I recently began my training as an EMDR therapist writes Michelle Rumsey, and since starting the course I’ve been reflecting a lot on trauma and the ways it can impact us in so many areas of our lives. What has struck me most is how the same experience can affect people very differently. Two individuals may go through something similar, yet the emotional and psychological impact can be completely unique to each person.

As both a family mediator and a therapist, this has led me to think more deeply about my work with separating couples. I’ve been wondering whether EMDR could play a role in supporting clients before or even alongside the mediation process.

For many people, the end of a relationship can be a deeply traumatic experience. Clients may come to mediation only a few months after separating, while others may wait a year or more before seeking support. In my experience, the length of time since separation is often less important than a person’s emotional readiness. When clients are able to regulate their emotions, they are generally better able to engage in mediation, make informed decisions, and begin planning for their future.

Divorce is often described as one of the most stressful life events a person can experience. It can bring a wide range of powerful emotions — anger, sadness, frustration, confusion, loss and guilt. For many individuals, separation can have a significant impact on psychological wellbeing. Some people may experience depression, increased alcohol or drug use, health difficulties, or ongoing unhappiness. The breakdown of a relationship can also affect attachment patterns and sometimes trigger earlier unresolved trauma.

When you consider everything someone may already be carrying emotionally, it can feel overwhelming to then ask them to make complex decisions about children, finances and the future. Just thinking about that level of pressure can feel daunting.

Of course, it is also important to recognise that separation is not always negative. For some individuals, particularly those leaving abusive or harmful relationships,  divorce can represent an important and positive step towards safety and a healthier future.

This is where I have been curious about whether EMDR could offer additional support for some clients. EMDR is a trauma-focused therapy designed to help people process difficult experiences and reduce their emotional impact. In theory, helping clients process traumatic memories or emotional triggers could potentially support them to:

• clarify their goals before entering mediation
• process difficult or painful relationship experiences
• reduce emotional reactivity when seeing or speaking with their former partner
• process betrayal or relationship trauma
• lower feelings of anger or shame
• shift negative beliefs about themselves or the situation
• improve emotional regulation during difficult conversations

If clients feel calmer, more emotionally regulated and clearer about what matters to them, they may be better able to engage constructively in mediation and make decisions that support their future.

I am very much at the beginning of my journey as an EMDR therapist, and I am curious to explore whether this approach could help support some of the clients I work with in mediation. I don’t believe there is a single approach that works for everyone, but I do believe that having a range of supportive tools available can only benefit the people we work with.

What I do know is that many professionals working in both therapy and mediation share the same aim, to help individuals and families navigate one of the most challenging periods of their lives with greater understanding, support and care.

If you’d like to talk to Michelle about her work and current training as an EMDR therapist then contact us on 01306 320520 or email admin@lkwfamilymediation.co.uk

One of the main reasons couples come into mediation is for help in organising their finances following a separation writes Michelle Rumsey. Couples often don’t know where to start and look to mediation to help them navigate their way through the process with the support of the mediator.   Sorting out financial issues can seem overwhelming so breaking it down into manageable steps is essential.

What Is Financial Mediation?

Financial mediation is a confidential process where the mediator helps a separating couple to resolve financial issues. This means looking at all your finances, for example property, income, debts, child maintenance, business valuation, assets, pensions cars, bikes, boats and so on. The goal is to help people to reach an agreement in how the assets and debt are split in a fair, sustainable way that is tailored to the needs of the people involved.

Unlike court proceedings where a Judge may make a decision, mediation gives participants more control over the outcome.  YOU make decisions together about what happens with regard to YOUR finances.

How Finances Are Handled in Mediation

Here’s a step-by-step look at how finances typically work in the mediation process:

1. Full Financial Disclosure

Both people are required to provide a complete and honest disclosure of all their financial assets, debts, income, and expenses. This transparency is essential — without it, fair negotiations can’t happen because you can’t properly understand your financial situation.  Providing the information doesn’t mean that you won’t keep that asset, it just enables both of you to ensure you have a clear grasp of your situation. The financial information provided is what we call “open” which means it could be provided to a court if you ended up in court proceedings at a later date.  This might sound scary but it’s only to ensure you only have to provide the information once (and potentially update it) rather than doing it twice.  It is imperative clients are open and honest about their finances.

Common documents shared in this phase include:

• Bank statements
• Tax returns
• Pay slips and P60s
• Mortgage documents and especially an up to date redemption statement
• Investment/saving account statements
• Business valuations
• Information on debts such as credit card statements and loans
• Pension statements including a Cash Equivalent Transfer Value which gives the value of your pension at the current point in time
• House valuations
• Estimated budgets of outgoings

It is not the role of the mediator to check or validate the documentation provided. The clients are in control of this taking place and will agree when they would like to exchange documentation (with the help of the mediator) and will be responsible for checking the information.   It’s likely you will have questions about the information your ex-partner has provided and these can be discussed in mediation.  It’s often simplest to resolve these kind of questions by talking to each other directly with the support of the mediator.

2. Identifying Key Financial Issues and your respective needs

The mediator helps outline the financial issues to be resolved. These may vary depending on the clients’ assets and debts and if clients have children:

• Division of assets and debts
• Determining spousal or child support
• Deciding what happens with a jointly owned home
• Valuation and division of a business
• Future budgeting and planning
• Your respective financial needs

Both of you will have financial needs going forwards.  You both need to be housed and you both need to be able to pay your bills.  You may have other financial needs too e.g if you’ve had one car between the two of you, you may feel that you need two one you move to living in separate homes.  Understanding what those needs are and the likely costs is a key part of the process. 

