Online MIAMs: how they work
Key facts
- A MIAM held by video call satisfies the legal requirement exactly as an in-person meeting does.
- Online MIAMs are standard practice, and most services can offer one within days.
- You need a private room, a stable connection and a device with a camera; the mediator checks you are alone and safe to speak.
- Screening for domestic abuse happens in the same way, and mediators are trained to do it carefully on video.
- Since April 2024, the rules assume online MIAMs are available, so distance from a mediator’s office is rarely an exemption.
The video MIAM has gone from emergency measure to everyday practice. Forced online during the pandemic, mediation services discovered that the meeting worked well on a screen, and most now offer video appointments as a standard option alongside, or instead of, the office visit. The legal effect is identical: an online MIAM ticks the same statutory box, and the mediator can sign your court forms in the same way. If you are new to the subject, start with our guide to what a MIAM is.
This page covers the practicalities: how a video MIAM runs, what the mediator expects from your setup, how the sensitive screening questions are handled remotely, and the situations where an in-person meeting is still the better choice.
Are online MIAMs legally valid?
Yes, fully. Section 10 of the Children and Families Act 2014 requires attendance at a MIAM before most family court applications, and neither the Act nor the Family Procedure Rules require that attendance to be physical. A MIAM conducted by video call with an authorised mediator counts, the mediator completes the C100 or Form A section in the usual way, and courts accept the confirmation without distinction.
The rules have gone further than merely permitting online MIAMs; since 29 April 2024 they effectively assume them. The old exemption for having no mediator within reasonable distance was rewritten so that it only applies where someone cannot attend online or by video link in the first place. In other words, the rule-makers treat a video MIAM as the ordinary, available option for almost everyone. The background is on our MIAM exemptions page.
How a video MIAM runs
The content is the same as any MIAM: a private meeting of around 45 to 60 minutes in which the mediator hears your situation, screens for safety, explains mediation and the alternatives including court, and assesses whether mediation could work for your family. The stages are described in detail in what happens at a MIAM; the screen changes the setting, not the substance.
Before the appointment the service emails a video link, usually for a mainstream platform, along with joining instructions and anything they need in advance, such as ID or a completed intake form. At the start of the call the mediator will confirm who you are, check that you are somewhere private, and explain confidentiality and its limits exactly as they would across a table.
Your ex is never on the call. As with in-person MIAMs, each person attends separately, and if your ex engages at all they will have their own appointment, often with the same mediator on a different day. Payment is typically taken when booking; expect the usual £100 to £150 per person, with legal aid covering the cost in full if you qualify.
What the mediator expects from your setup
The requirements are modest, but they are checked, because the meeting involves sensitive questions that cannot be asked properly if someone might overhear. The table below is a reasonable pre-call checklist.
| What you need | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| A private room | Nobody else present or able to overhear, including children and new partners; the mediator will ask and may end the call if privacy fails. |
| A device with camera and microphone | Laptop or tablet beats phone: a stable picture helps the mediator read how you are, which is part of the assessment. |
| A stable connection | A dropped call mid-screening is more than an annoyance; have a phone number agreed as a fallback. |
| Headphones | Optional but sensible: they keep the mediator’s side of the conversation from carrying through a shared house. |
| An hour without interruptions | Arrange childcare where you can; a MIAM squeezed around a toddler serves you badly. |
| Notes and rough figures | The same light preparation as any MIAM: rough finances, thoughts on arrangements for children, questions for the mediator. |
Recording the meeting, by either side, is not allowed; the meeting is confidential and works because both people can speak freely. If you want a record of your options, ask the mediator to email a summary of the information discussed, which many services do as standard. For fuller preparation ideas, see how to prepare for your MIAM.
Screening and safety on a screen
Every MIAM includes screening for domestic abuse, and doing it by video requires care that good services take seriously. The mediator will check at the outset that you are genuinely alone and that it is safe for you to talk, sometimes agreeing a signal or a neutral phrase you can use if that changes. Questions about fear, control and violence are asked directly but gently, exactly as in person.
Video screening has real advantages. You are on home ground, which helps some people speak more freely, and attending from your own space removes any risk of crossing paths with your ex in a waiting room. It also has a known weakness: the mediator cannot see the whole room. This is why the privacy check is firm, and why a mediator who suspects someone is off-camera will pause or end the meeting.
If there is abuse in your history, you may not need a MIAM at all; evidence of domestic abuse is a complete exemption, explained on domestic abuse evidence and the MIAM exemption. And if mediation does go ahead where there are safety concerns, online formats combine naturally with shuttle arrangements, where you and your ex join separate calls and never see each other; see domestic abuse and mediation.
