Length of time family mediation takes

[Potluck22]

Divorced myself and mediation all happened quickly - second meeting and completion of form E within 2 weeks of first meeting - back in 2018. Been dating someone for 2 years now who is getting divorced (he had already separated from his ex for around 6 months when we met, he split with ex as she had an affair and then proceeded to move another bloke in to family home. They have 2 kids and long marriage.

Bf has been trying to get divorced since Dec 2020 with ex refusing to be reasonable, constantly changing goalposts and wanting more and more. Now at mediation and seems to me same going on - both had first meeting - bf around a month ago, ex around 2 weeks ago. Now she has not returned requested forms and mediation service are saying they allow up to 3 weeks to fill out forms before they chase. Is this standard after COVID? As from personal experience I would have expected them to set a 2nd date and require forms to be completed by a set date particularly with someone with a history of time wasting and dragging things out?

Anyone else going through mediation and aware of timescales to expect currently?

my OH went thru similar, ex refused to do anything. i would just get the MAIM cert and submit the Form A as its a waste of time and money trying to mediate with someone who refuses to cooperate. Cost my OH loads, wish we had just gone straight to form A tbh

Thx. I think he was hoping to avoid court and instead go for arbitration if mediation gets nowhere, but again I think that requires cooperation so may be a no go. I was told going to court for my divorce could cost around 30k but not sure that advice was correct so am worried re how much it will cost him as ex doesn’t actually seem to want to get divorced, but does need resolution somehow.

if it goes to final hearing then yeah about 30k approx, which comes out of the joint pot so no one wins really. My OH was prepared to go the whole way but once the court letters were received by the ex she decided to settle last min out of court but we kept the court date just in case and vacated when the consent order was signed by her. 3 years its been going on for us and she still aint moved out the house. Good luck as form A should focus the mind of people a bit

Thanks for the advice. I can see this potentially going the same way when it comes to sale of marital home eventually. I suppose if they don’t follow consent order, and refuse to move out when meant to, that is more court proceedings, but again no option I guess. Such a waste of time, money and energy. Best of luck with your situation too, :)