As well as providing a forum for two parents to discuss and work out arrangements for their children, mediation also remains open to grandparents who believe they are being prevented from spending time with their grandchildren. The family courts acknowledge that grandparents play a major part in the lives of their grandchildren and encourage disputes between them and their own children/in-laws to be settled in mediation or alternative dispute resolution. Often grandparents are encouraged to attend a Mediation Information & Assessment Meeting (MIAM) with a view to mediating issues such as spending time with their grandchildren. If they intend on making an application to court (and often this includes the further hoop of requesting permission from the court to apply for a court order) they will need to have attended a MIAM in any event.