What Is A Clean Break Order?

If you are divorcing, a clean break order permanently dismisses all future financial claims between you and your former spouse. In England and Wales, under section 25A of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 the court must consider whether a clean break can be achieved immediately or in the foreseeable future in every financial remedy case. The Ministry of Justice recorded 48,620 financial remedy cases starting in 2025, and a substantial share conclude with a clean break clause forming part of the final Consent Order. A clean break only closes financial claims between you and your former spouse; it never affects your child maintenance obligations.

Woman standing by a window symbolising financial independence after a clean break order in divorce

Last reviewed: 17th August 2026

Article summary

✓ A clean break order dismisses all future financial claims between you and your former spouse, protecting you both from being pursued over income, property or capital acquired later in life.

✓ Section 25A of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 requires the court to consider whether a clean break is appropriate in every case, including yours.

✓ You can usually close capital claims like the family home, savings or pensions immediately, while spousal maintenance claims are sometimes kept open for a fixed term for example until minor children achieve a particular age.

✓ A clean break can often be achieved by one party paying an additional lump sum to buy out spousal maintenance and achieve an immediate clean break.

✓ Once a clean break order is sealed, you cannot normally reopen it, except in the rare circumstances recognised as a Barder event.

✓ A clean break has no effect on child maintenance, which remains a separate and ongoing obligation regardless of your financial settlement’s terms.

You assume that once your divorce goes through, the financial ties end with it. Unfortunately, this is not the case, at least not automatically. A couple divorcing after a short, childless marriage may find it relatively easy to agree to a clean break, with each keeping their own pension and splitting the sale proceeds of their flat. Contrast this with and a couple married for 20 years in a similar position where one spouse had given up their career to raise children and requires a period of spousal maintenance payments before any clean break could be deemed fair. As with every family law case, every outcome is different because no two families are alike.

Divorce ends your marriage, but it does not, by itself, end the financial relationship between you and your former spouse. Financial claims stay open indefinitely unless a specific order closes them, and that gap is exactly what a clean break order is designed to fill.

This article forms part of our wider guide to divorce and financial settlements

What does a clean break order actually do

A clean break order permanently ends your right, and your former spouse’s right, to bring a financial claim against the other’s income, capital, or pension in the future. Once sealed, neither of you can reopen the financial side of your marriage.

Section 25A of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 places a duty on the court to consider, in every case, whether it would be appropriate to exercise its powers so that your financial obligations towards each other are terminated as soon after your divorce order as the court considers just and reasonable. However, the court retains discretion and must consider all circumstances, including the financial needs and resources of the parties.

A clean break clause is included within a Consent Order alongside your substantive financial terms, rather than standing alone. Once approved, the clause protects you from being pursued years later if your income rises sharply, or if you acquire post separation savings or assets, and protects you equally if your former spouse remarries or their circumstances change.

A clean break covers capital and income claims between you and your former spouse, including claims against inheritance and future earnings. It has no bearing on your children: financial provision for a minor child continues under separate arrangements regardless of any clean break you agree between yourselves.

Is a clean break always achievable straight away?

A clean break is not always achievable straight away, and the court can order a deferred clean break if you genuinely need time to become financially independent. Claims on any capital can usually close immediately, even where maintenance cannot.

The House of Lords in Miller v Miller; McFarlane v McFarlane [2006] UKHL 24 recognised that an immediate clean break, while often the preferred outcome, is not always fair, particularly if you have suffered a lasting career disadvantage from time spent out of the workforce raising children. In cases like this, the court can order maintenance for a fixed term, deferring your clean break until that term ends rather than dismissing all claims on the day of the final order.

A deferred clean break fixes a specific date or event, such as your child finishing full-time education, after which your maintenance claim terminates permanently alongside any remaining capital claims. This structure gives you a defined timescale to retrain, return to work, or otherwise become self-sufficient, while still guaranteeing your former spouse an end date.

The Court can also make a spousal maintenance order extendable after the fixed term comes to an end if there is doubts about whether a clean break is achievable. For example, a court could order spousal maintenance until a child is 18 and has ceased full time secondary education but make the term extendable so that you could return to the court before the Order comes to an end if you need on-going spousal maintenance and a clean break is not appropriate.

The court may prioritise achieving a clean break through capital adjustments where possible so that a lump sum is paid to buy out on-going spousal maintenance payments and give the parties immediate financial independence. However, the court must ensure that such arrangements do not result in unfairness or undue hardship

Can a clean break order be reopened later?

You cannot normally reopen a clean break order once sealed by the court, except in the rare circumstances recognised as a Barder event, following Barder v Caluori [1988] AC. Courts treat finality as central to the purpose of a clean break.

A Barder event refers to a fundamental change in circumstances occurring shortly after your financial order is made, so significant that the change undermines the basis on which the order was reached. If you are seeking to set aside an order on this basis, you must show the new event was unforeseen, fundamentally invalidates the original assumptions, and that you applied without delay. Courts apply this test narrowly and grant it rarely, because you and your former spouse both need to be able to rely on the finality a clean break provides.

Outcome	Finality for you	Can it be varied later
Immediate clean break	Complete on sealing	No, except in exceptional Barder circumstances
Deferred clean break	Complete once the fixed term ends	Maintenance can be varied before the term ends
Joint lives maintenance order	No clean break in place	Yes, on application to the court

Talk to Purcell Solicitors

If you want certainty that your financial ties with your former spouse end when your divorce does, we can draft or negotiate the clean break clause your Consent Order needs. Our family law team drafts clean break clauses and Consent Orders across Milton Keynes, and you can reach us through our contact page.