Mediation is a cost effective and confidential way for divorcing and separating couples to settle family matters, especially when it comes to children and finances, without resorting to long and costly court battles.
It helps you to agree on difficult issues, such as how you will spend time with your children, who gets the house and how your finances will be divided.
Once you have reached an agreement, our mediators will give you a ‘memorandum of understanding’ (MOU), but what is an MOU?
An MOU is a document that outlines the agreements you’ve made. It can include details about your home, living arrangements for children and how you have decided to divide your assets.
It captures the agreements that have been reached through mediation, ensuring that both people understand the agreements and how they have been decided. It offers a reference point for the future, should it be needed, and it shows your commitment to the agreements you have made.
Whilst an MOU is not legally binding, so it cannot be legally enforced on its own, it can be used by solicitor as the basis to prepare a legally binding document, such as a consent order, which can then be submitted to court for approval.
If you cannot agree issues using mediation, you will need to go to court, where a judge will make the decisions for you, meaning that you lose control of important issues relating to your finances and your children – and your future! It’s also a more costly and lengthy process than using the mediation route.
A memorandum of understanding can also be accompanied by an ‘open financial statement’. This document summarises the financial information provided and the documentation which supports the agreements reached. It will include information about any finances, including income, assets, debts and other liabilities and anticipated future needs and expenditure.
You can learn much more about mediation and how it can work for you on our web pages or contact us to make an appointment.
