How a consent order works

A consent order is a court order that makes the financial agreement between you and your ex-spouse legally binding. It can cover property, savings, pensions, and maintenance, and it can end future claims between you. This guide explains what goes into a consent order, how the court approves it, and what happens afterwards.

What a consent order is

When a marriage or civil partnership ends, either of you can ask the court to decide how your money and property should be divided. This is called a financial remedy. If you agree the terms yourselves, you don't need the court to make that decision. You do need a judge to approve your agreement, though, so that it has the force of a court order.

That approved agreement is the consent order. Without one, financial claims stay open even after your divorce is finalised. An ex-spouse could make a claim years later, including against money or property you build up after you separate.

What it can cover

A consent order can deal with most parts of your finances, including:

• the family home, for example whether it is sold, transferred to one of you, or kept until a later date
• savings, investments, and other property
• a lump sum paid by one of you to the other
• pensions, through a pension sharing order (which splits a pension between you) or a pension attachment order (which pays part of a pension to the other person once it is drawn)
• spousal maintenance, meaning regular payments from one of you to the other
• a clean break, which ends future financial claims between you

Child maintenance is usually arranged separately, often through the Child Maintenance Service. A consent order can record agreed child maintenance, but either parent can usually apply to the Child Maintenance Service once the order has been in place for a year.

Reaching an agreement

You can reach an agreement in whatever way suits you: talking directly, through mediation, or with help from solicitors. Whichever route you take, you should each give full and honest information about your finances. This is called financial disclosure. The court relies on it, and an order made when one person has hidden assets can later be set aside.

One solicitor cannot act for both of you. You can each take your own advice, and one solicitor can draft the order for the other person to review.

How to apply

The court can only approve a consent order once a conditional order has been made in your divorce. A conditional order is the court's confirmation that you are entitled to a divorce. You can agree terms and prepare the paperwork before then.

An application usually includes:

1. The draft consent order, setting out exactly what you have agreed in the correct legal wording. You both sign it.
2. A statement of information (Form D81). This summarises your finances and circumstances so the judge can check the agreement is fair.
3. A pension sharing annex or pension attachment annex, if a pension is affected.
4. The court fee. Check the current fee on GOV.UK.

What the judge checks

A judge reads the paperwork, usually without a hearing, and checks that the agreement is broadly fair, looking at things like each person's needs, income and resources, the length of the marriage and, first of all, the welfare of any children under 18.

If the judge has concerns, they may ask for more information or suggest changes. Less often, they may list the case for a hearing. If they are satisfied, they approve the order and the court sends you a sealed copy.

When it takes effect

Most parts of a consent order don't take effect until the final order is made. The final order is the order that legally ends your marriage.

Think about timing. Some pension benefits, such as a widow's or widower's pension, can be lost once the final order is made. In some cases it makes sense to wait until the consent order is approved before applying for the final order.

If you plan to remarry, get advice before you do. Remarrying before a financial application has been made can stop you making some claims.

Once the order is in force, you need to carry it out. That might mean transferring a property, moving money, or sending the order to a pension provider so it can put a pension share into effect.

Can it be changed later?

Orders dividing property, savings, and pensions are usually final. Spousal maintenance can sometimes be varied, for example if one person's income changes a great deal. Some orders include a term that stops maintenance being extended beyond a set date.

A court will only set aside a consent order in limited situations, for example where one person hid assets or gave misleading information about their finances.

An agreement that is never turned into a court order does not give you this certainty, so a consent order is worth having even if you are on good terms or have little to divide. For more on dividing finances, see divorce and financial settlements.