Mediation and Financial Settlements

Financial mediation can help separating or divorcing couples reach a financial settlement.

At Fullers Family Law, we provide specialist family law advice and family mediation services to help you reach a financial settlement with your ex-partner as quickly and as cost-effectively as possible.

Initial Discussion

This summary provides general information and does not constitute legal advice on any individual circumstances.

For an initial discussion and a no-obligation quote, get in touch with us today by simply calling us on 01234 343134 or email us at enquiries@fullersfamilylaw.com and a member of our team will get back to you.

How Does Financial Settlement Mediation Work?

Family mediation can help you come to an agreement on splitting your finances on separation or divorce. If you have children, a family mediator can also help you resolve disputes around parenting arrangements.

Family mediation starts with individual pre-mediation meetings. That’s where you talk with a mediator to enable them to gather information to check that mediation is suitable for you. The mediator will also help to prepare you for mediation providing guidance on how to negotiate and the information you need to gather in advance of a first session. The session also allows you to ask questions about how the mediation process will work and to explain what you want out of mediation. For example, your priority may be to stay in the family home or to keep your business or pension.

You and your ex-partner will each attend separate pre-mediation meetings. If the mediator thinks mediation isn’t appropriate or one of you decides that you don’t want to mediate, the mediator will sign a form that can be used by your family solicitor if the decision is taken to start financial settlement court proceedings.

Mediation Sessions

If you and your ex-partner decide that family mediation is the best way forward then mediation sessions will be arranged. Each session can last up to two hours and the number of meetings required will depend on how things progress.

During financial mediation, there may be gaps between mediation sessions whilst you and your ex-husband or wife gather financial disclosure or while you are waiting to get a valuation of the family home, pensions or the family business.

If your assets are complicated, your mediator may suggest that other specialists join a mediation session such as the accountant who valued the family business, a pension expert, or an independent financial consultant. This is so you can ask questions about the valuation, finances or how options such as the sale or the transfer of shares in the business or a pension sharing order would work out in practice.

The mediator, and any expert, will help you look at all the options to achieve a financial settlement. In between the mediation sessions, it is important to talk to your family solicitor about the progress you are making at mediation.

Your family solicitor can offer you expert legal advice, whilst the mediator is impartial and can’t take sides in the mediation process.

Reaching a Financial Settlement in Mediation

If you reach a financial settlement in mediation your mediator will prepare a document called a memorandum of understanding (MOU). This document records the agreement but it is not binding on you or your ex-partner.

The next step is to discuss the MOU with your family solicitor to check that you are happy with the agreement and that you fully understand the legal implications of going ahead with the financial settlement.

The mediation document then needs to be converted into a binding financial court order. Your family solicitor will put the mediated agreement into the legal wording required for a court order and will then submit it to the court for approval.

There is normally no need to attend court to get the agreed order as the court will approve the order by letter or email and you will receive the sealed financial court order from the court.

Your family solicitor will then help implement the financial court order. For example, by sending a pension sharing order to a pension administrator or by helping sort out the transfer of the family home.

Mediation is often, cheaper, quicker and less stressful than settling disputes around finances in court.

Do you Need Help With Financial Settlement Mediation?

At Fullers Family Law, we understand that taking the first step in financial settlement mediation can be daunting. Our experienced mediator will help you and your ex-partner focus on what you both want and need from your financial settlement.

If you are using another mediator we can provide support and legal advice during the process so that you get the right outcome for you.

Jane-Louise Burrows