agreement to mediate
The agreement sets out important information and terms about the mediation process.
Principles of family mediation
Voluntary
Mediation is voluntary. You choose to take part because you wish to resolve issues in need of settlement, without taking these issues to court if possible.
You have the right to end the mediation at any time, if you wish, although before doing so I hope you would be willing to explain your concerns in the hope that they could be addressed and resolved.
I also retain the right to end mediation if I consider that it would be more appropriate or helpful to do so.
I will strive to ensure that each of you comes into the mediation process able to negotiate without risk of threat or harm. If you have concerns about safety, intimidation or the freedom to speak, or if you experience a level of anxiety that makes it difficult for you to think clearly, please inform me immediately.
Impartial
I am impartial, and seek to help all participants equally and in an appropriate non-judgmental way, help both of you to communicate your concerns, ideas and proposals to each other. I do not make judgments or express opinions about who may be right or wrong or take sides. I take a neutral position on any joint decisions that you make.
I provide information that may be relevant to the discussions you are having in a neutral way I do not provide advice and will not seek to make decisions for you. It may be helpful or necessary for you to talk to an expert advisor outside of mediation to assist your decision making.
I cannot act as a mediator if I have prior knowledge of the situation through any previous involvement in any other professional role.
Self Determination
The choices and decisions remain yours at every stage. Whilst I remain in control of the process and seek to help you to explore proposals and arrangements in a way that meets the needs of all concerned, you are responsible for any decisions made.
Mediation Is Confidential (exceptions below)
The content of mediation is confidential, which means that you must not share any of these discussions with anyone else. It is especially important not to share anything on any form of social media or with any children or young people, unless this has been expressly agreed. I also have a professional duty of confidentiality subject to the exceptions below.
Any unauthorised recording of mediation on phones or other devices is not acceptable and is likely to lead to the termination of the process.
If relevant, I may provide you with a meeting summary following a meeting however, you may not ask to see any notes made by me during the session, which are a memory aid for, and belong to, me.
Discussions in mediation about proposals and possible terms of settlement are 'without prejudice’, which means they cannot be disclosed to the court, (except where you give your joint written consent; you must take legal advice before you give such consent.) If you are taking legal advice, a copy of your meeting summary can be shown to your solicitors to assist them in advising you.
At your request, at the end of mediation I can prepare final confidential documents of arrangements for your children and/or your proposals for settlement of financial and property matters. Mediation documents are prepared on a ‘without prejudice’ basis.
Exceptions to Confidentiality
Whenever an allegation is made within a mediation that someone (particularly a child) is at risk of harm I have a duty to contact the appropriate authorities with or without your permission. If I make such a referral, mediation will be terminated.
In common with all other relevant professionals, I may be required to disclose to the appropriate government authority information regarding any relevant, previously undisclosed, criminal offence. I may also be under a linked obligation to make such disclosure without informing you and may have to discontinue the meeting without further notice.
Exceptionally, I may disclose personal data in connection with the alleged or established commission of an unlawful act.
I am a ‘processor’ of personal data for the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation. You consent to me processing your personal data for the purposes of this Agreement to Mediate (this is part of your contract with me). You understand that this includes me retaining and storing your personal data for as long as is necessary in connection with this Agreement. I may retain data for research and statistical purposes but on the understanding that if used for this purpose all identifying details will have been removed.
Property and Finance and mediation
The role of mediation is to help you identify the financial resources you have (assets and liabilities, income and expenditure); identify what your objectives are consider how you can meet those objectives with the resources that you have. The exact level of detail may vary depending on whether you are married (family law) or cohabiting (trusts of land and appointment of trustees act).
During mediation for financial matters, you agree:
To make a complete and accurate disclosure of your finances and provide all supporting documentation to each other.
Not to dispose of any assets except where necessary to cover day-to-day living expenses.
You will not make any further charges to any charge account that you are both legally responsible for, unless mutually agreed upon.
I am unable to facilitate mediation if either of you refuse to share factual (and especially financial) information that is relevant to the choices that you need to make in mediation.
This means the financial disclosure spreadsheet that you may be asked to complete, and any supporting documents, will always be shared with the other participant on a reciprocal basis or by me in certain circumstances.
I do not check the completeness and accuracy of the information provided. You will be asked to sign and date an open financial statement confirming that you have made full disclosure; if it later emerges that full disclosure has not been made, any agreement based on incomplete information can be set aside and the issues re-opened. You may also be charged with committing contempt of court.
