Can I get legal aid for family mediation?

Legal Aid is provided by the government to cover the cost of family mediation services for families in dispute.

It is means-tested. So you have to provide evidence of your current financial circumstances to prove you’re entitled to receive it. If you are eligible, Legal Aid will cover all your individual mediation costs. It will also cover costs of the initial appointment and first mediation meeting for the other person, if they’re not eligible in their own right.

Eligibility for Legal Aid also enables you to get legal aid for legal costs, up to a cost limit.

You must be eligible based on the financial assessment and your case must be capable of giving rise to family proceedings. This doesn’t mean that going to court is imminent, just that a judgement would be possible if agreement can’t be reached by other means.

Family proceedings include things like where the children will live, how they spend time with each parent or other family members. It can also include specific issues that parents may disagree about such as which school the children will go to or whether they can go abroad on holiday.

Financial matters are also included, such as child maintenance, what happens to the family home and completion of the financial disclosure required for divorce.

Many people don’t realise that legal aid is available for family mediation or assume that it is only available for people who are not working.

If you are on a low income, regardless of whether you are working or not, or if your financial circumstances have changed because of your separation (for instance you are paying a lot of child or spousal maintenance) then it could be worth asking for an assessment.

You will need to provide recent evidence about your household income, including your new partner’s income if you live together. A copy is kept on your mediation file and originals returned to you. Typical examples of the evidence needed include:

• Universal Credit statement or other benefit letters
• Bank statements
• Payslips
• Self-employed business accounts and tax return

You will also be asked about savings, investments and property ownership but will not generally need to provide documentary evidence unless your financial circumstances are unusual or complicated.

Help with Family Mediation is a separate service provided by a solicitor to support the family mediation process. It is limited funding for legal advice and assistance in making mediated agreements legally binding. You will need to have attended at least one mediation session and concluded mediation within 4 months of applying for Help with Mediation. Your mediator will be able to provide you with more information.

Having experienced the devastating effect of her sister’s acrimonious divorce two years earlier, Maria, decided mediation was worth investigating when she and her partner Levi, separated, if only for the sake of their children – 8-year-old Isabella and 10-year-old Cora. Friends had also recommended the process.

“We were all emotionally drained by my sister’s divorce,” says Maria. “There were long drawn out legal proceedings, spiteful behaviour, backbiting, traumatised children and a massive legal bill at the end of it all.  We’re a close-knit family but my sister’s divorce caused enormous divisions within the wider family. We knew we had to have the courage to try an alternative for our own children once we realised our relationship was over.

“We were in a real mess to begin with” acknowledges Levi, “but we stuck it out. Now, we’ve both come to terms with the future and the children know we’re there for them. I wouldn’t have believed we could achieve so much in such a short time.”

After a short series of mediation sessions, Maria and Levi made agreements about family finances, including the mortgage they had taken on their three-bedroomed terrace Midlands home, and what would happen to the modest savings they had managed to make during their time together.

They also found a way to agree that both would be able to spend good quality time with Isabella and Cora.

“Our mediator was so professional and so calm,” added Levi. “It seemed to us like there was a massive amount that we had to sort out but the mediator was experienced and she helped us sort out all the issues we had to deal with like mortgages and pensions.

“Most importantly she helped us come to an agreement about our children’s future and the kids seem much happier now they have accepted life has changed, but mum and dad are still both there for them.”

This is a real case study from our trained mediators, though names have been changed to protect identities