Financial order

If you agree

You do not have to do any official paperwork if you agree about how to divide your money and property. But your agreement will not be legally binding, which means a court cannot enforce it.

If you want to make your agreement legally binding, we can help with the paperwork. We can draft a ‘consent order’ and ask a court to approve it – this makes it legally binding.

A consent order is a legal document that confirms your agreement. It explains how you’re going to divide up assets like:

• money
• property
• savings
• investments

It can also include arrangements for maintenance payments, including child maintenance.

You can ask the court to approve your consent order if both of the following apply:

• you’ve started the paperwork to divorce or end your civil partnership
• you have not yet applied for the final legal document to end the relationship

If you disagree

You can ask a court to make a ‘financial order’ if you cannot reach an agreement. This used to be called an ‘ancillary relief order’. This means the court will decide how assets will be split.

You must attend a meeting about mediation first – except in certain cases (there’s been domestic abuse, for example).

You can ask the court to make a financial order if both of the following apply:

• you’ve started the paperwork to divorce or end your civil partnership
• you have not yet applied for the final legal document to end the relationship

You can apply for a financial order to get things like:

• a lump sum payment
• ownership of a property
• regular maintenance payments to help with children or living expenses
• a share of your partner’s pension payments

How the court splits assets

If you ask a court to make a ‘financial order’, a judge will decide how assets will be split. They’ll base their decision on how long you’ve been married or in a civil partnership, as well as your:

• ages
• ability to earn
• property and money
• living expenses
• standard of living
• role in the marriage or civil partnership, for example if you were the breadwinner or primary carer

The judge will decide on the fairest way to divide the assets if there are enough assets to meet everyone’s needs.

The judge will make arrangements for any children first – especially their housing arrangements and child maintenance – if there is not enough.

The judge will usually try to arrange a ‘clean break’, so everything is shared out, and you no longer have any financial ties to one another.

HERE AT KINGDOM SOLICITORS WE SPECIALISE IN FINANCIAL ORDERS. CONTACT US TODAY SO THAT WE CAN START YOUR FINANCIAL MATTER STRAIGHT AWAY!