3. Valuation and Analysis

If necessary, outside experts such as financial advisors, or accountants may be brought in to help assess asset values or complex finances.  This might be done outside of mediation between meetings or, it if would be helpful, an expert could join your meetings to answer questions and to provide guidance.  Financial assets and situations vary and the most important thing is that you both fully understand your financial situation and any potential changes and tax liabilities. You need to understand your respective financial needs too.

4. Negotiation and Problem-Solving

This is the heart of mediation. With the mediator’s guidance, both people start by ensuring they properly understand their financial situation.  They can then move to understanding the various issues they both see and understanding their respective needs.  It also enables them to explore different settlement options, to understand what they look like.  This is essential in working out what resolution will be right for you. 

Unlike court, where a judge imposes a decision, mediation empowers the parties to create their own agreement — which often leads to more creative and satisfying outcomes.

5. Drafting the Agreement

When a proposal is discussed in mediation and both people feel it will work for them we talk about how to move forward with this. Mediators will always suggest that people get legal advice before formalising any agreement to ensure everybody feels confident and comfortable with decisions they’re making about their finances.

6. Agreement

Once you reach this point the mediator can draw up an Open Financial Statement that simply summarises your financial situation and the documents you’ve provided together with a Memorandum of Understanding which summarises what proposals you want to put in place. The documents will be comprehensive and clear and can then be taken by each person to their lawyers. Their lawyers can then prepare a financial consent order that formalises the agreement. This is sent to the court as part of the divorce proceedings (it can only be sent once they have reached the Conditional Order stage).  Once the financial consent order has been approved by a Judge the arrangements that are set up are binding on both people. This is why it is so important to not rush the process or agree to proposals.

Benefits of Handling Finances Through Mediation

• Cost-Effective: Mediation is far less expensive than lawyers and court.
• Faster: Resolving financial issues through mediation can take weeks or months, rather than years.  Talking to each other directly (with the assistance of the mediator) often speeds things up quite a bit.
• Confidential: Discussions and proposals remain private until a settlement is reach — unlike court proceedings, which are often public.
• Flexible Solutions:  the finances are the clients, and they get to reach a settlement that is tailored to them.  It takes into account each person’s objectives and concerns.
• Preserves Relationships: Mediation helps reduce animosity and this is especially important for people who have children together and need to retain a positive co-parenting relationship.

Final Thoughts

Finances can be one of the most stressful parts of any separation.  Mediation offers a path forward that ensures fairness and transparency and takes into account the particular needs of each person.  Financial mediation can save you time, money, and stress.  Lots of people find it overwhelming trying to work out what to do first or what the order of the particular steps they need to take is.  The mediator provides guidance on this so that a tailored set of steps can be created for each separating couple to assist them in finding the right resolution for them. 

For more information call us on 01306 320520 or email admin@lkwfamilymediation.co.uk

For more in depth guidance you may find our Road Map to Surviving and Thriving in a Divorce self-study course useful. It’s all you need to know about divorce broken into bite size videos you work through at your own pace.

• Emotions – Allowing yourself to grieve, a separation is a loss, and you will experience a lot of different emotions, maybe some emotions you have not felt so strongly before. Give yourself the time and space to feel these emotions. It is ok to feel anger, sadness, frustration, relief and so on. These are your emotions, and you are allowed to feel them.
• Support – Look for support around you from the people that you trust and feel safe with. Friends and family. Don’t suffer alone, reach out to others.
• Boundaries – Surround yourself with people that have a positive impact on you. Put boundaries on those that have a negative impact on you, prioritising your needs and not putting unnecessary pressure on yourself.  
• Professionals – Look for a therapist or support group with others that are in a similar situation. I have one near me that is called ‘Divorce Group’ they run 6-week course and share experiences and help with information and support each other.
• Small steps – Whilst we must plan for future events, focus on day-to-day tasks, when you feel ready focus on your next steps and then on the future. There is no set plan when this must be, you can decide when you feel emotionally ready to work towards the next steps.

• Experiences – Try old and new activities you like or may like. When a relationship comes to an end, we work through who we are as an individual and what we like doing, this may be similar activities to before or we may like to try new activities.
• Pleasure – If you find experiences are not as pleasurable as before, look for experiences that give you a little bit of pleasure, even if it is not much as you used to experience. That will come later. Small steps for now, any amount of pleasure is good.
• The outside – Being in fresh air, this could be going for a walk on your own or with others, exercising something that you like and is not a chore.
• Sleep – You may be sleeping more or less than normal. If you are struggling to sleep, try a different routine, if you find it difficult going to sleep, don’t worry research has shown resting in bed is just as important. Allowing yourself 8 hours or rest or sleep in bed. Finding ways to relax and a moment of calmness.
• Eating – Sometimes we eat when we are happy or sad, sometimes we don’t eat when we are happy or sad. Most importantly if you’re eating habits have changed, see food as fuelling, a car would not start if it didn’t have petrol. It is important to fuel yourself to start the day. Regular meals throughout the day, will help with energy and regulating emotions. Research shows if we don’t have fuel in our body we are more emotional and find day to day tasks more difficult.

