Both can sit beside you in family court. Almost everything else differs: training, insurance, duties to the court, rights of audience, and what happens when things go wrong.
Regulation: solicitors are SRA-regulated with mandatory training, insurance and a complaints mechanism; MFs are unregulated. Duties: solicitors owe duties to the court and professional conduct rules; MFs owe practical confidentiality but no disciplinary framework. Audience: solicitors have it automatically; MFs must ask.
Cost: typical one-day opposed hearing with a solicitor runs to four figures; an MF might charge a few hundred. Risk: an unregulated MF's mistake is your problem; a solicitor's is (in principle) insurable and complains-able.
High stakes or safeguarding allegations: solicitor or legal aid. Tight budget, organised case, opposed directions or straightforward contested hearing: MF support while you self-represent. Both can work - the failure mode is treating an MF as a cheap solicitor without understanding what they cannot lawfully do.
Support roles: note-taking, paper organisation, quiet prompts, moral support - plus submissions if the judge grants right of audience on request. They cannot conduct litigation (issue applications, file documents on your behalf) without a separate court grant under FPR r.15.15A-style provisions.
Cost-adjusted, often yes for preparation and presence. But for cases involving alleged abuse, social-services involvement, or complex financial entanglement, a solicitor (or legal aid, where available) is the right tool - MFs fill the gap for straightforward opposed hearings.
Yes - no qualification, registration or insurance is legally required. The 2010 Practice Guidance sets expectations (experience, no interest in the case, confidentiality) and judges apply a case-by-case test. The market is unregulated: vetting is yours.
Commonly £30-£90/hour for professional MFs; day rates for hearings; family members and volunteers often free. Compare with solicitors at £150-£350+/hour (region-dependent) - the gap explains the MF market.
MFs who overstep: arguing from the bar without audience, coaching loudly, or turning hearings into debates. Judges also dislike disorganised bundles and personal attacks - from anyone.