The short answer
Yes, if you are financially eligible. The MIAM is covered by mediation legal aid, and it is covered for both of you if either of you qualifies. What does not pay for it is the £500 voucher, which only starts at the sessions afterwards.
Key points
- Covered by legal aid if you are financially eligible. Means test only.
- If one of you qualifies, both MIAMs are covered.
- The voucher does not cover the MIAM. It never has.
- A MIAM is a paid service otherwise. Treat “free MIAM” advertising with care.
- Attending a MIAM alone does not qualify you for Help with Family Mediation. You need at least one actual session.
What a MIAM actually is
A Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting. A mediator explains how mediation works, what the alternatives are, and assesses whether your case is suitable. It is normally a requirement before applying to court about children or finances, with exemptions including where there has been domestic abuse.
It is an assessment, not the mediation itself. You come out of it knowing whether mediation is a realistic option and what it would cost.
Who pays for it
If you are financially eligible for legal aid, nothing. The MIAM is free to you, and so are the sessions that follow.
If your ex is eligible and you are not, your MIAM is covered by their funding. This is the part people do not know. How that works.
If neither of you is eligible, you pay. Prices vary and it is worth asking for the figure when you book rather than after.
Important information
Be careful with “free MIAM” advertising. A MIAM is a paid service, and where it is free that is almost always because the person qualifies for legal aid. An advert that does not say so is inviting a reasonable reader to assume it is free for them.
Ask directly: free for whom, and on what basis?
The mistake that costs the most
Going to the MIAM, deciding mediation is not for you, and going straight to a solicitor.
Attending a MIAM on its own does not qualify you for Help with Family Mediation, the funding that pays a solicitor to turn a mediated agreement into a binding consent order. That requires at least one actual mediation session.
So the person who stops at the MIAM has paid for an assessment and walked away from funding that would have covered their order. A consent order drafted privately typically costs several hundred pounds and up.
The figures
Help with Family Mediation: what it pays for
This is the funding that turns what you agreed in mediation into a legally binding order. It is separate from the funding for the mediation itself.
| What it covers | Fee paid to the solicitor |
|---|---|
| Mediation advice, meaning legal advice supporting the mediation | £150 |
| Applying to court for a consent order on finances after mediation | £200 |
Those are amounts the Legal Aid Agency pays the solicitor. They are not bills you receive. A legally aided client is not charged for this work and cannot be asked to top it up.
To qualify you must have taken part in at least one mediation session. Attending a MIAM on its own is not enough. Your solicitor needs evidence that you were in mediation within the previous three months, only one fee can be claimed per case, and it is not available if you had family help or legal representation in the previous six months.
Fees: Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013, Schedule 1, Part 1, Table 3(e). Scope: Civil Legal Aid (Merits Criteria) Regulations 2013, regulation 17. Checked 5 August 2026.