Mediation before Court

[sunshiney78]

My solicitor has asked me to arrange a MAIM session as it looks like my STBXH & I are heading for court.
I have found a mediator & asked STBXH re: his availability, & he says that the procedure is for me to attend alone initially, & if deemed appropriate, he will be invited to the next session.
I assumed that only one session was mandatory before hearing??

Nope - you are encouraged to mediate over splitting financial assets and anything to do with your children so your divorce costs you both less. In other words the more you sort out in mediation sessions the cheaper your solicitors' fees will be, and the less court time will be taken up so court costs will be cheaper.

Some mediators see both parties for a separate session or two each to begin with, then you have one or more sessions together to work out the details. Then your solicitors can work out the consent order which can then be approved by the judge after you apply for your degree nisi.

This presumes you both are open and honest about financial matters.

All the court want to see is that you have attempted mediation.

You can book a session with the mediator and ask them to invite your husband to attend. If your husband does not show up - this is sufficient for the mediator to sign your form to confirm mediation is not appropriate / has been attempted.

That’s the problem. The only reason it’s heading to court is because he is the (much) hugher earner and isn’t being honest about his income and we can’t figure out where his various salaries are going because he pays himself through a limited company and is declaring a very low “profit”.

Pesumably you have to pay for each session and he is only wanting lots of sessions to annoy you. I don't think the court can force mediation but looks badly on people who don't try it. It would better if you could afford one preliminary session with the mediator and then a joint one if you can or perhaps ask him to pay. I paid both mine and my husband's legal costs throughout (I earned most)

To OP

Even if Husband works through a Ltd Company he will still be required to submit a Self Assessment Tax Return to HMRC. That will detail what he is paying himself assuming he has not made any false declaration.

If he is taking a monthly salary, there will also be a P60. Directors salaries are shown seperately on the end of year accounts. It is a requirement to submit accounts to companies house for LTD co's. The filed accounts are public and you can view the PDF's free of charge. Whilst they do not show the profits, they do show capital and reserves. I understand that it is also possible for a Director to be paid on paper, but leave some of their salary in a Directors loan account which can be drawn at a later date. However, the "salary" is still required to be shown on a P60 and tax return even if it is held in a loan account.

The P60 will show salary, but not Dividends. However, the tax return will show the dividends and any other source of unearned income (eg rent, interest on savings)

The most Tax efficient way to pay yourself if operating through a Ltd Company is to pay a salary at the the Lower Earnings Limit (currently 503/month) to receive a credit for National Insurance and take a dividend after Corporate Tax has been paid.

If there is child maintenance involved you may need to go down the Variation route to get the correct amount as CMS will only take into account the salary unless prompted to look at Dividend income.

Thank you that is very useful. Yes, I think I will have to go down variations route for CMS

You both have to attend not necessarily together. First consultation can be done in the phone. If he refuses to attend then mediator will sign it off for it to go to court. Courts don’t look favourably on it.