If you mention or have researched making an application to the family court you may well have been told “you have to go to mediation before you can go to court, its mandatory”. In actual fact the requirement is not to have attended mediation, this is a common fallacy, the requirement is only to have attended a special type of meeting called a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM). Find out more about the mediation requirement here.

Information about the mandatory mediation requirement for applications for Child Arrangements and related orders is spread out and often difficult to put together, meaning people are left with questions about the process and what they need to do. Our Ultimate Guide to Family Mediation hopes to address this.