A MIAM before a Form A

Tap any paragraph to hear it from there.

Form A is the form used to apply to the family court for a financial remedy – an order dividing property, pensions, savings and other assets after a divorce or the dissolution of a civil partnership.

Where mediation comes into it

Form A asks about mediation. In most cases the court expects an applicant to have attended a MIAM before the application is made, unless one of the recognised exemptions applies.

Mediation and finances

Financial mediation covers the same ground the court would: the family home, pensions, savings, investments, debts and maintenance. Both of you provide full disclosure, and what you agree is written up as an open financial statement and a memorandum of understanding.

Those documents are not themselves binding. You each take them to your own solicitor, who can turn the agreement into a consent order – which is what gives it legal force. You can also draft and lodge the consent order yourselves, though most people have a solicitor do it.

What we can and cannot do

We can hold the MIAM, run the mediation, and issue a certificate. We cannot advise either of you on whether an agreement is a good outcome for you, or draft the consent order. Both of you should take your own legal advice alongside mediation.

Check the current requirements

The rules about financial applications change. Take the current position from GOV.UK or from your solicitor.