Part 3 / 4
This blog is part of a four part series that looks back on the lecture Family & Finance Mediation 1st gave in the (FMC) Family Mediation Council’s Family Mediation Week 2025. The lecture focus was on the importance of Child Inclusive Mediation, and the benefits it can bring to families going through separation. In this third part we explore how Child Inclusive Mediation can help families listen to their children as part of family mediation.
Understanding Your Children’s Needs: Why It Matters in Financial Settlements
Separation and divorce are challenging for everyone involved, but it’s especially tough on children. As parents, you want to make the best decisions for your children’s future, especially when it comes to financial matters. But how can you be sure you’re making choices that truly reflect their needs? Child Inclusive Mediation (CIM) can help.
What is Child Inclusive Mediation?
Child Inclusive Mediation is a process that allows children to share their thoughts and feelings about their parents’ separation in a safe and confidential setting. A trained mediator facilitates the conversation and then shares the children’s perspectives with the parents. This helps parents gain a deeper understanding of their children’s needs and make more informed decisions.
Financial decisions made during separation or divorce can have a long-lasting impact on children’s lives. Child Inclusive Mediation can help ensure that these decisions are made with their best interests in mind. Here’s how:
- Validation: Child Inclusive Mediation validates your children’s feelings and experiences, helping them feel heard and understood. This can lead to greater trust and cooperation between you, as parents and your children, which is essential when discussing financial matters.
- Inclusion: Child focussed Mediation makes children feel included in the decision-making process, reducing their anxiety and giving them a sense of control. When children feel involved, they are more likely to accept and adapt to the changes that come with separation or divorce, including financial ones.
- Insights: Child Inclusive Mediation provides valuable insights into children’s needs and priorities, which may not always be obvious to parents. This information can help you as parents make more informed decisions about financial matters, such as child maintenance, houses or the division of assets
- Prioritisation: Child Inclusive Family Mediation encourages parents to prioritise their children’s needs when making financial decisions. This can lead to more equitable and child-focused outcomes that support children’s well-being during and after the separation.
Family & Finance First Mediation Can Help
At Family & Finance First Mediation, we understand the importance of considering children’s needs in financial settlements as part of mediation. Our Child Inclusive Mediation service, in conjunction with mediation can help you gain a deeper understanding of your children’s perspectives and make decisions that support their well-being.
____________________________________________________
If you’re thinking about Family Mediation, Child Inclusive Mediation or just want to know more about your options, we’re here to help. Get in touch by calling us at 0330 33 22 488 or emailing familyandfinancemediationfirst.co.uk
____________________________________________________
Keywords: Keywords: Family mediation, child mediation, child inclusive mediation, child-focused mediation, CIM, Children First Mediation, FMC, Family Mediation Council, child consultation in mediation, children’s involvement in mediation, child-inclusive family mediation, child-focused mediation
