The family mediation voucher scheme
Key facts
- The voucher is a one-off government contribution of up to £500 per family towards mediation costs, as of 13 July 2026.
- It is not means-tested: your income, savings and assets are irrelevant.
- It applies to disputes about a child, or financial disputes where there is also a dispute about a child. Finance-only cases do not qualify.
- It does not cover the MIAM or the drafting of documents at the end of mediation.
- Your mediator applies for it; the £500 is paid directly to them, not to you.
- The scheme is running into 2026/27, subject to available funding.
The family mediation voucher scheme is the single most useful piece of funding most separating parents have never heard of. Launched by the Ministry of Justice in March 2021 to ease pressure on the family courts, it gives eligible families up to £500 towards the cost of mediation sessions. There is no income test, no complicated application and no repayment. If your dispute involves arrangements for a child, the contribution is very likely available to you.
This page explains exactly who qualifies, what the voucher does and does not pay for, and how to use it step by step. If you want the wider picture of what mediation costs before and after the voucher, start with our guide to how much family mediation costs.
What the voucher scheme is
The scheme is a government contribution of up to £500 per family, per case, paid towards the cost of joint mediation sessions. It is administered by the Family Mediation Council (FMC), the body that oversees professional standards for family mediators in England and Wales, on behalf of the Ministry of Justice. Only mediators authorised by the FMC can offer it, which in practice means an accredited mediator working through a registered scheme provider.
The word “voucher” is slightly misleading. You never receive a physical voucher, a code or any money yourself. Instead, your mediator confirms your case qualifies, applies for the funding, and knocks up to £500 off what you and your former partner would otherwise pay for sessions. Once mediation ends, the mediator claims the money directly from the scheme.
It is a one-off contribution per family. If you used the voucher two years ago for a dispute about contact and mediation is now needed again, you cannot claim a second time for the same case, so it makes sense to use the funded sessions well. Arriving prepared helps; our page on how many mediation sessions you will need explains what makes sessions productive.
Who qualifies, and who does not
Eligibility has nothing to do with money. The scheme is not means-tested, so it does not matter what you earn, what you own or whether you would fail the legal aid means test. What matters is the type of dispute. Two categories qualify: a dispute or application about a child, such as where the children live, how often they see each parent, schooling or holidays; and a dispute about family finances where you are also involved in a dispute about a child.
The second category matters for separating couples sorting out everything at once. If you are mediating about the house and pensions and about arrangements for the children, the case qualifies. But a dispute that is only about money or property, with no child element, does not qualify, however tight your finances are. In a finance-only case, look instead at legal aid for family mediation, which is means-tested but can cover finance cases.
Both of you also need to be willing to mediate, since the voucher funds joint sessions and mediation is voluntary. If you are unsure whether your situation fits, our free voucher eligibility checker gives you an answer in under a minute, and any FMC-authorised mediator will confirm eligibility at your MIAM.
What the voucher covers, and what it leaves you to pay
The voucher is restricted to the joint mediation sessions themselves. It does not cover the MIAM, the individual assessment meeting each of you attends first, which typically costs £100 to £150 per person. It also does not cover the documents a mediator prepares at the end, such as the Memorandum of Understanding, or any court fees. The table below shows where the £500 does and does not help.
| Cost | Covered by the voucher? |
|---|---|
| MIAM (each person) | No. Paid separately, typically £100 to £150 per person, unless legal aid applies. |
| Joint mediation sessions | Yes, up to £500 in total across the case. |
| Memorandum of Understanding or Open Financial Statement | No. Document drafting is excluded. |
| Court fees (for example a consent order) | No. Court fees are separate; see our family court fees guide. |
With typical session charges of £100 to £200 per person, £500 often pays for roughly one to two full joint sessions’ worth of combined fees. For many children-only cases that is a large slice of the total. Anything beyond the voucher, you pay at the mediator’s normal rate, and our page on the cost of a MIAM covers the meeting the voucher never touches.
How to use the voucher, step by step
There is no form for you to fill in and no application you make yourself. The process runs like this. First, find a mediator who is authorised to offer the scheme; the FMC’s register lists them, and most accredited mediators take part. Second, each of you books and attends a MIAM, which you pay for in the usual way. At that meeting the mediator assesses whether mediation is suitable and confirms whether your case type qualifies for the voucher.
