child / Children
Specialist Family and Child Contact Mediation
Child Contact Arrangements
At Family and Finance Mediation First we understand the challenges faced by separated and separating parents. It is not unusual for there to be difficult times and strong feelings.
You may be struggling to find some common ground about the arrangements for the child contact, child residence or shared care. At Family and Finance Mediation First we understand those challenges and specialise in guiding separating couples through fair and transparent financial mediation.
Another area that can cause conflict is in relation to financial support for children and wider financial issues as part of any divorce settlement. This is an area that we have a huge amount of experience.
We work at your pace to help you to resolve the challenges your facing and assist you to pave a new way forward together. We don’t judge, take any one side or tell you what to do.
How Does Child Contact Mediation Work?
1
Initial Consultation (MIAM)
Meet with our mediator to discuss your situation and understand the mediation process. They will assess
suitability.
2
Joint Mediation Session(s)
You both participate in a joint session to communicate about any concerns and explore options together to try find a solution.
You may need more than 1 joint mediation session, 2 is the average.
3
Child Inclusive Mediation
It is important to consider the views of your child/children in any decisions that are being made about them. This is something that we have to actively consider for all children aged 9 and over.
4
Developing a Parenting Plan
We will help you to plot a way forward with a Parenting Plan. This plan will be created together, outlining how time will be shared, including specific issues, school holidays, Christmas and any other important
decisions regarding your child’s future.
What is Child Contact Mediation?
Child Contact Arrangement mediation is a collaborative process where separating couples work with a neutral mediator to reach fair agreements on matters affecting your children.
Mediation will help you both focus on open and transparent communication about your children, help to reduce conflict and can help you resolve issues.
For most people mediation enables them to explore practical solutions that benefit them both and helps them find a way forward that they can each live with.
Family Mediation helps parents or carers to focus on their children’s needs moving forward, which assists them to reach well-informed decisions that are practical and seem fair to each of you. We won’t take sides or try to influence your decisions in any way.
What sorts of things can we discuss in Child Contact Mediation
Whether you are married, in a civil partnership or not, it makes no difference to us.
We can help people in each of those situations to find a solution in relation to :-
Issues that you can resolve:
- where the children will live – residence
- how care will be shared between parents – contact and residence
- arrangements for school holidays and special events throughout the year such as Christmas
- the best way for parents to communicate about issues concerning your children
- how both parents can best support the children both financially and emotionally
Why Choose Mediation ?
It’s no surprise that attending a MIAM is now a legal requirement in England/Wales before any Family Law application can made, that’s because the success of mediation is well known, and the fact that it is a much simpler.
Less expensive
Family mediation is a much cheaper way to reach an agreement in family and divorce matters. The legal costs of going to court can be excessive. The co-operative nature of family mediation is designed to identify practical solutions as quickly and effectively as possible, helping keep costs low.
More constructive and quicker
Family mediation focuses on giving you both the opportunity to have more difficult discussions in a positive and constructive way. This means that things can most often be sorted within 2-3 sessions.
Simpler than legal routes
Going to court is the last thing that you or anyone else wants!
Mediation is much less stressful for everyone concerned and keeps you both in control of the future.
Starting the Mediation Process
We know that it can feel daunting considering doing something new, that’s why we make it as easy as possible for you to start the mediation process.
The first steps is to set up an initial mediation information assessment meeting (MIAM) with one of our expert mediators. You can easily book this by contacting us
Family and Finance Mediation First are the sister company of Children 1st Mediation. As the name suggests Children 1st have an unrivalled amount of experience in mediating children and family matters, their website contains much more information of the family and children services that they provide.
How much doesMediation Cost??
If neither of you are eligible for Legal Aid, then we are able to provide a Government Voucher scheme worth up to £500 when you also discuss Child Arrangements.
If you are not eligible for Legal Aid or the voucher please click here for more information about our current fees.
Or contact our admin support team who will be pleased to assist you.