Family Mediation
Settle it privately, before it reaches a court.
A confidential, structured conversation with a neutral mediator who understands your faith and English law. You reach your own agreement. Nothing is decided over your head.
Or call 020 3930 1088
When it helps
Disputes where the family has to survive the disagreement
- Inheritance disagreements, where an estate is dividing a family.
- Separation arrangements: finances, the mahr, and what comes next, where it is suitable for both sides.
- Arrangements for children, reached by the parents rather than for them.
- Marital tension short of separation, including difficulties involving the wider family.
- Family business friction, where relatives are also partners.
Plainly
What mediation is, and what it is not
It is
A conversation you control
Voluntary: either side can stop. Confidential: what is said stays in the room, with narrow exceptions such as someone’s safety. Structured: the mediator makes sure both sides are heard and the conversation moves forward. The outcome is yours.
It is not
Worth being clear about
Not a court: the mediator takes no side and imposes nothing. Not counselling. Not legal advice, and each side is free to take advice alongside it. Not a religious ruling: the mediator helps you agree, and does not pronounce.
In Islam, settling a dispute privately and fairly is the honoured option. It is called sulh. When an argument turns on the mahr, or on fairness in a Faraid distribution, nothing needs translating. Where a religious question needs an answer, LawFiq’s scholars are behind the room.
When mediation is not appropriate
Mediation assumes two people who can negotiate freely and safely. Where there is abuse, fear or a serious imbalance of power, it is not appropriate. We will not run it, and no one should pressure you into it.
If you or your children are in immediate danger, call 999. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline is free and confidential, day and night, on 0808 2000 247.
How it runs
Four steps
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A first conversation
With each side separately, in confidence, to check that mediation is suitable at all.
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Preparation
Each side sets out what matters to them before anyone sits down together.
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The sessions
Joint sessions, or separate rooms with the mediator moving between them.
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The record
What is agreed is written down and, where it should be binding, formalised. Where regulated legal services are required, these are provided by our partner SRA-regulated law firm.
Family mediation at LawFiq is led by Owais Qarni, Founder and Principal, an Accredited Mediator working in English, Arabic and Urdu.
Common questions
Before you suggest it to the other side
Do both of us have to agree to mediate?
Yes. Mediation only happens by consent. An invitation from a neutral third party is often accepted where a direct approach would be refused. We can make the approach.
What if we still do not agree?
Then you are no worse off. What was said stays confidential, and every other route, including court, remains open.
Can mediation run in Arabic?
Yes. The mediator works in English, Arabic and Urdu. Each side can speak the language they think in.
Related services
Book a consultation
Tell us about the dispute, in confidence.
We will tell you whether mediation can help, and if it cannot, what might.
Or call 020 3930 1088