Financial Consent Orders
Theodore Roosevelt
“I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”
A common misconception in respect of divorce is parties believing that once the divorce has been finalised and they have received their Decree Absolute that this ends any financial claims between them.
Sadly, this is not the case. During a divorce, if the parties do not also make an application to close their respective financial claims on one another, the claims will be left open indefinitely, and even on death claims can be made from an ex -spouse’s estate. It is therefore essential that you obtain advice on how to close those financial claims and either reach a clean break order between the parties, or a financial order setting out who gets what. One of the trickiest aspects of a divorce is navigating the terms of an agreement covering how your financial assets will be shared between you and your spouse.
It is important to ensure that your financial agreement will provide you with a sufficient income and assets in order to meet your need and that the financial agreement is fair to both parties. There are various ways to negotiate a settlement including mediation, voluntary financial disclosure of income, assets and liabilities or issuing proceedings in the Family Court. More details can be found here.
If an agreement on the financial arrangements is achieved between the parties rather than one being imposed by the Court, then we can draft this financial agreement into a legally binding agreement for you. This legally binding agreement is called a Consent Order.
What does a consent order cover?
A consent order will set out the exact terms of the financial agreement reached between you and your spouse, including:
- Who will own the family home going forward and who has responsibility for any mortgage
- Who will own any investment properties
- What will happen to your individual and joint bank accounts, building society accounts and national savings accounts
- What will happen to any shares, PEPs, ISAs, TESSAs, bonds, stocks, unit trusts, investment trusts, gilts etc. held by you or your spouse
- Whether life insurance polices will continue
- The distribution of personal assets, cars, art collections, furniture, jewellery etc.
- Who will take responsibility for any liabilities (loans, credit cards, overdrafts, hire purchase agreements etc.)
- If either of you own a business, what will happen to the business in terms of directorships, shares etc.
- Whether there will be any sharing of pensions
- Consideration of all sources of income and whether monthly payments of child or spousal maintenance are agreed
Why do I need a consent order?
A consent order provides you with the security of knowing your financial agreement on divorce is legally binding. This means that your spouse cannot make any future claim outside of the agreement from you on any of your assets and income or future assets and income.
How much will a consent order cost?
We offer a variety of fixed fees on negotiating and finalising your financial agreement into a consent order which we would be happy to discuss with you today.
The fixed fee for a consent order starts at £1,000 + VAT.
Contact Us
For further information in regards to consent orders, contact out expert team today.
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