Government Consultation Published: Family Law

Government Consultation published on “Supporting earlier resolution of private family law arrangements”.

The government has published a consultation that seeks to gather views on proposals to support families to agree their children and financial arrangements through family mediation. Families seeking to resolve child arrangements or financial orders would be required to make a reasonable attempt to mediate before applying to court.

The government proposes to strengthen access to resources and guidance for parents/ carers and separating couples and seeks views on requiring parents/ carers to attend a co-parenting programme alongside mediation to help them better understand their family’s options.

Proposals to resolve private family law arrangements through mediation would include government funding for mediation in child arrangement cases with the possibility that funding might also extend to funding of mediation for finance cases.

Costs orders could be used to enforce requirements to mediate and to discourage unnecessary prolonging of court proceedings.

In the meantime, the government’s Family Mediation Voucher Scheme will be extended until April 2025 backed by an additional £15 million in funding. The scheme provides separating couples with vouchers worth up to £500 to help them solve disputes through mediation and has so far supported over 15,300 families.

Please contact the Family Team at BBS Law for details of the range of dispute resolution services offered, including mediation.