21/02/2025

Do I still have to pay Child Maintenance if I am paying towards the mortgage on the property where my child is living?

The rules about Child Maintenance – as in how much the parent who the child doesn’t live with pays each month to the parent the child does live with – can be incredibly complicated and highly contentious. The main point of contact for all issues relating to the financial support of a child is the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) who were formerly known as the Child Support Agency (CSA). They are a Government body and are able to make decisions and enforce payments in the vast majority of cases.

The first step is for the CMS to calculate a percentage of the income of the person the children don’t live to be paid to the parent they do live with and from that, they deduct an amount for each night the children spend with the parent they don’t live with. Parents can either work this out using the CMS online calculator OR can ask the CMS to do an official calculation for a small fee. Additional they can ‘collect’ from one parent and ‘pay’ to the other parent for a higher fee.

Once this calculation has been done, either party can ask the CMS to consider a variation. Some situations where a variation might be considered are:

• If the paying parent is still contributing towards the mortgage or rent on the property the child and the receiving parent are living in.
• If the paying parent is incurring substantial costs in maintaining contact with the child.
• If the paying parent is paying off family debts
• If the paying parent is paying school fees.

Or, from the perspective of the receiving parent:

• To take into account ‘unearned’ income eg rent received, interest on investments
• To investigate income that is being ‘diverted’ eg excessive pension contributions, paid to a family member, company assets being used for personal expenses.

In case of a dispute that the CMS can’t resolve, either party can appeal to the First-tier tribunal. Alternatively, the parties can try mediation where they can both be honest and transparent about their income, their outgoings and the children’s costs and try to come up with a fair solution. The issue of the financial support of a child is a highly emotive one which brings up some strong feelings on both sides and a skilled mediator can help manage that conversation.

17/02/2025

I am a Grandparent. Can I use mediation to see my grandchildren?

It is unfortunately quite common that, when there is a family breakdown, the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is affected. Grandparents may have been drawn into the conflict between the parents or they just may be viewed by one parent as now ‘on the other side’. The sad consequence of this can be an estrangement between the adults which has a knock-on effect on the children.

Research shows however that grandparents can represent consistency and stability for children which can be especially important when they are going through the huge change of a family breakdown, for example having to move home, change schools or adapt to their parents living in different places. Equally, grandparents who are involved with their grandchildren have better health and life spans and report higher feelings of satisfaction and happiness.

Taking a legal route to try and maintain the relationship can feel very daunting to grandparents. The process is long and expensive. Grandparents are not automatically entitled to apply for a Court order to see their grandchildren; they have to apply for the Court’s permission first, which can feel like jumping through hoops. Many grandparents do just give up.

Mediation can be a kinder route. A mediator can help both you and the parent you are not talking to, open up a dialogue and explore your respective hopes, worries and fears in a safe environment with the hope that, as a result, some plans can be made for how the relationship between the grandparents and the grandchildren can be rebuilt and maintained. A mediator can’t force anyone to attend but research shows that the gentler approach is less likely to make things worse and any commitments, because they have been mutually agreed on and not forced, have a better chance of lasting.

If you would like to try, the first step is to arrange an individual meeting with a mediator called a MIAM (Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting). In this meeting, you can hear more about mediation and how it works and look at your options. There is legal aid available for these meetings if you are on a low income and on certain benefits and you can raise this when you call to book your MIAM.

13/02/2025

Legal Aid cuts deprive parents of human rights, says former President of the UK Supreme Court.

David Neuberger believes that the lack of Legal Aid for all but a very limited number of Family Law cases deprives parents of the right to sound legal advice and the right to have Court representation for issues around the arrangements for their children when they separate. He also feels that the parents without proper advice are often the ones clogging up the Family Courts and increasing the delays we see at the moment.

Family Mediators can still apply for a Legal Aid Agency (LAA) contract to provide publicly funded mediation to those who are eligible and the criteria is wider than those available to solicitors, for example, there is not the same requirement to prove that domestic abuse is a factor in the case. However, the rates paid by the LAA to mediators for their services have been static for over 20 years so fewer and fewer Mediation Services are able to successfully administer a LAA contract and make ends meet financially and are therefore surrendering their contracts. The downstream effect of this is fewer parents being able to use the process to try and discuss arrangements for their children which means they either give up altogether or they apply to the Family Court who are being asked to resolve disputes which should never have got that far.