You may find the free downloads we offer helpful in navigating different aspects of separation. We also have an online course called your Road Map to Surviving and Thriving in divorce that takes you through the things you may need to sort out, as well as things to consider with regard to the more emotional aspects. It also covers each of the 4 Cs of effective communication (Calm, Constructive, Conscious and Compassionate) to help you with other aspects of separation as well as ensuring discussing are productive.

The short answer to this question is yes.  However, as is always the case with everything in life, there are some caveats.

The part of the mediation process where children can have their say is called Child Inclusive Mediation (CIM).  It was introduced in January 2019 when it replaced something called Child Consultation.  CIM reflects the child’s right, as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (and paralleled in UK legislation, The Children Act 1989), to participate in the process that involves the separation and/or divorce of their parents and subsequent arrangements for the child, where the child, typically, will spend their time split between two houses. 

CIM provides an opportunity for the child to meet a specially trained mediator and have their voice heard.  The child will be reassured that their wishes and feelings are hugely important, but they do not have the responsibility of making any decisions.  This will always rest with their parents.  Parents, however, sometimes need help making big decisions and hearing how their child really sees the situation can be invaluable.

The meeting with the child is confidential and private.  Only the information that the child specifically consents to being relayed to their parents will be.  This is done at a separate meeting. 

Research conducted by Carol Smart, Amanda Wade and Bren Neale, and supported by netmums and Tamara Afifi (courtesy of NFM), shows that most children feel powerless in situations of family change.  They find themselves in a situation which they are forced to accept and yet feel that they have no say in them.

While the benefits of CIM to children and parents are largely recognised, it is important to remember that this part of the process, as with all aspects of mediation, is voluntary for all parties.  It cannot go ahead unless everyone (this includes both parents, the child and the mediator) agrees.  The age of the child will also be relevant.  There are no strict guidelines in this regard, and it will be very much decided on a case-by-case basis.   It’s safe to say though that, while I’m sure it would be very lovely for the mediator, having a CIM session for a one-year-old may not be incredibly useful at that time!

Watch Tom’s Story

The Rights Idea? Children’s rights when parents separate: Tom’s story

Produced the University of Exeter’s The Rights Idea? Project – led by Professor Anne Barlow (with Dr Jan Ewing) (Law School) in partnership with the National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS) and the National Association of Child Contact Centres (NACCC). 

You might also like more information on our Child Inclusive Mediation service.

According to the Gottman Institute “it is OK to argue in front of kids some of the time. It can actually be good for them. But the kind of argument you’re having and how you communicate your thoughts and feelings makes a BIG difference.” 

If there is a difference of opinion on a certain issue, ensuring that communication remains calm and respectful is essential.  Disagreements are a reality of not only family life but life in general.  Children will experience their own disagreements and conflicts with their friends and siblings, and in the future with their own partners.  They need to learn how to deal with those conflicts by experiencing productive and positive communication, and how this can lead to a resolution. 

However, those at the Gottman Institute also recognise that if children are frequently exposed to incidents of high conflict, they can become “anxious, distressed, sad, angry, and depressed. These feelings result in sleep disturbances, poor performance at school, and difficulty focusing. In the longer term, these kids may become unable to manage conflict and form healthy adult relationships”. 

It is therefore really important to be aware of how your interactions with one another are managed.  Here are some tips:

• Being civil with each other really matters to your children.  Acknowledging one another, making eye contact and entering into small talk at handovers shows your children that you are able to put your differences to one side, to make things easier for them.
• Don’t make things personal.  Avoid speaking negatively about your ex-partner, either in front of them or in the presence of your children. Your children know that they are half you and half their other parent and hearing negative views about either one of you can affect how they see themselves.
• If there is something particularly difficult that you need to discuss, and you anticipate the conversation may not go well, schedule a mutually convenient time for you and your ex-partner to sit down and talk it through, away from the children (i.e they are not in the house at the time).  The opportunity for them to overhear or experience any conflict is then taken away.  If you feel that some support is needed to reach a resolution, consider exploring the option of mediation. This process can provide a safe and professional environment to discuss the issues that you are struggling with, with the help of an impartial third party.  For parents who have not accessed the provision before, the Ministry of Justice provides a Voucher Scheme whereby parents can access £500 towards their joint mediation costs when they wish to discuss arrangements for their children in mediation.  For further information see the link below or get in touch with us on 01306 320520 or via admin@lkwfamilymediation.co.uk as we can claim the voucher for you.

Family Mediation Voucher Scheme – GOV.UK

Other helpful resources:

A simple way to think about co-parenting

The idea of this blog is to give you a basic guide to pensions and some things to think about if you’re currently going through a separation.

The basics

Firstly, if you have ever paid into a pension then you have a pension.  It doesn’t matter if it’s from a job that you left (many) years ago, that pension will still exist unless it was transferred into a different pension.  If you haven’t kept any details then if it was a work pension your previous employer may be able to provide you with details.  Alternatively if you remember the name of the company who administered it then you can contact them.  A trawl through your emails may also give you some clues if you received information via email.

