London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Splitting parents face fine for refusing mediation

Splitting parents face fine for refusing mediation

Separating parents in England and Wales could face fines for refusing to try mediation under new proposals.

The government is set to make sessions mandatory and offer funding support in an effort to divert cases away from under-pressure family courts.

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said "lengthy and combative courtroom battles" were harmful for children.

But the Law Society said the plan could put victims of undetected coercive control in a vulnerable position.

The government has launched a consultation on the policy, which it hopes will help to deal with backlogs in the family courts system.

The policy will apply to separations where children are involved but the government is also looking more broadly at compulsory mediation for those without children, and how that could be funded.

Mediation, where couples can agree the practicalities of a split in the presence of an independent specialist, is already available as an option, but there is no requirement to engage with it prior to going to court.

Under the plans, judges will be able to order separating couples to make a "reasonable attempt" to agree matters such as child custody and financial arrangements in mediation, and will face fines "if they act unreasonably and harm a child's wellbeing by prolonging court proceedings".

The new rules, which apply to couples with children who are married or in civil partnerships, will exclude relationships where there has been domestic abuse.

But the Law Society, which represents solicitors in England and Wales, has warned the policy "risks sending people to mediation who should not be there".

Richard Miller, the organisation's head of justice, told the BBC mediation was "absolutely vital" in many cases, but in situations where there was an "imbalance of power", it could lead to "unjust outcomes".

He added: "Relationships where there is manipulation or coercive control can be very difficult to spot initially, and those on the receiving end of that sort of abuse might not even understand the extent to which they are being controlled themselves."

Dominic Raab said the plans would save the courts time and protect children


Women's Aid has said clarity is "urgently needed" to understand how the Ministry of Justice will ensure all domestic abuse survivors will be kept safe and allegations will be properly investigated.

The charity's head of policy, Lucy Hadley, said survivors "frequently fear they will be accused of parental alienation" if they raise domestic abuse.

"This lack of disclosure means the proposed exclusion of domestic abuse cases from mediation will not always work, and we fear that women will be re-traumatised by mediation with their perpetrators.

"If mediators don't have a thorough understanding of domestic abuse - or even know abuse is a factor in a case - these processes will ignore unequal power dynamics, exacerbating the abuse women experience and putting them at further risk", Ms Hadley added.

Mr Miller called on the government to reintroduce aid for early legal advice - which was cut from private family cases in 2012. That would make it easier for people to see a solicitor before any mediation in order to provide an extra safeguarding measure, he said.

It is common practice for an assessment to be held prior to mediation in order to determine suitability, and some couples may be referred to the court at that stage.

The consultation on the proposals is also expected to look at whether divorce should be funded under legal aid thresholds.

The Ministry of Justice believes mandatory mediation could help up to 19,000 families a year agree terms without going into the court system, which is dealing with huge backlogs made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the most recent data, almost 29,000 new divorce applications were made in the three months between July and September 2022, with demand increasing after the introduction of no-fault divorces last year.

Mr Raab, who recently backed higher sentences for domestic killers who have subjected their victims to coercive control, said it would free up judges to "ensure the most urgent cases involving domestic abuse survivors are heard by a court as quickly as possible."

The announcement was welcomed by the Family Mediation Council (FMC), which said it would help families avoid "the stress and delays of going to court".

Under the plans, sessions with a qualified mediator would be part-funded by the government with a voucher worth up to £500.

According to the FMC, its registered mediators charge an average of £140 per person per hour, but rates and the number of sessions needed vary.

A mediation funding scheme has already supported 15,300 families, the MoJ said, and will be expanded with an extra £15m of government money.

More than two thirds of the first 7,200 users to be supported by the scheme "reached whole or partial agreements away from court", according to the department.

A 12-week consultation on the plans began on Thursday and will close on 15 June.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
After 200,000 Orders in 2 Minutes: Xiaomi Accelerates Marketing in Europe
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×