Penfold-Yates Family Mediation

If you are separating or divorcing, family mediation is a way of resolving disputes without the need to go to Court or involve solicitors in lengthy negotiations. It is a voluntary and confidential process enabling parties to explain their concerns and needs to each other in the presence of a qualified mediator. Mediation provides a safe environment, helping to reduce hostility and improving chances of long-term co-operation between family members.

At Penfold-Yates Family Mediation we focus on helping you resolve disputes involving all kinds of family relationships and issues including divorce and separation, children, finance and property and civil partnerships. We provide a confidential, calm and safe place to enable you to settle your difficulties and look forward to the future. For quick and concise answers to the most common questions around mediation, please read our FAQs.

Family mediation services

Family Consultancy
Tailored to suit your personal needs and to provide information, support and direction in which ever way helps you best to progress through the difficult time of separation and conflict. This service can range from emotional support through to assisting you with completing paperwork.

Sole Mediation
Couples and families work with one family mediator.

Co-Mediation
We offer female / male co-mediation where couples and families will work with two mediators. The combination is particularly helpful in dealing with inter-related children and financial issues. We combine the knowledge and skills in understanding the emotion of separating couples and family issues with expertise on legal and financial aspects. It also provides a physical and psychological gender balance during the mediation process and assists in managing high conflict, entrenched positions, difficult dynamics and where in some cases there has been a history of domestic violence or duress. Some couples feel it facilitates a fairer and more balanced agreement.

Shuttle Mediation and Caucusing
This type of mediation is utilised where face to face meetings may inflame conflict between couples. We offer to meet with each party separately, instead of with both together. This model is useful if there has been domestic violence, duress or where there are high levels of tension, fear or volatile emotions.

Shuttle - the parties will be placed in separate rooms and our mediator will ‘shuttle’ or ‘move’ between them, conveying proposals and facilitating negotiation.

Caucusing - we combine short separate discussions, during or apart from joint meetings.

Mediation with extended family
Most mediations involve two parties - mainly, separating or separated couples. In some circumstances, it may be appropriate to involve other family members such as grandparents or new partners if it is felt that this may enhance the process and enable a more workable agreement to be reached.

Hybrid Family / Civil Mediation
We offer merged mediation in cases where there may be more than just family issues to resolve.

Therapeutic mediation
This aims to reduce conflict by improving communication and understanding. It is particularly useful when working with separated parents, when arguments about the arrangements for their children often arise because of the difficulties which the parents have in communicating with each other. We are also happy to work with parents and their adult or older teenage children and with other family members to help reduce conflict and re-establish better relationships.

Skype / Internet /Online / Telephone or Face Time Mediation for initial assessment meetings
There is no substitute for meeting ‘face to face’ but the telephone and internet offers a practical and useful resource and in some circumstances may be the only way to mediate.

Child inclusive mediation
Also known as Direct Child Consultation (DCC) and carried out only with the parent’s consent. This offers opportunities for children and young people (usually from the age of about 10) to be listened to, feel respected and contribute to the process of working out arrangements. With the child’s agreement, giving feedback to parents can help them consider their child’s concerns and feelings so that these can be taken into account in the parent’s decisions. The main value of such conversations is to unblock channels of communication so that children and parents can listen to each other and talk together with more understanding.

Mediation and consultancy fees

Consultancy: £100 per hour.
Family Mediation: £175 per person (90 minute session).
Pre-booked block sessions: £POA.
Mediation Information Assessment Meeting: £100 per person
(separate one hour sessions).
Co-Mediation / Shuttle / Caucusing / Hybrid / Child Inclusive / Skype, Online, Telephone Mediations: £POA.

Documentation:
Open Summary / Statement of Financial Information: £125 per person.
Memorandum of Understanding: £125 per person.
Parenting Plan: £125 per person.

Penfold-Yates Family Mediation is the trading name of PY Mediation LLP which is a Limited Liability Partnership registered in England and Wales under number OC421279, registered address Lynton House, 7-12 Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9BQ. For the avoidance of doubt, PY Mediation LLP trading as Penfold-Yates Family Mediation are not solicitors and do not at any time whatsoever, either expressly, impliedly or in any other circumstances at all, act as and/or provide opinion and/or advice as solicitors, but instead provide services only as Family Mediators and Consultants.

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Penfold-Yates Family Mediation is regulated by the Family Mediation Council. Professional Indemnity and Public Liability Insurance is provided by Oxygen Insurance (Hiscox).