Paying for mediation

Copied below is a message I received from my wife this morning:

"As you have not been to mediation you obviously do not know how it works.
Because your INCOME is low ALL the mediation is FREE. I know this because the mediator told me. So unless you are hiding money it is FREE.
The mediation people will then sort out the financial disclosure and Consent Order. They are a lot cheaper than the solicitor".

This contradicts what the mediation service and legal aid advice line told me.

This also implies that a consent order can be drafted by a mediator rather than a solicitor. Is that correct?

No they won''t. She doesn''t know what she''s talking about. Get yourself a good solicitor, run the consent order through him/ her. Mediators are not legally trained and have no law degree ( unless they studied law but gave up and didn''t pursue a career in law).
Stop listening to you stbx and take the path that''s right for you not the one your stbx is trying to steer you down. She isn''t doing this out of the goodness of her heart. She''s doing it to get the best deal for herself.

Thanks Trolly Dolly for your reply. Sadly I cannot afford a solicitor on my small pension and there is no legal aid available since that nice Mr Osborne changed the rules back in April 2013.
I get the impression that my wife is in a huge amount of debt and is getting desperate for money. So the question in my mind is should I go to the first mediation session and get turned away for lack of funding or just not bother?

Personally I would say don''t bother but that''s based on my personal opinion of mediation although I''m sure it has worked for some people but definitely not me. If you are at loggerheads you have to find some way of affording even a minuscule amount of legal advice otherwise you are scuppered.
What about using one of the fixed priced solicitors on here?

In this case it could be the mediator has fed your ex the wrong line.

I was told also that my mediation would be free due to my income. I asked the mediator (over the phone) whether my owning my house would be a problem and was told it wouldn''t be.

I was told though that they couldn''t be sure until I''d had the financial assessment, and if I failed I would have to pay, but they were sure it would be OK.

Not able, on my income to risk paying, I did some more digging and found, as you did, the inalienable truth that I was not entitled.

When I called back it seemed they really were quite ignorant of the legal aid eligibility! I cancelled the session and said I would not mediate due to cost.

In your shoes I would splash out on the £159 fixed price service here on Wikivorce. At least you know the maximum price it will cost.

Thanks Luna for your post. Now my wife wants a consent order for half of the house proceeds. OK that''s fine by me. However, I am happily living in the FMH rent and mortage free. I therefore feel that my wife can apply and pay for a consent order and pay the costs. I am in no hurry for the law to make me homeless and I certainly won''t pay anyone to make me homeless.

Problem solved then. If all you have is the FMH in terms of assets then just sit back and let it all unfold. She clearly wants it all to happen quicker than you do.