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<p>Divorce and dissolution are a fundamental change of legal status that may have
implications for people’s rights and responsibilities, for matters such as property
and inheritance, and for the families involved. Since the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857,
divorce has always been a court process and only the court can legally end a marriage.</p><p>
</p><p>However, divorcing couples can use family mediation to reach agreement about
the arrangements for any children and for dividing their financial assets, rather
than asking the court to decide these matters.</p><p> </p><p>This government is committed
to supporting more families to resolve issues such as these through mediation, where
appropriate. On 26 March 2021, a £1m Family Mediation Voucher Scheme was launched
by the MoJ, to encourage and better support families to use mediation and resolve
disputes outside of court.</p><p> </p><p>The Family Mediation Voucher Scheme is currently
available in private law children cases where there are no safeguarding concerns and
the case is deemed suitable for mediation. The scheme will offer over 2,000 families
a financial contribution of up to £500 towards their mediation costs, giving these
families the opportunity to resolve their disputes with the assistance of a trained
mediator. Mediation Vouchers are offered, at the Mediation Information Assessment
Meeting (MIAM) to ensure families are provided with information regarding the support
they can get, before they decide to pursue their matters in the family court.</p><p>
</p><p>We are closely monitoring the uptake and impact of the scheme and are actively
considering what more could be done to encourage parties to consider mediation as
an alternative to court, including better signposting of mediation as part of the
implementation of the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020.</p><p> </p><p>This
government will continue to look at how the benefits of mediation can be better communicated,
in order to encourage wider use of mediation where cases are suitable to do so.</p>
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