Your financial statement is provided on an 'open' basis, which means that it is available to your legal advisers and can be referred to in court, either in support of an application made with your joint consent or in contested proceedings. This avoids the information having to be provided twice.
Children, Young People and Mediation
The role of mediation is to help parents to make arrangements for their children following separation and divorce. It is important that decisions about future parenting are made by you as you are the ones who know your children best. You are encouraged to consider all the implications of the arrangements you propose to make for your children.
I have an obligation to assist you to focus on your parental responsibility to develop arrangements that are most likely to meet the children's needs, interests, relationships and well-being, now and in the future.
As part of the mediation process children over the age of 10 have the opportunity to talk to an independent consultant. This is called child inclusive mediation. This will allow your child to give their views on the proposals and arrangements you are talking about in mediation. Children should not feel they need to take sides, especially if there is a difference of opinion between the parents.
When parents are disagreeing about how to share their parenting, the voice of the child is sometimes not heard very clearly, as the adults may be preoccupied. This is an independent way of getting the voice of the child into the room.
The consultant will not be asking your child to make decisions about what they want or who they may wish to live with, as this is for both of you to decide. However, it does give your child the opportunity to voice any worries, views or thoughts they might have on the proposals you are making.
The consultant will only see your child if you both consent in writing. If your child doesn’t want to see the consultant, they can say no. Both of you will know when the appointment is and the consultant will have talked to both of you about ways to prepare your child for this meeting.
The meeting with your child is confidential and at the end of the meeting your child and the consultant will agree what, if anything, can be fed back to you. The consultant will talk to your child about the limits of confidentiality, which are the same as the limits for you in the mediation process.
If there are siblings, they can be seen together or separately.
You will have agreed to a further meeting with me to hear from the consultant (who will stay for the first part of the meeting). You then have the opportunity to take account of the comments and views of your child and help you make decisions which suit everyone the best.
Sometimes the information that the consultant feeds back is difficult for parents to hear and sometimes it is unexpected. It may be that you are given feedback separately. Parents need to prepare for this and the consultant will talk to you about it beforehand.
Online Mediation
Where sessions are conducted online you each agree to the following conditions, namely that:
No one other than you will be present in the room being used by you during any online video mediation session unless this has been agreed in advance
You will ensure that you have a sufficient internet speed, or the meeting may be terminated
You will not be overheard from where you will be participating in the meeting
You will have done all that you can to ensure that you are not interrupted during the session (e.g., by children, relatives, pets or deliveries)
You will have turned off or put to silent any phones, tablets or computers, and have disabled any alerts, announcements or notifications of texts, emails, tweets or other social media activity, and closed all or any other open applications
Number of meetings
The exact number of mediation sessions you have may depend on a number of different things, such as how many issues you need to discuss or how complex matters are but the table below can be used as a guide for the average number of sessions people typically have.
Child/ren arrangements: 1-3 sessions
Property/Financial matters: 2-3 sessions
Children and property/financial matters: 3-5 sessions
Fees
All fees are per person and paid for in advance.
MIAM: Up to 60 minutes: £100
Joint meeting: Up to 120 minutes: £150
Child consultation (Includes a preparatory phone call with each parent, meeting with the child/ren and feedback to the parents): £150
Statement of child arrangements: £50
Open financial statement: £100
Memorandum of understanding: £150
Fees are not negotiable and are not refunded in part if a meeting finishes early.
The voucher scheme
The Ministry of Justice are offering financial support for family mediation where a substantial amount of the discussions taking place are concerned with arrangements for the care and welfare of children.
The voucher is a one off fixed payment of up to £500 (or £250 per person) and is to go towards the cost of using an accredited family mediator. It is not means tested. I claim any voucher fee on your behalf and there are some forms you will need to complete to enable this.
The voucher contributes towards the costs of joint mediation sessions only. It cannot be used to cover the costs of the MIAM.
Payment terms and cancellations
Meetings are provisionally offered and confirmed on receipt of payment.
All meetings must be paid for within 48 hours of being booked, otherwise they will be cancelled.
After cancellation, alternative dates will only be offered and re-booked once payment has been received.
The full fee is payable for any meeting cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice.
Documentation is only produced when paid for by both of you. If one person does not pay the other will be refunded and no documents will be produced.
Changes to documentation
Should you find a factual error, please let me know and I will amend it.
If you wish to change the agreement after mediation has concluded, each of you should send an email containing the amendments and confirming you agree to them.
