Mediation

[Sarahglen]

Hi, looking for some advice really.

Received solicitors letter regarding access and how a referral for mediation has been made. I have been advised to wait til the letter for mediation comes through; just wondering if anyone knows how long this usually takes?

usually fairly quickly and will ask you to make an initial appointment, after that the appointments depend slightly on how busy the mediation service is.

When DH used the service it was within a couple of weeks - both parents quickly got an appointment separately to decide if mediation was appropriate/worthwhile (and I think unless there is DV or one party states they won't do it they do try to go ahead with at least one appointment). You can ask if they will do 'shuttle' mediation where the two of you are in different rooms and the mediator goes between but obviously that takes more time.

I think sometimes people are expecting a marriage-guidance type of experience and are disappointed - from what I've heard, mediation has a more practical focus, with specific areas to discuss.

Sorry - just thought - if the mediation service takes a while or it is hard for one parent to organise an appointment, you may get a court date before mediation concludes - sometimes to try and speed the process up a sol might apply to court at the same time as mediation so there isn't a long wait if mediation fails. I just remembered another thread where a poster was concerned because that had happened.