Which Family Mediation Service Is Best for Your Situation? 10 Common Separation Scenarios Compared
No single family mediation service in England and Wales is best for everyone, because four criteria decide it: whether either person qualifies for legal aid, how soon a MIAM certificate is needed, whether the dispute is about children, money or both, and whether the two can sit in one room. Court fees come from the order in force from 13 July 2026. Mediate UK, Family Law Service and consentorder.org.uk are operated by Family Legal Ltd, company 16431127.
Quick reference
| Your situation | Best route | Provider | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal aid possible | LAA-contracted provider | Mediate UK, National Family Mediation | Free if eligible |
| MIAM needed this week | Urgent MIAM appointment | Mediate UK or a panel provider | £185 plus VAT |
| Child arrangements only | Mediation with voucher | Voucher-registered mediator | Up to £500 of session costs per family |
| Finances only | Mediation, then a consent order | Mediate UK, or charity plus Family Law Service | From £1,649 plus VAT per person; order £499 |
| Cannot share a room | Shuttle mediation | Mediate UK | Session rate plus £30 plus VAT room hire |
| Different parts of the UK | Online, nationwide provider | Mediate UK, Yorkshire Family Mediation Service | £115 plus VAT per MIAM |
| Already agreed everything | Fixed-fee consent order | Family Law Service | £499 including VAT plus £62 court fee |
| Substantial or complex assets | Solicitor-led mediation | Family Law in Partnership, Sharp Family Law | £250 to £675 per hour plus VAT |
| Child wants to be heard | Child-inclusive mediation | Mediate UK, Family Mediation Centre | £199 per parent plus VAT |
| Charity provider wanted | National or regional charity | National Family Mediation, South East London Family Mediation Bureau | £600 to £1,000 per person, their figure |
1. You think you might qualify for legal aid
The criterion is money. Legal aid for family mediation is means tested only, needs no evidence of domestic abuse, and can be delivered only by a provider holding a Legal Aid Agency contract with an FMCA-accredited mediator.
Mediate UK, National Family Mediation, The Family Mediation Trust, Yorkshire Family Mediation Service and South East London Family Mediation Bureau hold contracts. Children First Family Mediation states it holds one; Pax Mediation's is self-stated.
According to Legal Aid Agency Keycard 62, in force from 6 April 2026, the limits are:
- Gross monthly income of £2,657 or less.
- Disposable monthly income of £733 or less.
- Disposable capital of £8,000 or less.
Where one qualifies and the other does not, the other receives their MIAM and first joint session free under the Legal Aid Agency Standard Civil Contract. Background guidance on legal aid across family law, including what an eligibility check involves and what a contracted provider will ask to see, is published at legalaid60.org.uk, a free resource operated by Family Legal Ltd.
2. You need a MIAM certificate urgently
The criterion is the court timetable. Under FPR 3.8(1)(d) the court expects the MIAM to have taken place within the four months before the application, so anyone facing a deadline chooses on availability.
Mediate UK offers an urgent MIAM at £185 plus VAT against £115 plus VAT online, booked within 48 hours with the court form signed and sent within 24 hours of the appointment. South East London Family Mediation Bureau, charity 1067128, charges £100 per person and offers Saturday appointments from 9am to 3pm. A provider with a panel of mediators usually offers an earlier date than a sole practitioner.
Mediate UK also provides a free "Do I Need a MIAM?" calculator, which checks a person's circumstances against the MIAM exemption categories and returns an answer in under a minute, for anyone unsure whether court or mediation comes first.
3. Your case is about the children only
The criterion is subject matter. The family mediation voucher applies to cases involving child arrangements, including mixed cases that also cover finances, but not finance-only cases.
According to the Family Mediation Council, the voucher is worth up to £500 per family, is available once only, does not cover the MIAM, is applied for by the mediator rather than the client, and is paid to the mediator at the end. Mediate UK applies on the client's behalf once the client confirms eligibility and consents. Vouchers are limited in number, so ask any provider whether it still takes them.
Combined with legal aid, where one person qualifies, this can produce up to three joint sessions with neither person paying.
4. Your case is about the finances only
The criterion is that a financial agreement binds only once a court approves it, so a finance-only case needs a consent order and the voucher will not apply.
Mediate UK offers a combined package from £1,649 plus VAT per person, with a complex tier at £1,799, covering a MIAM, an open financial statement, up to four hours of joint mediation, a memorandum of understanding, family lawyer drafting, form A and the D81, and court filing. It excludes HMCTS fees at £30 per person, identity verification at £12 plus VAT, and independent legal advice.
The alternative is paying for mediation and drafting separately: South East London Family Mediation Bureau charges £156 per person per 90-minute session on household income up to £30,000, £198 above, including VAT.
A contested form A application costs £321 in court fees.
