About Mediation

Hampshire Family Mediation can help if you are:

  • bullet pointA separating married/civil partnership couple (with or without children), whether seeking a divorce or not
  • bullet pointSeparating co-habitees (with or without children)
  • bullet pointParents – before or after separation
  • bullet pointTeenage parents, and parents of teenagers
  • bullet pointGrandparents
  • bullet pointParents and Adult Children
  • bullet pointOther members of the extended family where communication and/or relationship difficulties are problematic

    • Child Issues

    The mediator works with parents to help them to make decisions about their continuing roles as parents.  The mediator helps the parents to focus on their children’s needs rather than their own personal preferences. 

    Decisions might include:

  • bullet pointAgreeing where and with whom the children shall live
  • bullet pointParenting agreements covering things such as the children’s education, holidays, medical issues, religious matters  etc
  • bullet pointArrangements for the children to see/stay with the non-resident parent, and perhaps with other family members, eg grandparents
  • bullet pointParental Responsibility

Married parents automatically have parental responsibility for their child/ren, as do all mothers. Fathers who have not been married to the mother of their child/ren can acquire parental responsibility by agreement or application to court.

[A Parenting Plan booklet and guides for children and young people whose parents are separating are available.  Please ask your mediator or contact Hampshire Family Mediation’s office directly.]

Consultation With Children

Separation can be as traumatic for the children involved as for the parents.  We aim to make the transition to a different way of life as trouble-free as possible.  We want to involve them in your decisions without taking those decisions away from you.

Most mediations involve decisions about children.  With your consent HFM mediators are able to consult directly with children during the mediation process.

The children are given the chance to express their views about what is happening, and their aspirations for the future.

With information from the children, parents are able to take their views into account when making decisions that will have a significant impact on their lives.

Most families who go through child consultation find it reassuring and helpful, and the children in particular feel recognised and valued, and secure in their parents’ choices.

Finance And Property Issues

HFM mediators assist former spouses or partners to make a full disclosure of their finances, valued and set out in a manner acceptable to a court, and then to agree they will be shared.

The mediator will:

  • bullet pointguide you through the financial web that you created when your financial arrangements were closely linked to one another’s, or you were financially dependent on one another.
  • bullet pointhelp you to identify your assets, liabilities, income and expenditure
  • bullet pointuse this information help to explore the options available you and the likely consequences of each
  • bullet pointhelp you to negotiate and agree proposals with one another for sharing your finances in a way that could be regarded as fair.

These proposals will include your family home, your mortgage, any other properties, endowments and other assurances, bank and savings accounts, vehicles, shares, valuable items, businesses and pensions.

Mediation will include an explanation of the role of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (formerly Child Support Agency).  The mediator is able to assist you in reaching a voluntary agreement for paying child maintenance.

All Issues Mediation (AIM)

AIM is a combination of the Child and Finance & Property issues mediation detailed above.

Agreement/Memorandum Of Understanding

Any agreement you reach will be written up in a document known as a Memorandum of Understanding.  Commonly this document is used by a solicitor to draft up a ‘Consent Order’ for the court:  This finalises matters, and makes them legally binding.

Mediation is the best way to reach proposals when you are separating:  your agreement is not legally binding; a Court Order is legally binding.

Other Family Mediation

Mediators work with adults on restoring communication where this has broken down: recent examples include sister-sister and grandparent-grandchild as well as parent-child.  All other family relationships can be supported with mediation, where appropriate.

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