Form FM1 meaning

Form FM1 is the document used in England and Wales to evidence compliance with the mediation information and assessment meeting (MIAM) requirement before issuing most private family law applications. It records that the applicant attended a MIAM with an accredited mediator or, alternatively, sets out the applicable exemption (for example urgency, domestic abuse evidence, safeguarding concerns, or a recent MIAM). The requirement is under section 10 of the Children and Families Act 2014 and Part 3 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010, with Practice Direction 3A listing exemptions and mediator certification. In practice, MIAM details are now usually embedded within the application itself (for example, C100 for child arrangements and Form A for financial remedy), and a standalone FM1 is used less frequently. Courts may refuse to issue or may adjourn applications if MIAM compliance or an exemption is not shown. FM1 and the MIAM regime do not apply in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Ireland. Those jurisdictions have no equivalent pre‑issue MIAM obligation: in Scotland and Northern Ireland mediation is voluntary and there is no FM1; in Ireland, the Mediation Act 2017 imposes solicitor certification duties rather than a court‑filed MIAM form.