If you cannot agree on any changes, you must return to mediation.
If mediation breaks down and a court form is required, with relevant sections completed and signed by me, there is an administration fee of £50.
Communications between meetings
It is important that you understand that the only communications that I have with you between sessions will be for administrative purposes.
All emails should include both parties once mediation commences. Any reply from me to an email sent by one party, will automatically include the second party unless there is a previously disclosed legal or safeguarding restriction in place. It may otherwise be returned unread with a request that the other party is included.
I am not permitted to mediate through e-mails, telephone calls or other correspondence. The negotiations that we conduct are undertaken by us in the mediation room only, which includes a virtual meeting room. This rule is important both to ensure transparency and impartiality.
Court proceedings
Should matters go to court to be resolved, you agree that you will not call me as a witness, nor require me to produce in evidence, records or notes relating to the mediation, in any litigation or other formal or informal legal process arising from or in connection with the issues being considered in this mediation, nor will I act or agree to act as a witness, expert or consultant in any such processes.
If any party does make such an application, that party will fully indemnify me in respect of any costs, including legal costs, incurred in resisting or responding to such an application, including reimbursement at a standard hourly rate of £120 for the time spent by me in resisting and/or responding to such an application.
If the court has made an order requiring me to attend/give evidence/disclose documents then the parties will be jointly and severally liable for my costs, fees and expenses.
Professional Standards, concerns and complaints
Mediation meetings are conducted in accordance with the Family Mediation Council Code of Practice.
I approach complaints within the values and ethos of mediation. I welcome feedback and seek to learn from it for the benefit of all those involved. It is my intention to consistently work in accordance with the core principles of mediation: that it is voluntary; that I act impartially; that discussions are confidential, unless an exemption applies; and that decision-making lies solely with the clients. It is my intention to always be courteous, understanding and professional.
The complaints procedure allows a client, a former client or a qualifying third party to make a complaint that relates to breaches of the family mediation council (FMC) code of practice or standards framework, which can be found here.
https://www.familymediationcouncil.org.uk/us/code-practice
Complaints must be made within three months from the date of the last mediation session. If a formal complaint is made during the mediation process mediation will be terminated.
Where a third party is involved in a complaint, confidential information will not be disclosed to them.
Complaints are not considered where:
· A potential participant has been contacted for a MIAM
· A potential participant has not been contacted for a MIAM and a court form has been issued to the other participant
· They appear personal or vexatious or are offensive in the way they are made
Complaints process
Informal stage:
Please contact me and raise your concern. I will do my best to resolve things informally and as quickly as possible.
Formal stage:
If you don’t feel that your complaint has been satisfactorily resolved at the informal stage, you may hand it over to the independent complaint’s handler, who will contact you within 24 hours of receiving your email. His contact details are included in the complaints procedure.
Appeal stage:
This is where the family mediation standards board (FMSB) will take over your complaint. The FMSB can take complaints about breaches of the FMC code of practice if you have completed the steps above and matters remain unresolved.
https://www.familymediationcouncil.org.uk/complaints-about-mediators/
Privacy
It is my job to keep your personal data safe, so that you know you are in safe hands. I will never share your data with anyone unless you both say I can; where I am required to do so and as set out below.
Only information necessary to deliver the family mediation service is collected, used and shared as necessary
Data is held on a single secure computer and secure back up
Communications are in writing using iCloud email or via royal mail; in face-to-face meetings in suitable venues or in online video conferencing (zoom) and by mobile and landline networks
Signed court forms confirming MIAM/mediation attendance are provided on request and may be shared with a client’s solicitor and with the family court
Data is shared with my professional practice consultant
The case file is shared with the relevant complaints handler if a complaint is being investigated
Data is shared with the family mediation voucher scheme at the request of clients, when applying for and processing ministry of justice funding for mediation
Data is shared with the relevant statutory authorities where there is a risk of serious harm to a child or an adult
Data is shared with the relevant agencies when required to do so under the proceeds of crime act
Data is shared with the court if ordered to do so
Data is retained for as long as it is required and thereafter is deleted from electronic records or shredded.
Clients have the right to be forgotten and their records deleted.
Any breeches of data protection are recorded and reported immediately in line with GDPR
Retention of documents: when destroyed
MIAM: 9 months after case closed
Session Summary: 9 months after case closed
Child Consultation: After feedback is provided
Statement of child arrangements: 2 years after case closed
Open financial statement: 2 years after case closed
Memorandum of understanding: 2 years after case closed