Life Before the Breakdown

Imran and Sana spent more than a decade building their life together. They raised four children and ran several small businesses – a post office, convenience stores and rental units linked to their commercial property. Their finances were fully intertwined. Everything depended on them working as a unit.

When the relationship broke down in 2021, that structure fell apart quickly. Conflict escalated. Solicitors became involved. Police were called. A non-molestation order followed, along with periods of bail conditions. Children matters moved into court. The children were eventually placed with Imran, while Sana’s contact became supervised. That process is still ongoing.

The financial side went nowhere. Over almost five years, two separate consent orders were drafted and rejected by the court. Around £137,000 was spent on legal fees. Nothing resolved. By the time they reached mediation, both were exhausted and stuck.

I became involved at this point, after years of litigation had failed to move things forward. By the time mediation was suggested, the conflict was entrenched, trust was low, and both were carrying the weight of a process that had drained them emotionally and financially.

A Complex Financial Picture

The paperwork showed how difficult their situation really was. There was a family home with a large mortgage, a commercial property in Sana’s name with a long-standing charge, three businesses with significant valuations, and rental income tied directly to the premises. Debts exceeded £250,000, including a Funding Circle loan of more than £70,000 and historic HMRC arrears.

Years of conflict had damaged their credit history. Selling assets was not straightforward. Any move risked destabilising both households.

Despite everything, they still relied on each other financially. The businesses only worked with shared involvement. Without that, neither could manage alone. This was not about dividing assets cleanly. It was about working out how two people who could no longer live together could still keep a fragile system afloat.

Coming to Mediation

Sana contacted Salam Mediation first. She sounded drained, but not defeated. Imran was hesitant, which was understandable given the history. He agreed after the court recommended mediation.

On paper, this was the sort of case many mediators would decline. Court orders, high conflict, financial interdependence, and a long trail of failed legal attempts. But when I listened, I heard fear and exhaustion rather than hostility. Turning them away would have sent them straight back into the same cycle.

Early Meetings: Slowing Things Down

The early sessions focused on listening. They explained how the businesses ran and how decisions had been made. Sana spoke about feeling excluded from financial matters. Imran described the pressure of holding everything together as the relationship deteriorated.

Much of what they shared came from emotion rather than clarity. My role was to slow the pace and separate the two, so the information underneath could be understood.

That alone changed something. Not trust in each other, but trust in the process. For the first time in years, there was space to talk without things escalating.

Creating a Shared Picture

The Open Financial Statement shifted the dynamic. Seeing everything laid out side by side made it clear that many of their arguments were not really about the numbers. They were about fear and uncertainty.

Once the figures were visible and agreed, the tone changed. They stopped reacting and started thinking. Practical conversations became possible.

Proposals and Legal Advice

With that clarity, they could explore realistic proposals. Any settlement had to protect both households and allow the businesses to continue operating. I recorded their proposals in a Memorandum of Understanding.

Both were anxious about involving solicitors again. Previous experiences had been bruising. This time, the meetings were calmer. Focused. Grounded in a shared understanding of how their finances actually worked.

It became clear that without context, legal advice risked missing the reality of the businesses. That led to the next step.

The Hybrid Mediation Session

We arranged a short hybrid mediation session with both solicitors present. I explained how the businesses operated, how income flowed between them, and why certain decisions mattered for stability.

Without that explanation, advice would have been based on assumption rather than fact. This session kept things aligned and prevented progress from unravelling.

Finalising the Settlement

After legal advice, the consent order was drafted and the D81 completed. By mid-November – less than three weeks after mediation began – everything was ready for court.

Given the history, that still stands out to me.

The Court Hearing

The financial hearing had been listed for two days. It concluded in around twenty minutes.

Nearly five years of litigation ended once the situation was properly understood.

Afterwards, during a follow-up call, Imran said quietly, “I wish we had tried mediation at the very beginning.”

Closing Reflection

If I had focused only on the surface – the court orders, the bail history, the financial entanglement – it would have been easy to say this case was unsuitable. Many mediators would have reached that decision, reasonably.

But listening beyond the conflict showed something else. Beneath the anger sat fear, exhaustion and a wish to move on. They did not need someone to validate their positions. They needed space and structure long enough for clarity to return.

This case did not resolve because it was simple. It resolved because, for the first time, they were able to think clearly and communicate without the noise of ongoing conflict.

For Imran and Sana, mediation did not just resolve a financial dispute.
It gave them a way forward that litigation never had.

This article is based on a real case handled by Salam Mediation. All names and identifying details have been changed to protect confidentiality.