Family mediation and family arbitration are both used to resolve family disputes outside ordinary court proceedings. The professional has a different role in each process.
A family mediator helps people discuss the issues and reach their own decisions.
A family arbitrator considers the evidence and makes a decision for them.
For anyone considering a career in family dispute resolution, this is the central difference. The work requires different qualifications, experience and professional skills.
Family mediation and family arbitration compared
Key question | Family mediation | Family arbitration |
What does the professional do? | The mediator manages the discussion impartially and helps participants consider their options. | The arbitrator considers the evidence and arguments before making a decision. |
Who decides the outcome? | The participants. | The arbitrator. |
When is it used? | When people want help reaching their own decisions and can participate safely and freely. | When people cannot agree and want a suitably qualified person to decide the unresolved issues outside court. |
What is the outcome? | The participants may reach proposals. Further legal work may be needed to make them binding. | The arbitrator produces a written Award in financial cases or a Determination in children’s cases. The participants agree to be bound, although a court order may still be required. |
Who can train for the role? | People can enter family mediation from a range of professional backgrounds. They do not need to be solicitors. | Family arbitration is generally a later career route for experienced family law practitioners who meet the relevant eligibility requirements. |
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What does a family mediator do?
Family mediation supports separating couples and parents who need to make decisions about children, finances, property or other practical issues arising from separation.
A family mediator works impartially with both participants. They do not represent either person, decide who is right or impose an outcome.
The mediator helps the participants identify what needs to be resolved, communicate clearly, exchange relevant information and consider possible options.
They may provide impartial legal or practical information where appropriate. They cannot give either participant individual legal advice or tell them what they should agree.
Before joint mediation begins, the mediator usually meets each participant separately for a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting, known as a MIAM.
During the MIAM, the mediator explains the process and considers whether mediation may be suitable. This includes screening for domestic abuse, controlling behaviour, safeguarding concerns, safety risks, power imbalances and anything else that could affect someone’s ability to participate freely.
The mediator may change the format where this would make the process safer or more manageable. This could include using separate rooms or separate online meetings.
Mediation will not be suitable in every case. The mediator must continue reviewing suitability throughout the process.
Any decisions remain with the participants. Proposals reached through mediation do not automatically become legally binding. Where a binding outcome is needed, the participants may obtain independent legal advice and ask solicitors to formalise their proposals.
The mediator’s responsibility is to manage a safe and balanced process. It is not to decide the answer.
What does a family arbitrator do?
A family arbitrator is jointly appointed by the people involved in the dispute.
Each person presents their case. This may involve written evidence, legal submissions and a hearing. The arbitrator considers the information, applies the relevant law and gives a reasoned written decision.
Family arbitration can be used for certain disputes involving finances or children.
A decision in a financial case is called an Award. A decision in a children case is called a Determination.
The participants agree at the beginning of the process that they will be bound by the arbitrator’s decision. Depending on the issues involved, the outcome may need to be reflected in a court order. The Family Court also retains a supervisory role.
Arbitration can give families greater control over the timetable, the format and the choice of decision-maker. The participants do not retain control over the final outcome.
This makes the arbitrator’s role closer to that of a private judge than a mediator.
Becoming a family arbitrator is not usually an entry-level career option. The Institute of Family Law Arbitrators requires applicants to have substantial professional family law experience before they can train under its schemes.
A family mediation foundation course does not qualify someone to work as a family arbitrator.
What role does conciliation have in family law?
Conciliation has a limited role in family law in England and Wales. During private children proceedings, a judge and Cafcass officer may help parents try to reach an agreement at the first hearing. This forms part of the court process rather than a separate service that families appoint.
Which professional route are you considering?
If you want to help people communicate, consider their options and make their own decisions, family mediation may be the right route.
You do not need to be a solicitor or have a law degree to begin training. People enter the profession from backgrounds including law, social work, counselling, education, coaching and family support.
If you want to assess evidence, apply family law and decide the outcome, family arbitration is closer to that work. However, it is a later career route for experienced family law practitioners, rather than an alternative starting point.
For someone beginning a new career in family dispute resolution, family mediation is the more accessible professional route.
Becoming a family mediator in England and Wales
The route towards becoming an accredited family mediator starts with an approved foundation course.
First, you must complete and pass a Family Mediation Council approved Family Mediation Foundation Course.
After completing the course, you must join an FMC Member Organisation, register with the FMC as Working Towards Accreditation and work with a Professional Practice Consultant.
You can then begin gaining practical experience and building a portfolio showing that you meet the required professional competencies.
Once the portfolio is complete, you submit it for assessment. Successful completion leads to Family Mediation Council Accredited status, known as FMCA.
Completing the foundation course starts the accreditation process. It does not make you an accredited family mediator immediately.
The Family Mediation Council provides further information about registration, supervised practice and accreditation.
Family mediation training with Veritas Mediation Academy
The Veritas Family Mediation Foundation Course is approved by the Family Mediation Council.
It provides more than 40 hours of live tutor-led training across eight days. The course is available online, in person and through hybrid delivery.
Training takes place in small cohorts, with a maximum of six learners. This gives each learner repeated opportunities to practise, take part in realistic mediation scenarios and receive individual feedback.
The course covers the mediator’s role, core mediation skills, professional standards, MIAMs, domestic abuse screening, safeguarding, child arrangements, financial mediation and the route towards FMCA.
Teaching includes practical exercises, supervised role plays, case-based learning and access to a Virtual Learning Environment.
The course prepares you to begin working towards accreditation as a family mediator. It does not train or qualify you to make decisions as a family arbitrator.
If you would like to decide whether the course fits your experience and career plans, Veritas Mediation Academy can provide the syllabus, forthcoming course dates and enrolment information.