you might think this is a strange place to get legal advice, but believe me, its as good as any. the question is, is someone who receives legal aid funding legally bound to go to family mediation, if there are no safeguarding issues? i'll just throw that out there and see what happens....
You've not asked your lawyer?
Your lawyer should be able to provide you with better legal advice than a few mountain biking IT managers.
However, as far as I can remember from my days as a trainee, I don't [i]think[/i] there is an obligation to attend mediation if you are in receipt of LA (although it would certainly make sense if there was such a requirement). LA does cover mediation if you are entitled to it though.
If one party proposed mediation, and the other party refuses to attend, some judges may not look at this too favourably unless there is good reason why that party refused (for example where there has been a history of abuse etc). Court intervention is generally viewed as a last resort in family matters. Could get you off on the wrong foot with the judge.
i'm representing myself, for various reasons. thanks for the info, sadly i haven't got any it manager questions...