What is a consent order?
Marriage creates financial obligations towards one another. These obligations don’t end just because you get a divorce. A divorce only ends the marriage contract. It doesn’t deal with finances or splitting assets. The finances following divorce are a separate matter and these are called Financial Remedy proceedings.
Many Financial Remedy claims go to court. Lots of these are settled through negotiation. If you have an excellent team of lawyers, they will often be able to negotiate a settlement for you, without your case going all the way to a trial. An agreement reached through negotiations is written up and called a ‘Consent Order’.
No agreement between divorcing couples is valid, unless it is in the form of a Consent Order, approved by a court.
A consent order is a legal document issued by a court. It is basically a court order, but the reason it is called a Consent Order, is that it is a court order that the parties agreed between themselves. In other words, they consented to it.
A Consent Order details how joint assets are to be divided following a divorce. Consent Orders cover all finances including money, property, investments, pensions and savings. Consent Orders can also include details of spousal maintenance and child maintenance payments from one spouse to the other.
A properly written Consent Order uses some legal language to set out in detail not just the agreement that the divorcing couple have reached, but also the reasons. These reasons, are called Recitals. In addition, spouses can use consent orders to make official legally enforceable ‘promises’ to do certain things. These are called ‘Undertakings’. A breach of an Undertaking can result in being in ‘contempt of court’ which means you can be fined and even go to prison.
Once a Consent Order is approved by a court, it has the same power as a court order. In other words, it is generally final.
It is crucial that Consent Orders are drafted properly by an expert. A lot of the work we receive is from clients who have badly drafted Consent Orders prepared by poorly qualified advisors which lead to bigger problems down the road.
A consent order can include:
- How capital & income and pensions will be distributed
- A precise date when payments will come to an end
- Enforcement for delayed or unpaid maintenance payments from an ex-spouse
- How certain assets such as pensions or investments will be split
A consent order is the only way you can be certain that any agreement you reach with your ex will be legally enforceable.
Should you have any queries about your own personal circumstances, you should contact us or email us before proceeding any further.
Some couples think they don’t need a final Consent Order because they have very little assets, or they agree amicably between themselves who gets what. If you do not resolve the finances of your divorce with a Consent Order and one day you come into money, perhaps an inheritance or you receive a major increase in salary or better still you manage to win a lottery, if there is no Consent Order then there is nothing to stop your ex-spouse bringing a financial claim against you, even if you have been divorced for years.
Ensuring that you embody your financial split in a consent order may well end up saving you hundreds of thousands of pounds in the long-run. Consider it another insurance policy.
If you already have a Consent Order and are considering appealing your Consent Order or challenging it – contact us – we have exceptional experience in challenging and setting aside badly drafted or unfair consent orders.
Should you have any queries about your own personal circumstances, you should contact us or email us before proceeding any further.
Want to learn more about Consent Orders:
Appealing a Consent Order – General Overview
The Barder Principle in Appealing Consent Orders
Setting Aside Consent Orders because of Undue Influence or Duress
Challenging or Appealing a Divorce Consent Order
Challenging a Divorce Consent Order because your Spouse didn’t tell the truth
Challenging a Consent Order because of Fraud or Misrepresentation