Secondly, for all pensions that you and your spouse/ ex-spouse (there’s no mechanism to share pensions between partners that weren’t married) have you will need to obtain what’s called a Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (sometimes called the Cash Equivalent).  This is the value of the pension fund that you have as at the current time.  There may be other pieces of information you will need and these are discussed later in the blog.  A statement of potential benefits that tells you how much you are likely to receive from this pension when you retire can also be helpful in looking at what your financial position will be in retirement but you will need the valuation too.  These valuations should generally be no more than a year old and the more up to date they are the better.  You can’t make an informed decision about whether to claim against your spouse’s pension unless you know how much is worth.  If you think you’re not interested in this would you still hold the same view if it was worth £250,000?  £500,000?  £1,000,000?  Further, do you know roughly what income they will receive from this pension in retirement?

Pensions are not all alike

There are different types of pension schemes and the scheme you have will be determined by things like whether the pension scheme was provided by an employer or whether this was a pension you set up yourself.  Most people will also be familiar with the state pension.

State pension – this is an amount that you are paid by the government when you retire.  Your State Pension amount depends on your National Insurance record.  If you have always worked and made National Insurance contributions then you may be entitled to a full state pension.  At the time of writing this blog (October 2024) the full state pension is £221.20 per week.  You can Check your State Pension forecast to find out how much you could get when you reach State Pension age. It also shows your National Insurance record.

If you did not work for periods of time, or lived abroad and so did not pay National Insurance or you were contracted out of SERPS before 2016 then these things might impact on whether you get the full state pension.  As part of your discussions it’s helpful to find out how much you will receive by way of a state pension.  It may also be possible for you to claim a state pension based on your spouse’s National Insurance record rather than yours if this would be more beneficial for you.  If you’re not sure then make sure you take some advice with regard to this.

Defined contributions pension scheme

These are sometimes referred to as personal pensions or stakeholder pensions. They’re also sometimes called ‘money purchase’ pension schemes too.  They can be a workplace pension that’s arranged by your employer, or they can be a private pension that you take out yourself.  This might be because you’re self-employed and don’t get a pension from an employer, or because you want to top up other pension provision you have.

Money paid in by you (or your employer) is put into investments (usually managed by people called fund managers whose job it is to get the best return on monies invested in the pension) by the pension provider. The value of your pension pot can go up or down depending on how the investments perform.  Whilst this might cause you concern most money invested in pensions is there for the long term so fluctuations are normal.  If you have a pensions adviser they may discuss with you your attitude to risk so that they can look at whether to invest monies in high risk funds (where there may be a greater return on the investment but there is a greater risk) or whether to keep the risk more medium to low.

Some schemes move your money into lower-risk investments as you get close to retirement age. You may be able to ask for this if it does not happen automatically.  As with any investment, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on how your pension fund is growing and to discuss things regularly with a financial advisor if you have one.  That way you can stay on top of whether your pension is growing at a rate you’d like, depending on when you’d like to retire and the level of income you’d like to have.  If the scheme is provided by an employer you may have less control over what happens but you can still talk to a pensions adviser so you can arrange further provision if you feel the pension you get from your employer won’t meet your needs in retirement.  Your employer may provide access to a pensions adviser.

When you retire the amount you will receive depends on how much has been paid into the pension scheme (by you and your employer if they contribute), how well the investment has performed over time, and how you decide to take the money.  You can choose to be paid the money monthly as a regular payment or you can choose to take some of the money as a tax free lump sum when you retire and receive the rest by way of a monthly pension.  You can usually take up to 25% of the amount built up in any pension as a tax-free lump sum. The most you can take is currently £268,275.  The amount you can take tax free may be more if you’re eligible for a lifetime or protected allowance and you should take specialist advice to find out more.

Defined benefits pension scheme.

This is a pension scheme where the amount you’re paid is based on how many years you’ve been a member of the employer’s scheme and the salary you’ve earned when you leave or retire.  You may have also heard these kind of pensions referred to as final salary.

You might have one if you’ve worked for a large employer or in the public sector.

Your employer contributes to the scheme and is responsible for ensuring there’s enough money at the time you retire to pay your pension income.

You can contribute to the scheme too, and, depending on the scheme, this may be a requirement.  They differ from defined contributions because the amount you receive is based on the benefits you have accrued (e.g a percentage of your salary) rather than being based on the money that is in the pension fund.  For this reason many people consider that a defined benefits scheme with a Cash Equivalent Transfer Value of £100,000 is more valuable than a defined contributions pension scheme with a CETV of £100,000.

To look at it another way (we’re using round figures to make this easier to explain) if your defined benefits pension scheme terms state that you can earn up to 50% of your final salary if you do 25 years’ service and you retire after being there for 25.5 years then you will (in this simple example) be paid £20,000 a year in retirement, if your final salary was £40,000.  So the pension fund will pay you £20,000 a year until you die.  This could be for approximately 20 to 40 years (if you live to 100 or more) depending on how long you live, and how old you are when you retire (most schemes will stipulate the minimum retirement age).  So even if the Cash Equivalent Transfer Value is £325,000 the fund will guarantee paying out £400,000 if you receive £20,000 a year for 20 years.

SIPP or self invested personal pension

These are personal pensions like defined contribution pensions but they allow you to control the specific investments that make up your pension fund.  With a SIPP, you choose and manage your own investments or pay an authorised financial adviser to help you.  They can offer much wider investment options than other pension types but it is important to have specialist and regulated advice to ensure you understand what you’re doing and to ensure you work within the rules, and are aware of any potential issues that might crop up.

The assets that can be invested in include:

• company shares (UK and overseas)
• collective investments – such as open-ended investment companies (OEICs) and unit trusts
• investment trusts
• property and land – but not most residential property.