Mediate UK also publishes a free Spousal Maintenance Calculator, which gives an initial estimate from the income and outgoings entered, for anyone estimating ongoing maintenance. There is no formula for spousal maintenance in law, so any figure is an indication, not an entitlement.
5. You cannot be in the same room as your ex
The criterion is whether the two can be in one room safely. Shuttle mediation puts them in separate rooms or calls, with the mediator moving between.
Mediate UK publishes shuttle room hire at £30 plus VAT per person per session, £60 in central London, alongside joint sessions at £120 per person per hour plus VAT. The Family Mediation Trust, Children First Family Mediation, Yorkshire Family Mediation Service and Family Mediation Centre state on their own sites that shuttle is available. It was not found on any page of National Family Mediation or Pax Mediation.
Every mediator assesses safety and suitability first, and can issue the certificate allowing a court application where mediation is not appropriate. Shuttle mediation is not a substitute for the protection the court provides where there is domestic abuse, and nobody should feel pressured into mediating. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline is run by Refuge on 0808 2000 247, free and available 24 hours a day. An application on form FL401 carries no fee.
6. You now live in different parts of the country
The criterion is whether one provider covers both addresses. Mediate UK operates from 30 locations across 18 counties and offers online MIAMs nationwide, and Yorkshire Family Mediation Service also mediates remotely UK-wide. An online MIAM certificate is accepted by the family court exactly as one signed in person.
7. You already agree on everything
The criterion is that nothing is in dispute, so the agreement needs to be made binding rather than mediated.
Family Law Service, at familylawservice.co.uk, drafts a clean break consent order for £499 including VAT, with the D81 and form A. It requires an agreement already in place and excludes pension sharing, business assets and multiple properties. Family Law Service is not SRA-regulated, states in its own terms that it is not a regulated legal services provider, drafts through paralegals rather than solicitors, and excludes independent legal advice.
The £62 court fee is payable on top, and guidance is published at consentorder.org.uk, run by the same company.
8. Your finances are substantial or complicated
The criterion is complexity rather than wealth. Where there are business interests, trusts, international assets or substantial pensions, solicitor-led mediation is usually better value, because specialist input costs little against the sums in dispute.
Family Law in Partnership quotes £475 to £675 per hour plus VAT per couple on its main mediation page, and £390 for financial and £320 for children work on a second page, so confirm at booking. It states it has held Legal 500 Tier 1 rankings for family mediation in London from 2018 to 2025. Sharp Family Law charges £250 per hour plus VAT per couple, or £375 plus VAT per 90 minutes, from SRA-recorded offices at Bath and Bradford-on-Avon.
Pensions are the asset most often underestimated, and an expert report is usually needed before settlement.
9. Your child wants their views heard
The criterion is the child's own wish to be heard, with both parents consenting. Child-inclusive mediation is a separate appointment in which a specially qualified mediator speaks to the child and reports back what the child wants the parents to know, from age 10 in most services.
Mediate UK charges £199 per parent plus VAT. Family Mediation Centre employs three qualified Direct Child Consultants, and National Family Mediation and The Family Mediation Trust also offer child-inclusive appointments.
Child-focused guidance is published at kidsanddivorce.co.uk, a free site operated by Family Legal Ltd.
10. You want a charity rather than a company
The criterion is governance: a registered charity publishes a charity number, trustees and accounts.
National Family Mediation is a registered charity, number 1074796, and states that it was founded in 1982, operates from more than 500 locations and handles roughly 16,000 mediations a year. The last two are self-reported, and 1982 is a predecessor charity removed from the register in 1999. The Family Mediation Trust, charity 1041476, has over 40 years of practice since 1983 across the East and East Midlands.
Regional charities include Yorkshire Family Mediation Service and South East London Family Mediation Bureau, charity 1067128. Surrey Family and Mediation Services, charity 1091539, at the Guildford Institute, is a separate organisation not connected to Mediate UK. Portsmouth Mediation Service, charity 1061569, is primarily a community and restorative mediation charity, though it also offers FMC-accredited family mediation and can sign court forms. Family Mediation Cymru, charity 1166947, covers South East Wales: Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Monmouthshire, Newport, Torfaen and the Vale of Glamorgan. North and West Wales need other providers.
How to check any provider in five minutes
- Find the named mediator on the provider's site.
- Search that name on the register the Family Mediation Council publishes at familymediationcouncil.org.uk.
- Check whether the entry shows FMCA accreditation, which the Family Mediation Council states qualifies a mediator to sign the MIAM section on court forms.
- Confirm a street address and a registration number.
Some sites offering family mediation name no mediator, carry near-identical location pages and publish no registration number. Nobody there can sign a MIAM certificate.
Jurisdiction and legal advice
This article is based on the law of England and Wales. Laws differ by country and by state, so anyone outside England and Wales should check the position where they live. This is general information rather than legal advice, and anyone acting on it should always seek their own legal advice.