Information & Assessment Meeting

If you are thinking about mediating and want to find out more about it and whether it is the right way forward for you, then the best way is to attend Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM).

You will attend the MIAM on your own. This gives you the opportunity to meet with a mediator to talk about the issues relating to your dispute. The mediator will explain the mediation process and answer any questions that you may have. You will find out how many sessions you may need and how long the mediation may last based upon your particular circumstances.

Together with the mediator, you will be able to decide whether mediation is suitable for you.

We can also assess whether you qualify for Legal aid at this meeting and if you do not, we can tell you how much the mediation is likely to cost.

If you want to be assessed for Legal Aid before your meeting, you can telephone us or use the Legal Aid Calculator.

If you decide that you would like to try mediation, and have attended a meeting on your own, then we invite the other person to attend an information and assessment meeting also.

If you are both willing to mediate, then we will arrange your first mediation session at a time convenient to you both.

The cost of the Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting is £100 unless you qualify for legal aid, in which case the meeting will be free of charge.

Under The Children and Families Act 2014, there is a legal requirement that most separating or divorcing couples, or those with a dispute about finances or children, will attend a Mediation information and Assessment Meeting - called a MIAM, to consider whether mediation would be an appropriate way of resolving their disputes, before making an application for a court order.

If you are not the applicant, but the respondent, i.e. ‘the other person’, to the application, there is an expectation that you will attend a meeting also.

If mediation is not going ahead after you have attended your MIAM, and you decide that you are going to issue court proceedings to sort things out, then unless you can show that certain exemptions apply, you will need the mediator to sign either the court application itself or a form called an FM1, to show that you have attended a MIAM. Which of these forms you need depends on the type of application that you are making. The mediator will usually give you more information relevant to you and your circumstances during your MIAM.