This list isn’t exhaustive – different SIPP providers offer different investment options.

You can’t usually use a SIPP to invest in residential property. But it might be possible to invest in commercial property, such as offices.

Understanding the types of pensions that people can have helps you to make informed decisions about pensions as part of your separation.  It is always sensible to get some financial advice from an Independent Financial Advisor or Chartered Financial Planner to ensure you are making decisions that are in your best interests financially.

What can we do with pensions when we get divorced

There are four main options you can choose for dealing with your pensions when you get divorced:

1. You each keep your own pensions.  If you each have similar types of pensions with similar values then you may not feel it’s appropriate to share pensions.  Or there may be reasons why you both believe that some or all of the pensions you have are non-matrimonial assets.  If you’re not sure then get some advice from a specialist family lawyer.

• Offsetting – this is where one person keeps their pension and the other person gets other assets to offset the pension value.  Whilst there can be sound reasons for thinking of this it is important to remember a couple of things:
  • Make sure you truly understand the value of the pension you’re not claiming on.  This isn’t just about the Cash Equivalent Transfer Value of the pension, it’s also about the type of pension and the benefits your ex-spouse will receive.  Make sure you take advice.
  • It can be attractive to think that you will keep a house you love and feel secure in instead of seeking a share in a pension you can’t yet claim.  But think about (and take some advice on) how you will make ends meet in retirement.  If you’re going to be forced to sell the house because you can’t afford to keep it when you retire, then it won’t give you security forever.  It’s not fun to be sat in a house that needs repairs and not be able to afford to do those repairs.  Plus if your ex has had time to save some money to buy a house then they may have a permanent home and a good pension.  If that’s the case how will you feel about that?

• Ear marking or pension attachment order – this tends to only be used in certain circumstances.  The pension being shared is retained by the person whose pension it is and an agreed share is paid to the other person every time there is a pension payment (usually monthly but this could be a lump sum).  Payments will only be made once the person whose pension it is becomes eligible.   If the person with the pension dies then the other person will usually stop receiving any money from this pension.

• Pension Sharing Order – this is where a percentage of one person’s pension is removed from their pension and paid into a pension in the other person’s name.  Depending on the terms of the pension scheme the person gaining the pension benefit would either have to set up a pension within the pension scheme the benefit was coming from, or it would have to be transferred out of the scheme to a different scheme.  The terms of the pension scheme will tell you what needs to be done in each case and should set out the costs of doing this.  Once the pension credit is transferred into a pension in the name of the pension who is receiving it, it becomes their pension and will always be their pension – even when their ex-spouse dies.

Pension sharing or pension attachment orders can only be made by a court and can’t be made informally between separating spouses. 

When you’re discussing what happens next following a decision to separate then it’s important to think about:

1. What pensions do you each have?  What are their Cash Equivalent Transfer Values and what type of schemes are they?  You will need to ask for the information if you don’t have a statement with this information that’s less than a year old.  Make sure this is done for each pension that either of you have.  You can just contact the pension provide and ask for this and they will provide you with information on how to get this.  Depending on the pension scheme it can take some time.

• Do you have questions about the pensions your ex has disclosed?  Do they cover their whole employment history?  Did you remember they have an additional pension that hasn’t been disclosed?  Sometimes people forget what pensions they have (especially if they have one from a previous position they don’t pay into any more) so always ask the questions.

• Do you know where to go to get advice on pensions?  Your lawyer will be able to advise you about the questions to ask but you should also consider taking financial advice.  If you’re not sure how to find someone then why not ask friends and family or your lawyer or mediator.

• It’s hard to talk about pensions and it can become bamboozling technical, so it can help to think about some general principles.  Do you want to make sure you both have the same income in retirement?  Do you want to make sure you both have pension funds the same size?  Remember that just because your funds are the same size it doesn’t mean you will get equal income or benefit from them.  Do you feel you have sufficient time before you both retire to improve your pension provision?  Is there an age difference between you in which case one person may have more time to pay into a pension.  These are all things to take into account and to discuss together (either between yourselves or with assistance from a mediator, or your lawyers).

Where you want to do something that requires calculations to be made about your pensions then it helps to involve an actuary.  These are pension experts who can also make complicated calculations such as how to equalise your income in retirement from the pensions you have.  They can also factor in things like paying the lowest charges if you’re going to share pensions.  They will also factor in the different benefit that different pensions schemes have.  If you have substantial pensions (the rule of thumb is pensions with a total value of over £100,000) then it’s even more important that you get specialist financial advice to make sure you are both getting the best value from decisions you make about pensions.

If you feel you need greater detail on understanding pensions then have a look at this guide. 

How do parents keep children out of conflict, when most parents and children during the period of separation live in the same home?  This is something mediator get asked a lot!  Changes are happening in the parents’ relationship causing emotions to be difficult and overwhelming to manage at times. It can be difficult for some parents to be able to step outside of their own emotions and they can struggle to see the impact conflict is having on their children.

When you’re supporting children through a challenging life event you are often drawing on your past experience of friendship difficulties, or school issues, to support them.  With a separation you are going through it live at the same time as your children (albeit from a different angle) and so it’s harder to have the detachment that time brings.  You may find some of the things your children ask or say about the separation difficult and it’s hard not to show that.  It’s OK to explain that you are finding it difficult too.  You could talk about what support you’re getting to manage your emotions and stresses to normalise to your children or children that sometimes we all need help when we go through tough times.

