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Insight > Divorce and family FAQs > What is the interaction between court proceedings and NCDR?
Mediation and other methods of Non-Court Dispute Resolution (NCDR)
What is the interaction between court proceedings and NCDR?
It is possible to engage in mediation or another form of NCDR without also engaging in court proceedings. However, the processes can run either simultaneously (perhaps because there is a need for a court timetable at the same time as engaging in NCDR, or you are dealing with a specific issue through arbitration or mediation but litigating other areas of dispute between you) or consecutively (perhaps because court proceedings are needed after NCDR has been tried and failed).
- Before beginning certain types of court proceedings (financial applications, and/or arrangements for children following separation), the court will expect you to have attended a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (see 'What is a MIAM?'). There are certain exceptions, including safeguarding and urgency, and that NCDR has been attempted in the four months prior to the court application.
- At any stage during certain types of court proceedings (principally financial and private children law proceedings), the court can require you to state your views on NCDR and decide to pause proceedings to suggest that you use the time to engage in NCDR. If either of you feels that NCDR is not the right way of resolving the outstanding issues in the case, you will need to explain why. The family court cannot compel you to use NCDR.
- A failure to engage without good reason in NCDR may be a reason for one person to be ordered to pay some or all of the other's legal costs.
In the case of a financial agreement (but not usually in the case of children proceedings), it is important to record any agreement reached in a court consent order to ensure that it is binding, capable of enforcement, and dismisses future claims. The application to obtain a court order reflecting the agreed terms is usually processed via each person's solicitor using the online court services, meaning that attendance in court is rarely necessary.
In these FAQs and answers, we use 'England' as a shorthand for 'England and Wales' because England and Wales share a single legal system. Scotland, meanwhile, is a different legal system and has different rules for many aspects of family law.
We have also chosen to talk about 'marriages' most of the time (which may be between either an opposite or same-sex couple). Unless we say otherwise, what we have said is also true of civil partnerships (which may also be between an opposite or same-sex couple).
These FAQs (and our website more generally) contain general information based on English law as it stands at the date of publication, but they do not constitute legal advice, nor are they tailored to any couple or family's particular circumstances. Whilst we endeavour to ensure it is accurate and up to date, website users should seek appropriate legal advice before taking or refraining from any action based on the content of the website. We would, of course, be willing to assist with this, and you can contact us here.
Any pricing information is similarly general. Our clients' relationship with us is governed by the terms of the engagement letter sent to them at the beginning of their instruction.
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