The April 2024 changes to the Family Procedure Rules rewrote the old distance-based MIAM exemption around online attendance. Living far from a mediator’s office no longer excuses the meeting unless you also cannot attend online or by video link, a mark of how completely the video MIAM has become standard practice.
When an in-person MIAM is the better choice
Online is the default for convenience, not a rule. An in-person meeting is worth choosing if you cannot get genuine privacy at home, which is common when you still live with your ex or in a busy household. It also suits people with unreliable broadband, those who find screens tiring or hard to engage with, and anyone who simply concentrates better in a room. Some people find the small rituals of an office visit, the journey, the neutral space, help them treat the meeting with the seriousness it deserves.
Accessibility cuts both ways. Video removes travel barriers for people with mobility difficulties or in rural areas, but a person who needs an interpreter, a supporter, or adjustments for a hearing or sight impairment may be better served face to face. Say what you need when booking; services are used to accommodating both.
Remember too that choosing an online MIAM does not commit you to online mediation afterwards, or the reverse. Plenty of people do the MIAM by video for speed and then mediate in person, or mix formats session by session. How full video mediation works is covered in online mediation.
Booking an online MIAM
The process mirrors any MIAM booking: choose a service with an FMC-authorised mediator, complete a short intake by phone or form, and take the video slot that suits. Because video removes geography, you can use any accredited service in England and Wales, which widens choice for people in areas with few local mediators and often shortens the wait to a few days. Evening appointments are common online, which helps anyone who cannot take time off work.
Ask the same questions you would ask any provider: accreditation, whether form signing is included in the fee, legal aid contracts, and whether the £500 family mediation voucher can be applied to later sessions if your case involves children. The Family Mediation Council’s register at find a local mediator covers online providers too, and our MIAM cost guide sets out what a fair price includes.
Owen, an offshore wind technician from Grimsby, works two-week rotations at sea and could never match a mediation office’s opening hours. Facing a dispute with his ex, Laura, over school holiday contact with their eight-year-old, he booked an online MIAM for the first Tuesday evening of his onshore fortnight. The mediator confirmed he was alone, ran the meeting in 50 minutes, and had Laura’s invitation sent the next morning. She chose an in-person MIAM in town the following week; the difference in format made no difference to the process.
Their mediation ran as three video sessions timed around Owen’s rotations, ending in a holiday schedule built around his onshore weeks. Geography had been the whole obstacle, and the screen removed it.
Frequently asked questions
Will the court accept a MIAM done by video call?
Yes. An online MIAM with an FMC-authorised mediator satisfies section 10 of the Children and Families Act 2014 exactly as an in-person meeting does. The mediator signs the C100 or Form A in the usual way, and the form does not distinguish between formats. Courts see video MIAMs daily.
Can my ex and I do our online MIAMs together to save time?
No. MIAMs are always individual, online or off, because the mediator must screen each of you privately for domestic abuse and safeguarding concerns. You each book your own appointment, often with the same mediator on different days. Joint meetings only begin later, if you both agree to mediate and it is assessed as suitable.
What happens if my connection drops during the MIAM?
The mediator will have agreed a fallback, usually switching to a phone call or rejoining the link. If too much of the meeting is lost, they will simply rebook the remainder rather than sign off an incomplete assessment. A dropped call does not invalidate anything; the mediator confirms attendance only once the full MIAM has happened.
Is an online MIAM cheaper or quicker than in person?
The fee is usually the same, typically £100 to £150 per person, because the mediator’s work is identical. The speed difference is real though: video appointments, including evenings, are generally available sooner, and you save the travel and time off work that an office visit demands.
Can I do an online MIAM from outside England and Wales?
Often yes, and it is genuinely useful for people working abroad or living elsewhere in the UK with a dispute in the English or Welsh courts. Tell the service where you will be joining from, as time zones and, occasionally, local privacy considerations need managing. The legal validity of the MIAM is unaffected.
Sources
- Practice Direction 3A, Family Procedure Rules, the MIAM rules, including the availability exemption rewritten around online attendance (accessed July 2026).
- Family Procedure Rules, Part 3, the April 2024 amendments underpinning the treatment of online MIAMs (accessed July 2026).
- Children and Families Act 2014, section 10, the statutory MIAM requirement, which does not restrict the format of attendance (accessed July 2026).
- Family Mediation Council code of practice, mediator duties on screening, privacy and confidentiality that apply equally online (accessed July 2026).
- Family Mediation Council: find a local mediator, the register covering services that offer video MIAMs (accessed July 2026).