For parents to support their children, it’s helpful to have their own coping strategies and support in place. This will help them have the emotional space and strength to be more available and self-aware of their children’s needs.   For parents and children alike, having a safe space to offload how you’re feeling to someone who won’t get upset, or feel hurt, or take offense is crucial.

Parents can look at

• Couple counselling – I have worked with many couples who have come to me for counselling to look at the best ways of telling the children they are separating, how to communicate more effectively and understand their own beliefs and experiences of separation and conflict
• Create your own support network, family, friends, this might not always be friends that you talk to, friends that being around help you feel better. Who is the person you feel you can call/talk to if you are struggling
• Have your own plan, if at home and you can identify your emotions rising, know your limits (giving yourself a scale of 1-10. If 7, is you are wanting to scream, identify when you are a number 6 and put strategies in place, go for a walk, call someone or find other ways of avoiding being in a situation that is going to create more negative emotions and potentially conflict).
• Reflect on your own experiences of conflict. We can not avoid conflict in life, what has felt healthy conflict for you?  
• If you have experienced unhealthy conflict, how have you felt?
• Parents have to work out how they are going to deal with conflict, this may be setting time aside to discuss difficult subjects they know will impact emotions negatively, When the children are not in the home. It might be enlisting the services of a family mediator to help with resolving short and long term issues.
• We are all good at thinking we can ‘mind read’ other people, the reality is we cannot ‘mind read’. Talk to each other about how you imagine co-parenting will be now separated and what your hopes both are.  Never assume you know what the other person is thinking.  It can be very different to what you think.
• Parents can make plans as to what their day and week looks like and when their children will spend time with each parenting.  It can help to have a shared diary or to use a co-parenting app to manage arrangement and communications if things are difficult.

Regardless of the age of children, if conflict with parents is demonstrated in a negative way (screaming, shouting, violence, silent treatment) then this will have an impact on children. Each child is different in how they manage parents’ conflict. Some children will become very reserved and withdrawn, other children act out in other behaviours. For example, becoming a school refuser, having friendships issues, or self-harming.  Older children may indulge in more risk taking behaviour.

Children will already be dealing with many emotions during their parents’ separation, it is important we keep children out of their parent’s conflict and support them during these changes.

How do we support children during these difficult times of change.  

• Communicating on how best to talk to your children. If your children, see you are both talking positively to each other they may feel they don’t have to take sides.
• Parents should not talk negatively about the other parent. You should also ensure other family members and friends don’t either.
• Parents can show children that conflict can be healthy if managed well.  This can be a really important life lesson for them that conflict can exist and be handled well.
• Ask the children (depending on their age) who their support network is, if they are unsure put one in place with them.
• Encourage children to express their needs by writing, drawing and talking.
• If you are unsure if you are selling the house or where you are living, be honest with the children in a child friendly way. It’s OK to say that there are still some details that you’re working out.
• Validate their emotions so they can feel how they feel, and know that this is ok. As parent we can find our children’s upset distressing and seek to minimise their feelings without properly acknowledging them.  It’s really important that children feel you understand their feelings and that you see them as valid.
• Keep routines as consistent as possible
• Include children where possible in decisions.  This doesn’t mean they make the decisions but that you seek out their views before making the decisions.  This can be one through child inclusive mediation if needed.
• Don’t assume you know how your child feels, every child will feel differently. Ask them, listen, always listen and give space, don’t ask how are you feeling when you are running late for school.  Allow space for these conversations.

Separation is one of life’s most difficult times, even if it is an amicable separation. We have many emotions from uncertainty and loss. Working with couples for years, I have seen a real difference in families that are able to keep children out of conflict and the positive impact this has had. I don’t doubt those couples are finding the change just as challenging as everyone, if you are able to plan and communicate with each other this will be less distressing and upsetting for your children.

Positive Psychology is the science of happiness and is concerned with helping individuals flourish and thrive in life. Whereas traditional Psychology looks at what’s ‘wrong’ with people, Positive Psychology focuses on the positives and negatives equally. It focuses on what’s going well in your life, with your relationships and work and building on your strengths.

We’re all hardwired to focus more on the negative things in life… it’s called ‘negativity bias’… and it’s our brain’s way of keeping us safe. And when you’re going through a divorce, which is the second most stressful life event you can experience, it can be hard to believe that there’s anything to be positive about! But there are always things to feel positive about… it’s about bringing your focus onto those things.

The first stage of feeling happier after your divorce is acknowledging that you have the power to change your mindset and your wellbeing. Studies have shown that 40% of our happiness is within our control and only 10% is due to our circumstances (the other 50% is genetic). You’re much more in control of your own happiness than you might think.

There are many tools in Positive Psychology to help you change how you think and feel in an instant and these can be transformational. Some of these practices you’ll only need to do once to create a shift, and others will become daily practices. These small practices will all have a compounding effect over time and lead to improved happiness and wellbeing.

So here are 8 tools from the science of Positive Psychology to help you to feel happier after your divorce:

Positive Emotions brainstorm – brainstorm all the things that bring you joy and happiness in your life. What do you love doing? What makes you laugh? Who do you love to be with? What have you always wanted to do? Focus on finding the micro joys in your day… those small moments of joy in your everyday life that give you that dopamine hit and make you feel happy. Start to actively plan some of these activities into your day and week and notice how your happiness starts to increase.