Judge Stephen Wildblood and Sir James Mumby, former president of the Family Division of the High Court, have both shared his concerns about “unnecessary” parental disputes that the Family Courts have recently been asked to decide on, for example which junction on the M4 should be used for handovers or whether a child should have a crew cut or long, flowing locks. It’s hard to believe that, if sensible legal advice was available, such cases would ever have made it to the doors of the Family Courts and it seems that, taking away legal aid for family cases, rather than being a clever way to cut expenditure has just diverted the costs downstream and has had profound negative effects on parents and, more importantly, children.

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2025/jan/05/legal-aid-cuts-deny-parents-their-human-rights-says-ex-supreme-court-president

07/02/2025

Parental alienating behaviour 'endemic'

Janis James, from Good Egg Safety, an organization focused on promoting the safety of families, and especially children, is campaigning for more to be done to help protect children from the effects of alienating behaviours from one or both of their parents, post separation.

The term ‘Parental Alienation’ is complicated, misunderstood and often misused. Some facts are however not in dispute. Research shows that children can and do recover from, and thrive after, their parents’ separation but only if they are not exposed to prolonged parental conflict. We are currently facing a tsunami of children suffering from poor mental health and those working with separating and separated families can and should do more to help support parents to recognize the effect that any conflict between them is having on their children and what steps they can take to reduce the conflict, improve their communication and protect their children.

As mediators, we see on a daily basis how unresolved anger and hurt from the breakdown of the relationship can affect a co-parenting relationship and the children’s ability to enjoy a peaceful and fulfilling relationship with both of their parents. A therapeutical approach can help each parent work through any unresolved emotions about the other parent but outside the therapy room, there is much mediators can do with parents to try and make things easier.

The first step to rebuilding trust and communication normally involves creating a solid routine for the children and thereby avoiding the need for lots of interaction between the parents about the day-to-day arrangements. We can also work on establishing a practical and sustainable financial set-up so that everyone’s basic needs are covered and devising a safe and boundaried channel of communication so that essential information can be exchanged between the parents. When these three elements are addressed, tensions do tend to reduce which has a positive effect on any children.

Mediators are also trained to bring the voice of the child into the process through Child-Inclusive Mediation. In a confidential session with the mediator, the child can share their thoughts, feelings, worries and fears and the mediator will then feed back to the parents, with the child’s permission, this first-hand information about how they are being affected by the conflict and how they would prefer things to be. Most parents, however they feel about each other, desperately want to avoid hurting their children and, with the right help and support, can move beyond the alienating behaviours.

REF: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy7ge6np1l7o

21/01/2025

Can I get Legal Aid for Mediation and is it different from Legal Aid for Solicitors?

What is Legal Aid?

Legal Aid is money paid to legal and other professionals by the Legal Aid Agency to cover someone’s legal costs.

What is the difference between Legal Aid for Mediation and for a Solicitor

As a general rule, Solicitors can apply for legal aid for a client only if they are or have been a victim of domestic abuse or a child is at risk of abuse or abduction. They also have to means-test the client.

Social Services who start Care proceedings eg for a Special Guardianship Order, can have their costs covered too.

Mediators can apply for legal aid for their clients based solely on a means-test and there is no requirement to prove domestic violence or child abduction is a factor in the case.

Who can get Legal Aid for Mediation?

Someone can apply to have their legal costs covered if they are on a low income or on certain income-supporting benefits, such as Universal Credit.

How will I be assessed?

The assessment is a two-step process. First, you are assessed on the basis of any capital that you have eg equity in a property or savings. If you are eligible on capital you will then be assessed on your income. You will be asked to provide up-to-date evidence of your income, for example, a Universal Credit statement or a payslip.

How long does it take?

Our case coordinators will be able to give you a good idea about whether you might be eligible over the phone. If you are quick in sending in your evidence and signing the Legal Aid application form then it will not delay your case at all.

What does Legal Aid cover?

If you are found to be eligible then the costs of your MIAM, any mediation sessions and the signing of any Court forms will be covered. The Legal Aid agency will also cover the costs of the other party for their MIAM and for the first joint session.

What if I’m not eligible?

If you are not eligible for Legal Aid but your case involves arrangements for a child then we can apply for the Family Mediation Voucher if, after your MIAMs, you are both willing to proceed to a joint session. This voucher enables the Service to apply for funds to cover up to

£500 of mediation fees per case (unfortunately not per person). If you have used up the voucher, or if your case isn’t about children, but you are struggling to pay then do ask to speak to the Service Manager. We will help if we can.