If you want to apply to the family court in England and Wales over a children or financial dispute, you almost certainly need to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting first. This is the MIAM requirement: a short session with an authorised mediator who explains out-of-court options and assesses whether your case could be resolved without a judge. The meeting usually costs around £120, legal aid and a government voucher can reduce or cover that, and skipping it without a valid exemption will stall your case before it starts.
Who Has to Attend a MIAM
The requirement covers two kinds of private family applications. The first is children matters: Child Arrangements Orders (where a child lives and how much time they spend with each parent), Prohibited Steps Orders (stopping a parent from doing something such as taking a child abroad), and Specific Issue Orders (resolving disagreements over schooling, medical treatment, or religious upbringing).1Ministry of Justice. Practice Direction 3A – Family Mediation Information and Assessment Meetings (MIAMs) and Non-Court Dispute Resolution The second is financial remedy applications, which deal with dividing assets, pensions, and maintenance during divorce or civil partnership dissolution.2Ministry of Justice. Family Procedure Rules – Part 3
It is the person making the application who must attend. The other party does not have to go to a MIAM before proceedings start, though a court can direct either or both of you to attend one once the case is running.
Some situations fall outside the rule entirely. Public law children cases brought by a local authority, such as care or supervision proceedings, are not covered. Nor are applications for a consent order that both parties have already agreed to, or cases where the child is already the subject of emergency protection, care, or supervision proceedings.1Ministry of Justice. Practice Direction 3A – Family Mediation Information and Assessment Meetings (MIAMs) and Non-Court Dispute Resolution
When You Can Skip the MIAM
Rule 3.8 of the Family Procedure Rules lists the exemptions that let you apply to court without attending a MIAM.3Legislation.gov.uk. The Family Procedure Rules 2010 – Rule 3.8 Claiming one is not the same as having it accepted. At the allocation stage, or at the first hearing in a financial remedy case, the court will check whether the exemption was valid and whether it still applies. If it wasn’t, the court can adjourn and send you to a MIAM before anything else happens.4Legislation.gov.uk. The Family Procedure Rules 2010 – Rule 3.10
Domestic Abuse
Domestic abuse is the most commonly claimed exemption, but a general statement is not enough on its own. You need documentary evidence from one of the categories listed in Practice Direction 3A, which include:1Ministry of Justice. Practice Direction 3A – Family Mediation Information and Assessment Meetings (MIAMs) and Non-Court Dispute Resolution
- Evidence of an arrest, police caution, ongoing criminal proceedings, or a conviction for a domestic abuse offence
- A protective injunction such as a non-molestation order, a domestic abuse protection notice, or a bind-over order connected to a domestic abuse offence
- A finding of fact in UK proceedings that domestic abuse occurred
- A letter from a doctor or other health professional confirming injuries or a condition consistent with being a victim of domestic abuse, or confirming a referral to a specialist service
- A letter from an independent domestic violence advisor (IDVA), independent sexual violence advisor (ISVA), or a member of a multi-agency risk assessment conference (MARAC)
The list in the Practice Direction is wider than this, but these are the forms most people will have access to.
Other Exemptions
Beyond domestic abuse, you can also claim an exemption if:3Legislation.gov.uk. The Family Procedure Rules 2010 – Rule 3.8
- The child who would be the subject of the application is under a Section 47 enquiry or on a child protection plan
- There is a genuine risk to the life, liberty, or physical safety of you or your child that requires an immediate application
- You attended a MIAM in the four months before the application for the same or substantially the same dispute
- You have contacted authorised mediators within fifteen miles of your home (five of them, if five or more have offices in that radius) and none can see you
- A disability or similar condition prevents you from attending and no authorised mediator within fifteen miles can offer appropriate facilities
- In a financial remedy case, one party is bankrupt
- The application relates to a risk of unlawful removal of a child from the UK
Finding a Mediator and Preparing for the Meeting
Only mediators on the Family Mediation Council (FMC) register can sign the court form confirming your MIAM attendance, so start there.5Family Mediation Council. FMC Register Search Appointments are usually available within a week or two, and the meeting can take place in person, by video call, or by telephone.