Third, if you both agree to proceed, the mediator registers the case with the scheme. From your side, that is it. The mediator applies the contribution against your joint session fees, so your invoices are simply lower than they would have been. Finally, when mediation concludes, the mediator claims the £500 from the FMC, which pays them directly once the sessions have finished.
Because the mediator handles the paperwork, the main thing you control is choosing a participating mediator and mentioning the voucher when you first get in touch. It is a sensible early question, alongside their session rates and whether they offer online appointments. If your dispute is about arrangements for children, our guide to child arrangements mediation explains what those funded sessions actually involve.
Can you combine the voucher with legal aid?
Yes, and the combination is common. Legal aid for mediation is means-tested, so it often happens that one person qualifies and the other does not. In that situation the legally aided person’s MIAM and sessions are covered by legal aid, and the non-eligible person can still use the £500 voucher towards their share of the session costs, provided the case involves a child dispute.
The two schemes cover different gaps: legal aid follows the individual and can include the MIAM, while the voucher follows the case and only ever touches joint sessions. Used together, a family can bring the out-of-pocket cost of resolving child arrangements down to very little. The detail, including the evidence you need for the means test, is on our legal aid for family mediation page.
Dan and Priya separated in Cardiff in early 2026 with two children, aged six and nine, and no agreement about school-week contact. Neither qualified for legal aid: Dan drives for a logistics firm and Priya works in NHS admin. Each paid £120 for a MIAM, then their mediator registered the case for the voucher because it concerned child arrangements. Their two joint sessions came to £560 in combined fees, of which the scheme paid £500. They left with a written proposal: alternate weekends with Dan, Wednesday overnights, and a shared school-holiday rota, at a total personal cost of £150 each including the MIAMs.
The voucher did not make mediation free, but it turned a £400 bill each into £30 each for the sessions themselves.
Is the scheme still running in 2026?
Yes. The scheme launched on 26 March 2021 and has been extended several times since. As of 13 July 2026 it continues into the 2026/27 year with no fixed end date announced, though funding is finite and vouchers are offered while money remains available. Neither GOV.UK nor the FMC guarantees availability indefinitely, so if your case qualifies there is little reason to wait.
The government has published analysis of how the scheme has performed since launch, and we track the headline numbers on our voucher scheme data page. The short version is that the scheme has repeatedly received fresh funding because it costs far less to help a family reach agreement in mediation than to run a contested court case about the same children.
Frequently asked questions
Is the mediation voucher means-tested?
No. The family mediation voucher scheme is not means-tested, so your income, savings and assets are not assessed. Eligibility depends only on the type of dispute: it must involve arrangements for a child, or family finances alongside a dispute about a child. This makes it available to many families who would not qualify for legal aid.
Does the voucher cover the cost of the MIAM?
No. The voucher only contributes towards joint mediation sessions. Each person pays for their own MIAM, typically £100 to £150, unless they qualify for legal aid, which can cover the MIAM. Document drafting at the end of mediation and any court fees are also outside the scheme.
Can I get the voucher for a dispute about money only?
No. A case that is only about finances or property does not qualify, whatever your circumstances. The voucher applies to disputes about a child, or to financial disputes where you are also in a dispute about a child. For a finance-only case, legal aid is the main source of help and is means-tested.
How do I apply for the £500 voucher?
You do not apply yourself. Choose a mediator authorised by the Family Mediation Council, attend your MIAM, and if the case qualifies the mediator registers it with the scheme and applies on your behalf. The £500 is paid directly to the mediator and simply reduces what you are invoiced for joint sessions.
Can we use the voucher more than once?
No. It is a one-off contribution of up to £500 per family, per case. If you return to mediation later about the same matter, you cannot claim again, so it pays to prepare well and make funded sessions count. A different, genuinely new case may be treated separately; your mediator can confirm.
Sources
- GOV.UK, Family Mediation Voucher Scheme, verifies the £500 contribution, the eligible case types, the March 2021 launch and that the voucher is restricted to mediation sessions only (accessed July 2026).
- Family Mediation Council, Mediation Vouchers, verifies that only FMC-authorised mediators can offer the scheme, that the mediator applies, and that funds are paid directly to the mediator after sessions conclude (accessed July 2026).
- Ministry of Justice, Family Mediation Voucher Scheme analysis, government evaluation of the scheme’s early operation (accessed July 2026).
- GOV.UK, Check if you can get legal aid, verifies the eligibility route for legal aid alongside the voucher (accessed July 2026).
- Family Mediation Council, Find a local mediator, verifies the register used to find an authorised mediator (accessed July 2026).