The Cost of Family Mediation: is it a cheap divorce?

One of the main reasons that one or both parties in a divorce is reluctant to commit to spending money on family mediation is the fact that, unless you qualify for legal aid mediation (which is becoming much harder to qualify for), there will inevitably be some costs involved in the process. The level of these costs will very much depend upon your particular situation (including the level of financial complexity and the willingness/readiness of both parties to come to an agreement about all the issues being discussed) and upon the costs of the mediation service itself but it is likely to cost somewhere between £500 and £1,500 per person.

If the parties are then trying to minimise any additional costs that would be incurred on top of the mediation process then they can carry out the divorce process themselves (i.e. just pay the court fees which will total about £400) and use the services of a solicitor for particular pieces of advice as well as to take any legal steps that might be required to turn the mediation agreement relating to finances into a legally binding consent order. It is perfectly possible, if instructing the right solicitor, that this will allow each party to spend a similar £500 to £1,500 on court costs and legal fees in parallel with the mediation process (although it is important to note that some clients are likely to benefit from specialist financial advice, including in relation to pensions).

In other words, for a total of somewhere between £1,000 and £3,000 per person, it is likely to be possible to take most clients all the way through the divorce process, right from agreeing who is going to divorce who up to the stage of a legally binding financial settlement.

Understandably, the temptation for anyone who is trying to save money, especially when the separation itself is likely to have added to the strain on finances, is to believe that it is possible to avoid even the mediation costs. However, unless both parties find themselves in a very straightforward divorce situation where they have no children and no significant assets (including pensions and the family home) then it would in the vast majority of cases be a classic case of risking losing a lot more money in the long-term by trying to save money in the short-term.

Firstly, as anyone who has been through a divorce via the conventional route of using solicitors and, if necessary, the courts, to reach agreements about divorce, finances and children, will know, it can be an eye-wateringly expensive process. Even the most amicable divorce process is likely to cost £5,000+ per person, with this soon passing the £10,000 mark if there is any contention in the process and rushing up towards £20,000 and well beyond this if court intervention is required.

On the other end of the spectrum there are the people who decide to sit around the kitchen table and resolve all of the issues amongst themselves. As admirable as this may seem, there are several serious pitfalls to this process:

– There is a high likelihood that a lot of important legal and financial issues will not be properly covered which could ultimately prove to be very expensive in the future to both parties, especially if no legally binding order relating to pensions, debts, properties and future maintenance payments is made via solicitors at the end of the informal “settlement” process. Even if your solicitors are willing to prepare a legally binding order on the basis that they have not seen all the necessary financial information (whereas going through the mediation process would cover all of the aspects of full financial disclosure) there is a still a significant chance the court will refuse to stamp any order until full disclosure has taken place, which will in turn greatly add to legal expenses at this late stage.

– It is often the case that one spouse has a far greater awareness of the finances than the other one and this opens up the very real possibility that an unfair “settlement” is reached, with the position worsening if the one spouse is able to dominate the discussions.

– On many occasions, either during the informal discussions or several years later (e.g. when a new partner or children come on the scene), the “settlement” will break down and, as it is likely that it was never made legally binding, this will open up the potential for an unpleasant and expensive legal battle as the respective parties attempt to renegotiate the original terms of the “settlement”.

Ultimately, it is up to both spouses to decide how they want to proceed with the divorce, but unless both parties are prepared to either enter into an informal agreement with their eyes open about the many pitfalls that this could lead to in the future or are prepared to pay whatever it takes to sort out the various issues via solicitors and the courts, then it is very likely that family mediation will be the most sensible way for both parties to resolve all the issues.

At the very least, I would suggest that anyone considering a divorce, or indeed any other major family law issue, should spend a few minutes discussing their situation with a qualified family mediator. At Godalming Family Mediation, we offer a free initial consultation and any other reputable mediator should be prepared to do the same.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and I look forward to reading your comments.

Euan Davidson

Family mediator

Godalming Family Mediation