Surround yourself with people who light you up – Research has shown that emotions are contagious. We’re wired to mimic the facial expressions and moods of the people we’re with. When you’re going through your divorce surround yourself with people who light you up and make you feel good about yourself. Their positivity will rub off on you. Limit your time spent with people who drain you and just want to hear the ins and outs of what’s going on in your life – that just reconnects you with all the negative emotions.

3 Good Things – This is one of the most used and well-known Positive Psychology tools. It’s been proven to significantly improve wellbeing and reduce symptoms of depression. At the end of your day write down 3 things that have gone well for you and really take the time to connect with those things and feel the emotions associated with them. Reflect on why each thing happened and your role in it. Just start with something small if you struggle to start with.

Start paying attention to the questions you’re asking yourself – Asking yourself questions like ‘why aren’t I good enough?’ or ‘What’s wrong with me?’ just puts the focus on what isn’t working well in your life and keeps you in victim mode. Instead ask yourself more empowering questions like ‘What can I do right now to improve my mood?’ or ‘What’s one thing I’m grateful for in my life right now?’. What you focus on in life is what you get so start focusing on the positives.

Random Acts of Kindness – Studies done in Positive Psychology show that 1 of the 5 side effects of kindness is an increase in happiness. When we focus on others and how we can help them, our energy shifts into the positive and we open ourselves up to a lot more happiness. There’s also a ripple effect from you showing kindness to someone… kindness is contagious. It’s not about the grand gestures either, just doing something small for someone else can really help to increase your happiness. Make the effort to simply be on the lookout for opportunities to be kind to people. Just making the conscious decision to do this will help you spot things you might have missed before.

Reframe it! – This is such a simple tool… but so effective. It’s a powerful technique that you can use at any time in your life to dial down the intensity of any negative emotions you may be feeling. It does take practice but becomes so much easier over time. You’re retraining your brain to naturally focus more on the positives. The first stage of using this reframing technique, is to become conscious of the thoughts you’re having and where your focus is.

Then flip those thoughts and reframe them. Ask yourself what’s one good thing, or positive thing about the situation. There will always be something.

Celebrate your wins – This helps to foster a sense of accomplishment which is essential for us to flourish and thrive in life. Research in positive psychology has shown that celebrating the small wins, and more frequently, has a bigger impact than waiting for the big thing to celebrate. It can feel like you have a mountain to climb when you’re going through a divorce so it’s important to celebrate all the small steps and wins along the way. It helps to build momentum and encourages you to keep going so you can find happiness again and the life you deserve. It boosts your mood and confidence which keeps you motivated on the tough days.

Best possible self exercise – This tool is a powerful way of changing your mindset about the future and feeling more optimism about it. One of the most difficult things when you’re going through a divorce is imagining what your future will look like without your ex and this can be overwhelming, especially if it’s not something you wanted. Take some time to sit down and journal or visualise what your life would look like if everything has turned out in the best possible way. This helps you to identify what you really want and then you can set yourself goals and start working towards that. Keep coming back to the exercise to gain more clarity over time.

Sarah Woodward is a multi-award-winning Breakup and Divorce coach and supports you through the emotional and practical challenges of your breakup so that you can make divorce your happy ever after.

She is also a Positive Psychology Coach, a qualified Personal and Business Coach and a Narcissism Trained Coach with additional training to support clients who are in abusive relationships.

You can contact her at sarah@sarah-woodward.com. For more resources, or to book a free clarity call to chat about how coaching could support you, go to her website www.sarah-woodward.com

You can download her free guide: Make divorce the best thing that’s ever happened to you here: https://sarah-woodward.co.uk/make-divorce-the-best-thing-thats-ever-happened-to-you

Going through a separation is a really scary time with many uncertainties about what will happen and what the likely outcome will be. Many believe that going to court will somehow right the injustices that they have suffered, and ensure that there is an outcome that they are happy with. There can be great shock at how little time they spend with a Judge, and how that Judge will ignore issues that may seem important, grievous or significant to the people they relate to (because that is the Judge’s job to cut to the issues). Before embarking on a court application many people think that they will get a hearing date relatively quickly, and/or that things will be resolved by attending court once. It can be very disheartening to learn that you need to attend a number of court hearings to get things resolved, and that there can be many months of waiting for hearing dates. It is not uncommon for hearings you have waited months for to then be cancelled at the last meeting and this is psychologically challenging to deal with when you have been focused on that date for some time. The new date could again be months into the future.

The changes address the issues with the MIAM requirement not being taken seriously all the time, and set a very clear tone that the could be a last resort for most and certainly not the first step.  The government wants only those who really need the courts to use them as this will ensure the availability of Judges and court time for those that really need them.

So what are the changes? From now any party applying to the court for assistance with resolving a family issue (whether that is finance or children related or both) has to show what they have done to resolve issues without going to court.  This is NOT a tick box exercise as the new form FM5 that they are required to provide contains boxes to explain what has been done so it quite literally isn’t just about ticking boxes.

This requirement will be looked at by Judges (who are getting further training) and costs orders can be made where one person has unreasonably refused to engage in Non-Court Dispute Resolution.  You may have seen the term NCDR for short. There are, of course, exemptions for victims of Domestic Abuse as some of the Non-Court Dispute Resolution processes may not be appropriate for them. If this is you and you particularly have concerns about mediation then please know that mediators NEVER bring two people together in the same room (whether a physical or online room) without having seen you both individually for a meeting to assess whether it would be safe, appropriate and suitable to do so.

