Legal Information and Advice

If you are already in Family Mediation, have finished Family Mediation, or are doing DIY negotiations, you may need legal advice as part of the process of reaching a final legally binding agreement.

Mediators can provide you with legal information and help you understand how the legal process works. We will let you know when legal advice would be most helpful, what specific questions you need answered, and guide so you have all the information you need to obtain legal advice in an efficient and cost-effective way. Mediators cannot provide legal advice. 

During Mediation/DIY negotiations

During Mediation or DIY negotiations legal advice may help to clarify the situation and allow you to overcome areas of dispute e.g. you may need legal advice on a specific issue, such as the divorce process, pension sharing or how the courts treat inherited assets.

After Mediation or DIY negotiations – do you need a legal agreement too?

The outcome of a Family Mediation or DIY negotiations is not legally binding, but in our experience, because it is something you have both committed to and worked out together, it may be a strong enough commitment on its own.

If you do need a legally binding agreement you can convert the Family Mediation or DIY outcome into a legally binding agreement without going to court.

You may need a legally binding agreement in certain situations, for example:

• you wish to share your pensions
• you need to clarify the legal position if either of you wish to remarry
• you would like to make clear what the arrangements will be on your death

We can help you prepare your legally binding agreement or recommend experienced and cost effective legal advisers who can assist you with this.