Court documents and mediation. Some might say that, in divorce mediation these terms should not be used in the same sentence, but there is more to it than meets the eye. The current protocol in place is that any couple wishing to make an application to the court in regards to either asking for a Financial Remedy Order (asking the court to make a decision for you regarding who gets what in a financial settlement as opposed to working it out yourselves), or making an order to contact arrangements (asking the court to decide a structure for co-parenting and telling you when and where the children will spend their time) first needs to attempt mediation. At a minimum, the requirement is that the person who is making the application to the court attend a Mediation Information Assessment Meeting (MIAM) and check out whether mediation might be a suitable option for making these arrangements rather than just heading straight off to a judge to make these decisions for you.
Once you’ve done this (attended a MIAM), you are then entitled to a signed document from your mediator enabling you to make this application (remember, only Family Mediation Council Accredited mediators such as we have at New Landscape Mediation can do this for you).
There are two of these documents, one for financial matters (The Form A), and one for children’s arrangements (The C100). Your FMC Accredited mediator can sign these for you upon request. Of course, if a couple are going to attempt to mediate, then these forms should not be requested, nor submitted to the court unless, or until it has been proven that mediated agreement is not possible in your case. Of course, the majority of our clients do not need a Form A, or a C100 to submit an application to the court and instead we prepare an outcome document describing in detail the solution they’ve successfully mediated. For these clients, this successful solution is presented to the court for the production of a Consent Order, making the entire thing legally binding.
At New Landscape Mediation, we understand that mediation is, at the end of the day, is a parallel legal process. It is designed to take the place of lengthy and costly court battles, but we still work closely with our client’s solicitors and the courts to ensure that at all times, everything we do for our clients falls within the larger, legal umbrella under which we work.
If you would like more information about the link between Court Documents and mediation, and how this process can save you time and money. Please contact our offices on 01279 211 657 for a fully confidential, no obligation discussion of your needs.