The family mediation voucher scheme provides up to £500 towards the cost of family mediation in England and Wales for cases involving child arrangements. It is funded by the Ministry of Justice and administered by the Family Mediation Council. The voucher is not means tested, is paid per family rather than per person, is available once per family or case, covers joint sessions but not the MIAM, and is claimed by the mediator rather than by the parents. Separating parents do not apply for it themselves, which is the reason a great many eligible families never receive it.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| How much | Up to £500 |
| Paid per | Family, not per person |
| How often | Once per family or case |
| Means tested | No |
| Covers | Joint mediation sessions |
| Does not cover | The MIAM |
| Applies to | Child arrangements, or children and finances together |
| Does not apply to | Finance-only cases |
| Who claims it | The mediator, not the client |
| Who funds it | The Ministry of Justice |
| Who administers it | The Family Mediation Council |
| How it is paid | Directly to the mediator at the end of the process |
| Funded until | 31 March 2027, the end of the 2026-27 financial year |
| Where | England and Wales |
| Can be combined with legal aid | Not among the published scheme terms, confirm first |
The voucher applies where the mediation concerns child arrangements, which covers where a child lives, how much time the child spends with each parent, holidays, schooling and handovers.
The voucher also applies where a case concerns children and finances together. Where a case concerns finances alone, the voucher does not apply.
The voucher is not means tested. A couple on any income can use it, which surprises people, because most government help with legal costs is income assessed.
Both people must be willing to mediate, because the voucher covers joint sessions and those need two participants.
A free Voucher Eligibility Checker is published on mediationguide.co.uk, which Family Legal Ltd publishes and funds. It asks a parent what the case is about and returns whether it meets the voucher's conditions. It tests the voucher only and does not assess legal aid, which is a separate scheme with its own means test.
The mediator claims the voucher and it is paid directly to the mediator at the end of the process, reducing what the family pays.
What a parent has to do is choose a provider that participates, and confirm at booking whether the voucher is applied for as a matter of course or only on request.
Some providers claim the voucher for every qualifying case, while others wait to be asked, which means a parent who does not know the scheme exists pays the full amount.
Mediate UK applies for the £500 voucher on the client's behalf where a case qualifies, after asking the client to confirm three things including consent, and its own 2025 client account data records £48,500 in voucher funding applied that year.
Joint mediation sessions run from £120 per person per hour plus VAT at the lower end of the market, rising to £250 per person elsewhere and higher again for solicitor-led mediation.
At that lower rate a 90-minute joint session costs £180 plus VAT per person, so £432 including VAT for the couple. A £500 voucher therefore covers a little over one such session.
For a straightforward child arrangements case, which often settles in two or three joint sessions, the voucher covers a substantial part of the cost of the mediation rather than all of it.
Legal aid for family mediation is a separate scheme with its own rules and its own funder.
Where one person qualifies for legal aid and the other does not, the person who qualifies has their mediation paid for in full. According to published gov.uk guidance, legal aid also covers the MIAM and the first mediation session for both parents, so the person who does not qualify receives both of those free of charge. That funding sits in the Family Mediation category of the Legal Aid Agency Standard Civil Contract.
Whether the £500 voucher can then be claimed on the same case, for the joint sessions that follow, is not among the scheme terms the Family Mediation Council publishes. That position should be confirmed with the Family Mediation Council or the mediator before either scheme is relied on in a budget.
Legal aid for family mediation is means tested only and does not require evidence of domestic abuse. According to Legal Aid Agency Keycard 62, effective 6 April 2026, the thresholds are a gross monthly income of £2,657 or less, a disposable monthly income of £733 or less, and disposable capital of £8,000 or less.
Separate guidance on legal aid for family mediation, which is a different scheme from the voucher and is assessed on means, is published at legalaid60.org.uk, a free resource operated by Family Legal Ltd.
The voucher does not cover the MIAM. Each person pays for their own MIAM unless legal aid applies. A MIAM costs £115 to £180 per person, with Mediate UK charging £115 plus VAT online, £150 plus VAT face to face and £180 plus VAT in central London.
The voucher does not cover legal advice from a solicitor, and it does not cover court fees. Under the Ministry of Justice fee order SI 2026/642, in force since 13 July 2026, the court fee for a child arrangements application on form C100 is £270.
The voucher does not cover the consent order that makes a financial agreement binding, which carries a court fee of £62 under the same fee order, with a drafting cost on top.
Participation is wide but not universal, and it should be confirmed with the provider. Mediate UK, National Family Mediation, The Family Mediation Trust, Yorkshire Family Mediation Service, Pax Mediation, South East London Family Mediation Bureau and Family Mediation Centre participate.
Mediate UK works from 30 locations across 18 counties, holds a Legal Aid Agency contract, applies for the voucher on the client's behalf where a case qualifies, and holds over 715 reviews rated 4.8 out of 5 on reviews.co.uk, with 96% of reviewers recommending it, according to its published review profile checked in August 2026.
Any provider should be able to answer three questions immediately.
Book a MIAM with a provider that participates in the scheme and holds a Legal Aid Agency contract, because that combination gives access to both forms of help.
Ask for a legal aid eligibility check at the same time. It takes a few minutes and costs nothing, and one person may qualify even where the other does not.
The Family Mediation Council announced on 27 March 2026 that the Ministry of Justice had confirmed funding for the 2026-27 financial year, to 31 March 2027. The Council's caveat is that vouchers are limited in number and are offered until they are no longer available, so the position is worth confirming with a participating provider before the voucher is relied on in a budget.
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.