What does NCDR mean?  Well mediation is one big part of this (and there is much information about mediation on this site) but it also includes:

• Collaborative practice (where you talk about issues in meetings like mediation but where you each have a specially trained lawyer that supports you and you all agree that things will be resolved in that process, and not in court);
• Tools to assist you in negotiation such as getting an expert solicitor or barrister to give you their opinion on the right outcome to help you move pass points where you are stuck.  This is called an Early Neutral Evaluation.
• Arbitration – this is where a private judge (who is usually a solicitor or barrister who has done other qualifications) decides things for you.  That might be everything or it might be just the bits you’re stuck on.  
• You could also use an Arbitrator to have a Private Financial Dispute Resolution hearing to help you negotiate by telling you what they think the likely outcome is.  This is what a Judge does in a Financial Dispute Resolution hearing but a private judge gives you their full attention and time, and you will usually be able to arrange this more quickly than waiting for the court timetable to get to that point
• But crucially it isn’t just limited to these things.  If you can show you have tried to address things outside of court then this may count to.  To be clear though, there is a big difference for everyone between “my solicitor wrote 3 letters” and “my ex and I have had several meetings over a few months and narrowed down our issues”.

The single most important thing that you need to know if you’re going through a separation, is that you must show what you have done to resolve issues without the court and this must be clear about demonstrating the efforts that have been made. Without this you run the risk of costs orders being made.  Your mediator should give you information about these processes at a MIAMS meeting and if you’re instructing a lawyer they should give you information to. If either person doesn’t then ask!

If you truly want to understand more about all the NCDR options and their advantages and disadvantages then you may find the (Almost) Anything But the Family Court book by Jo O’Sullivan useful. There’s also a digital edition of the book.

The publication starts with some important statistics:

• In 2021 there were 2.3 million separated families in the UK, with 3.6 million children
• Almost half of children are growing up outside the traditional nuclear family
• 44% of babies at the start of the century did not live with both biological parents their entire childhood
• Every year approximately 280,000 children have parents who separate

That is a huge number of children and shockingly no government department takes overall responsibility for them. They are, by virtue of what they are living through, vulnerable. The Department of Education looks at their education and their child protection, and the Ministry of Justice looks at applications for child arrangements orders and the like through court. Many children are never subject to court proceedings and so are simply swallowed up in the number of children going to school. They don’t automatically have any specialist support, or even an automatic safe place to talk about what’s happening to them.

As part of this report the Family Solutions Group carried out two consultations. One was with a cross section of experienced multi-disciplinary professionals and the second was with 112 members of the Youth Parliament who were aged 11-18. I just wanted to pull out some of the things that leapt out to me as part of this report:

• Parents are not always the best judge of how their children are coping
• Children need access to a listening ear which doesn’t have to specialist counselling or support
• Outcomes are better when children of a suitable age are consulted about arrangements but this rarely happens
• 74% of children consulted didn’t know who to ask for for support and the majority of children didn’t know about any support services that could help them
• 67% felt teachers didn’t understand their needs when going through a separation
• Young people said they had to grow up more quickly and choose which parent they preferred, which they felt was an unfair question. They said parents could be manipulative.
• Children talked about things being done to them rather than done with them.
• One clinical psychologist put it that ‘children need more rights and fewer responsibilities’.
• This quote really stood out to me given the large numbers of children of separated parents we’re talking about: ‘Teachers are trained in how to spot someone being a terrorist or FGM, but the normal signs that a child might be going through a family separation are overlooked in our training.’
• This comment from a 14 year old male also stood out to me ‘‘Sadly this happens all too often, it’s tough and it will be hard, and you will feel guilty spending more time with one parent than the other, but you shouldn’t; it is not your fault, and you are trying to find your way they need to listen to what you want and why’.

What does this mean if you’re a separating parent?

It means you get a great heads up on what your child might be thinking and feeling. Have a look at the report (or the summary) and see the kind of things young people said. Secondly, talk to your children. Don’t try to make things alright or to deny how they are feeling. Ask them what they’re worried about and listen and acknowledge their worries. You may think they’re unfounded but if your children are thinking it then it’s a worry for them. You may be able to provide reassurance but don’t dismiss it. Thirdly, how good are you at keeping your children away from your conflict? Do your children truly know that they still have two parents that love them and that each parent is 100% OK with them seeing, spending time with and loving the other parent?

What does it mean if you work with separating couples or individuals?

Bluntly, it means we all need to pay more attention to the children. This is tough because the vast majority of family practitioners will never meet the children of their clients. Here are some simple things I think we as practitioners can do, and do better (and I absolutely include myself in the doing better suggestion):

• Ask and ask again about the children. How are they coping? What support are they getting? What are they worried about? Are they being involved in decision making in an age appropriate way?
• When you’re discussing steps to take do you talk about the impact things have on the children? For example, when a lawyer gives advice for a parent to stay in the home to ensure their rights are protected do they acknowledge and discuss the impact on children of continuing to live where there is conflict? How can this be managed or ideally lessened?
• Have you explained how the children’s voices might be heard? This might be informally by parents or it might be through Child Inclusive Mediation? Do you feel you have the skills and the information to explain these things?

For further guidance you may find this blog on connecting with your child after separation by Mette Theilmann helpful.