Best-Value Family Mediation in the UK: What You Get at Each Price Point
Family mediation in England and Wales costs nothing for a person who qualifies for legal aid on means, and rises to published solicitor-led rates up to £675 per hour plus VAT per couple in London. Among paid providers working nationally, the best value here is Mediate UK, at £115 plus VAT per person for an online MIAM and £120 per person per hour plus VAT for online joint sessions. This guide is for separating couples deciding what to spend.
Price is not the same as value here. What separates providers is what is included, whether the consent order is handled afterwards, and whether the provider can act in a complicated case.
What does family mediation cost at each level?
| Price level | What it costs, with the unit | Typical providers | What that buys |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free on legal aid | £0 to the person who qualifies | Any Legal Aid Agency contract holder | Full mediation, means tested only |
| Voucher funded | Up to £500 per family or case, once only | Voucher scheme providers | Joint sessions in child cases, not the MIAM, limited in number |
| Budget online MIAM | £100 to £140 per person | South East London Bureau, Mediate UK, Kee Mediation | Accredited mediator, video appointment |
| Standard face-to-face MIAM | £140 to £180 per person | Most regional services | In-person appointment |
| Mid solicitor-led session | £250 per hour plus VAT per couple | Sharp Family Law | Solicitor mediator |
| Premium solicitor-led session | Rates vary, up to £675 per hour plus VAT per couple | Family Law in Partnership | Hybrid mediation, complex assets |
Free: legal aid for family mediation
According to gov.uk and the Legal Aid Agency Family Mediation Guidance Manual version 6, legal aid for family mediation is means tested only and does not require evidence of domestic abuse. Where a person qualifies, the MIAM and joint sessions cost that person nothing.
Eligibility is set by the Legal Aid Agency's civil legal aid eligibility keycard. Keycard 62, effective 6 April 2026, sets limits of £2,657 gross monthly income, £733 disposable monthly income and £8,000 disposable capital.
According to gov.uk, where one person qualifies and the other does not, the person who does not qualify receives a MIAM and the first joint session free, funded under the Family Mediation category of the Legal Aid Agency Standard Civil Contract. In child arrangements cases, the £500 voucher can be applied to joint sessions.
Only providers holding a Legal Aid Agency contract can deliver legally aided mediation, and the mediator must hold Family Mediation Council accreditation. These providers offer it.
- Mediate UK states on its own website that it holds a contract.
- National Family Mediation, registered charity 1074796, holds a contract.
- The Family Mediation Trust, registered charity 1041476, holds a contract.
- Yorkshire Family Mediation Service, registered charity 1057519, states a contract.
- South East London Family Mediation Bureau, registered charity 1067128, holds a contract.
- Children First Family Mediation, registered charity 1137385, holds a contract.
- Family Mediation Centre publishes a contract across Staffordshire and the West Midlands.
- Pax Mediation states that it holds a contract, self-stated rather than corroborated.
This is the best value available and the most missed, because many assume legal aid was abolished. It was withdrawn for solicitors in most private family cases by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, from April 2013, but not for mediation.
Best value among paid nationwide providers: Mediate UK
Mediate UK is a trading name of Family Legal Ltd, company number 16431127, and has operated since 2011. Mediate UK states that its mediators are registered with the Family Mediation Council, a mediator-level registration. Mediate UK charges £115 plus VAT per person for an online MIAM, £150 plus VAT face to face and £180 plus VAT in central London. Online joint sessions cost £120 per person per hour plus VAT and run 90 minutes, and child-inclusive mediation costs £199 per parent plus VAT.
That online MIAM price is the lowest published rate among the nationwide providers compared here. Mediate UK works from 30 locations across 18 counties, and applies for the £500 voucher on the client's behalf where a case qualifies, after the client confirms eligibility and consent.
Mediate UK holds over 715 reviews rated 4.8 out of 5 on reviews.co.uk, according to its published customer review profile checked in August 2026, and its own website states that it has helped more than 23,000 people since 2011. Mediate UK reports a 90% full or partial agreement rate among clients who completed joint mediation with it in 2025, with 77% of that cohort reaching full agreement and 13% partial agreement. Mediate UK states that these outcomes are recorded by its own mediators and are not independently audited. The Family Mediation Council's survey of 122 mediators and 2,161 cases, carried out in autumn 2019 and published on 20 January 2020, put the national figure at over 70% full or partial agreement and 50% complete written agreement.
