Mediation
You are legally required to consider mediation before applying to the court to resolve a dispute about your child(ren). This means that before submitting your application, you must attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (a MIAM) to find out about mediation and see if mediators can help you sort out arrangements for the future.
Exceptions
You do not need to attend a MIAM if one of the following situations applies to you:
where there has been domestic violence between you and your ex-partner and it has been reported to the police, courts, health professionals or specialised agency;
where the local authority is already involved with your family due to child protection concerns;
where the application must be made urgently – for example: if there is a risk to your family's safety; or, if there is a risk of harm to the child(ren); or, a risk that the child(ren) will be unlawfully removed from the UK;
where you have already attended a MIAM, or you have not attended a MIAM because one of the above situations applied to you, within the last 4 months; or
where you do not have contact details for the other party (your ex-partner), or they are in prison.
You must state whether one of the above situations applies to you in the form you must fill out if you are making an application to court to resolve a dispute about your child(ren) – this is called a C100 application form, and can be downloaded from www.justice.gov.uk.
What happens at mediation?
A trained person called a mediator will help you assess whether you can resolve your dispute without going to court.
You can choose to attend the MIAM with the other party (your ex-partner) or separately from them.