1. IF you and your partner split up over Christmas or consider it, call the Family Mediation Helpline on 0845 60 26 627 to find out about your options for agreeing the difficult decisions about the practicalities of breaking up.

2. Have realistic expectations of Christmas. If you and your partner or ex-partner have had good relations all year, you may well have a jolly time at Christmas. If you’ve had a bumpy ride this year, this Christmas will probably be a little frosty.

3. If you and the other parent of your kids live apart, don’t blow the importance of a few days out of all proportion. It’s more important to try to attend sports days and school plays all year round than to be the one waking up with the kids in their house this year.

4. Don’t blow your top if their presents are thoughtless because in the long run other things are more important. The most important thing if your relationship is strained, or has ended, is to keep the lines of communication open with your other half.

5. If you have children, make sure you keep them at the centre of everything. You should consider their best interests first and foremost in all important decisions.

6. Just because people may expect you to spend all day as a family, remember that family comes in different shapes and sizes. If you can make it work for you then that’s a good family Christmas.

The vast majority of the general public are unsure of what family mediation is; only 22% of people were able to correctly say that mediation is a way to decide how to break up with a partner and solve disputes without battling in court.

One in twelve people in the UK (8.5%) think that family mediation is a form of group meditation.

The Family Mediation Helpline sees a surge in calls every January from people who have decided to split up with their partner and want to resolve disputes about finances, property and child-care arrangements without battling it out in court. The helpline number is 0845 60 26 627 or www.familymediationhelpline. co.uk.

The helpline offers general information on family mediation, advice on whether cases are suitable for mediation, information about eligibility for public funding, and contact details for mediation services in the caller’s local area.

Family mediation helps couples to talk to each other once they have decided to split up, with a trained professional, in order to make their own arrangements for the future.