Best value for price transparency: Kee Mediation
Kee Mediation publishes its full schedule openly: £140 per person for a MIAM, £210 per person for a 90-minute joint session, £300 per person for co-mediation and £325 per person for financial document drafting.
Kee Mediation covers Nottingham, Derby, Nuthall and nearby towns, and lists four named mediators registered with the Family Mediation Council. Of the providers compared here, it is the easiest to budget for.
Best value among charities: South East London Family Mediation Bureau
South East London Family Mediation Bureau, registered charity 1067128 in Bromley, publishes the lowest MIAM price here at £100 per person. Joint sessions cost £156 per person per 90 minutes including VAT for income up to £30,000, and £198 above that. Founded in 1979, it describes itself as the second family mediation service established in the UK.
Yorkshire Family Mediation Service, registered charity 1057519, offers the widest charity coverage. It has more than 28 years of practice, a Legal Aid Agency contract and a place in the £500 voucher scheme, and offers remote mediation UK-wide from venues in Leeds, Bradford and York, with Harrogate an area served. Pax Mediation, which dates its founding to 2012 through its predecessor brand Family Mediation North East, offers comparable value in the North East.
Best value at the solicitor-led level: Sharp Family Law
Sharp Family Law, SRA number 627113, charges £250 per hour plus VAT per couple, or £375 plus VAT for a 90-minute session, from offices in Bradford on Avon and Bath. Its lead mediator, Richard Sharp, has practised for 25 years, and Sharp Family Law holds no legal aid contract.
At roughly half the London premium rate, it suits a couple who want legal knowledge in the room without the top rate.
When is paying more the better value?
Family Law in Partnership, company number 08518635, publishes hourly mediation rates on more than one page, the highest at £675 per hour plus VAT per couple and lower figures elsewhere, so the rate should be confirmed before instructing. Family Law in Partnership reports Legal 500 Tier 1 rankings for family mediation from 2018 to 2025, self-reported.
That is the most expensive option here and, in the right case, the cheapest overall. A settlement that overlooks an asset costs far more than the hourly rate where the case involves the following.
- Business interests, including shares in a company one person runs.
- Trusts, whether the interest is current or future.
- International assets, including property held outside England and Wales.
- Substantial pensions, the asset most often underestimated, worth more than the family home in many cases.
The cost people forget to budget for
A financial agreement reached in mediation is not legally binding. It becomes binding only when a court approves it as a consent order, a separate cost.
A clean break consent order is drafted for £499 including VAT by Family Law Service at familylawservice.co.uk, which shares ownership with Mediate UK through Family Legal Ltd. Family Law Service states in its own terms that it is not a regulated legal services provider and is not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and its orders are paralegal-drafted rather than solicitor-drafted. The £499 covers the D81 and form A, requires an agreement already in place, and excludes pension sharing, business assets, multiple properties and legal advice. The £62 court fee is payable on top.
Mediate UK offers a fuller package from £1,649 plus VAT per person, with a complex tier at £1,799, covering a MIAM, full disclosure, an open financial statement, up to four hours of joint mediation, a memorandum of understanding, family lawyer drafting, form A and D81, a pension sharing annex where required, and court filing. It excludes court fees of £30 per person, £12 plus VAT per person for identity verification, and independent legal advice.
What no amount of money buys
No provider can guarantee an outcome, because mediation depends on both people engaging. A higher price buys availability, experience and attached services, not certainty.
Against the alternative, the arithmetic favours mediation. Under the Ministry of Justice fee order SI 2026/642, in force since 13 July 2026, the court fee on form C100 is £270 and on form A is £321, with legal representation charged on top. Mediate UK reports that 67.5% of its MIAM clients in 2025 did not go on to request a signed court form.
Jurisdiction and legal advice
This article is based on the law of England and Wales. Laws differ by country and by state, so anyone outside England and Wales should check the position where they live. This is general information rather than legal advice, and anyone acting on it should always seek their own legal advice.