Do You Need a Consent Order After Your Divorce?

Article Summary

• A Consent Order is a court-approved document that makes your agreed financial settlement legally binding. Without one, financial claims between former spouses can remain open for years.
• Informal agreements, even written ones, carry no legal force. Only a sealed court order gives you the protection you need.
• A judge reviews every Consent Order before approving it, checking that the terms are fair. There is usually no hearing.
• Applications are made through the HMCTS portal once the divorce has reached the conditional order stage. The court fee is £60.
• Court approval typically takes between two and six weeks, though complex orders or periods of high court workload can extend this.

What a Consent Order Is

A Consent Order is a court-approved legal document that records the financial agreement reached by two people divorcing or dissolving a civil partnership. It sets out how assets such as property, pensions, savings, and investments will be divided and can also cover spousal maintenance, lump-sum payments, and child maintenance if agreed. Once a judge has reviewed and sealed it, the order becomes legally binding and enforceable.

The divorce itself and the financial settlement are two separate legal processes. A final order ends the marriage, but it does not resolve finances. Financial claims between former spouses remain open indefinitely unless a court order closes them. An exception to this is that financial claims against the other’s assets or income terminate on remarriage. A Consent Order provides finality. It converts a private agreement into a court order which can be relied upon.

Why You Need One

Many separating couples reach informal agreements about money and property. They divide things between themselves and assume the matter is settled. It is not. Without a consent order, any agreement you reach, whether spoken or written, has no legal standing. A court may not enforce an agreement you believe you have reached if your former spouse later changes their mind or fails to honour what was agreed.

The consequences can be severe. A former spouse could bring a financial claim years after your divorce and we have experience of many cases where this has happened. Not only does this cause considerable anxiety and distress many years after you believed financial matters were concluded, but you will have legal costs of dealing with this. In addition you will have to disclose your financial position at that time, which could be many years later and your financial position then will be taken into account when the court assesses what financial settlement is fair. Your former spouse could seek a share of a pension, an inheritance, or property you purchased with a new partner long after the marriage ended. The only way to prevent this is to obtain a court order that formally dismisses all future claims. A Consent Order achieves precisely this.

What a Consent Order Contains

The content depends on the financial provisions negotiated and agreed. Common provisions include:

• Transfer of the family home to one spouse, or its sale and the division of proceeds
• Lump sum payments from one party to the other
• Pension sharing orders, which split a pension fund between the parties
• Spousal maintenance, specifying regular payments for a defined period or on a joint lives basis
• Child maintenance arrangements (though these are often dealt with separately through the Child Maintenance Service)
• A clean break clause, which dismisses all future financial claims between the parties

The order must reflect a fair division of assets. Simply agreeing on terms between yourselves does not guarantee approval. A judge will scrutinise every Consent Order before sealing it.

How to Apply for a Consent Order

You can apply for a Consent Order once your divorce has reached the conditional order stage. For divorces issued before April 2022, the equivalent stage was decree nisi.

The process involves several steps:

• Both parties agree on the financial terms through direct negotiation, mediation, solicitor-led negotiations, or another form of dispute resolution.
• A solicitor drafts the consent order, setting out the agreed terms in precise legal language.
• Both parties sign the draft consent order.
• Both parties complete a Statement of Information (Form D81), providing the court with a summary of their respective financial positions.
• One party files a Form A (notice of application for a financial order), marked ‘for dismissal purposes only’.
• The signed consent order, Forms D81 and A, and the £60 court fee are submitted to the court.

The Judge’s Role

A judge reviews every Consent Order before it is sealed. The court’s role is not to act as a rubber stamp. The judge examines the financial information provided in the Forms D81 to satisfy themselves that the agreement is fair and reasonable in all the circumstances.

There is usually no court hearing. If the judge considers the order fair, it is approved and sealed without either party attending. If the judge is not satisfied, they may return the order with questions or request amendments. Where both parties have received independent legal advice and negotiated within accepted parameters following full financial disclosure, approval is the usual outcome.

How Long Does It Take?

Once the signed Consent Order and supporting documents have been submitted, court approval typically takes between two and four weeks. Some orders are approved within days if the reviewing judge has capacity. More complex orders or periods of high court workload can extend the timeframe to six weeks or more. Ensuring all documents are correctly completed and signed avoids unnecessary delays.

The Cost of Getting It Wrong

Failing to obtain a Consent Order is one of the most common and costly mistakes in divorce. Consider a person who agrees informally to have their former spouse keep the family home in exchange for a cash payment. If that payment stops after the first instalment, there is no court order to enforce. The person who gave up their share of the property has no legal remedy and may need to start proceedings from scratch.

A Consent Order eliminates that risk. It gives both parties the certainty that their agreed financial arrangements will be respected and the legal tools to enforce them if they are not. Specialist family law solicitors at Purcell Solicitors can advise on your financial settlement, draft your consent order, and manage the court application on your behalf.