Mediation could become mandatory in all suitable family court cases.
This will mean that separating couples will have to try to agree their child custody and financial arrangements through a Family Mediator.
This could also reduce the backlogs on the family courts which have built up due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
During mediation, couples work through their differences with a trained and accredited Family Mediator to try to reach an agreement.
Rather than have a judge tell them what to do, they can decide for themselves how to split assets during a divorce, or work out who has the kids when.
The proposals exclude those cases which include allegations or a history of domestic violence. Going to court would only then be seen as a last resort.
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