Have the other party’s contact details ready so the mediator can approach them if mediation goes ahead. Jot down what you disagree about, whether that’s living arrangements, holiday schedules, or the division of property. A few bullet points is enough. If you think you might qualify for legal aid, bring proof of your household income and any benefit entitlements so the mediator can assess you on the spot.
What Happens During the Meeting
A MIAM is private, usually 30 to 45 minutes long, and the other party is not in the room. They may be invited to their own MIAM separately. The mediator explains how mediation works, including options like shuttle mediation (where you and the other party stay in separate rooms) and joint sessions, and mentions alternatives such as collaborative law and arbitration.
The mediator’s job is to assess whether mediation is appropriate. That means looking at whether both of you could negotiate on roughly equal footing and whether there are safety concerns such as coercion or intimidation. The mediator stays impartial throughout. If signs of domination or risk emerge, they can conclude mediation isn’t suitable.
Three outcomes are possible at the end. If mediation looks viable and both parties agree, you move into full sessions. If it isn’t appropriate, or the other party refuses to take part, the mediator signs the court form so you can proceed with your application. If more information is needed, a follow-up may be arranged.
Costs, Legal Aid, and the Voucher Scheme
Paying privately, expect roughly £85 to £180 for the MIAM, with online sessions at the lower end.
Legal aid covers both the MIAM and any subsequent mediation sessions for those who qualify financially. Eligibility is tested against gross and disposable monthly income and disposable capital, with automatic passporting for people on certain benefits including Income Support, Income-Based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income-Related Employment and Support Allowance, Guarantee Credit, and Universal Credit.6GOV.UK. Eligibility Keycard Family mediation under legal aid is non-contributory, so you pay nothing towards the cost even if you are above the lowest thresholds.
The government’s Family Mediation Voucher Scheme offers a one-off contribution of up to £500 per family towards mediation sessions (not the MIAM itself). It is open where the dispute involves a child, or where it involves family finances alongside a children dispute. Mediation has to be with an FMC-authorised mediator, and a MIAM must have taken place on or after 26 March 2021. Vouchers are limited and go on a first-come basis, and you can’t claim a second voucher for a later case.7Family Mediation Council. Family Mediation Voucher Scheme You can get a voucher even if you qualify for legal aid, and where only one party qualifies for legal aid, the other can still apply for the voucher.
After the MIAM
If mediation isn’t suitable or the other party won’t engage, the mediator confirms that on the court form and you can file your application. For children applications under Section 8 of the Children Act 1989, the C100 form includes a section for the mediator to record the outcome.8GOV.UK. Apply for a Court Order to Make Arrangements for a Child or Resolve a Dispute About Their Upbringing – Form C100 For other children applications on forms C1 or C2, the mediator completes a separate FM1 form.9GOV.UK. Confirm if You Have Attended a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting – Form FM1 Financial remedy applications use Form A. The court will not process any of them without evidence of MIAM attendance or a valid exemption.
If mediation succeeds, the mediator usually prepares a written summary of what was agreed. That document is not legally binding on its own. To give it the force of a court order, you apply for a consent order, which a judge then approves. This matters particularly for financial agreements, where an informal document leaves either party free to apply to court for a different outcome later.
What Happens If You Skip the MIAM
Courts have taken the requirement more seriously since April 2024. If you file without attending a MIAM and your claimed exemption doesn’t hold up, the court will adjourn and direct you to attend one before the case moves on.4Legislation.gov.uk. The Family Procedure Rules 2010 – Rule 3.10 You lose weeks, sometimes longer.
Even once proceedings are underway, under FPR Rule 3.4 the court can adjourn to encourage non-court dispute resolution without needing the parties’ consent.2Ministry of Justice. Family Procedure Rules – Part 3 A judge who thinks mediation could resolve matters can effectively pause your case and send you to try it.
The costs rules carry the real sting. The usual starting point in family proceedings is that each party pays their own legal costs. Under FPR Rule 28.3(7), a failure without good reason to attend a MIAM or to engage in non-court dispute resolution is now an explicit factor the court weighs when deciding whether to depart from that starting point.1Ministry of Justice. Practice Direction 3A – Family Mediation Information and Assessment Meetings (MIAMs) and Non-Court Dispute Resolution Refuse mediation without a good reason and go on to a contested hearing, and you can be ordered to pay the other side’s legal costs on top of your own. Against that risk, the £120 MIAM fee is a small bill.