Financial Matters

Financial Advice on Breakdown of Relationships (Cont...)

Consent Orders

You and your partner may be able to settle financial aspects without the need to fight each other in the courts. If you do agree, you may want the agreement put into a court order to be sure that your partner keeps to the agreement in the future.

A 'Consent Order' sets out the agreement reached between you and your partner. The Consent Order can deal with the division of money, property, life insurance, pensions, savings etc.

You can also agree on the amount of maintenance to be paid for the children, if you are happy to do so and this will avoid the need to apply to the Child Support Agency.

You and your partner should sign the Consent Order. You will both be required to complete a form known as a 'Statement of Information' form. You will have to give details about amongst other things, your income and capital and details of where you are living and whether you have any future plans to remarry or live with someone else.

This information is then sent to the court together with the Consent Order. It will help the court to decide whether the agreement you have reached with your partner is fair.

You will not need to attend court, the court will rubber stamp the Consent Order if they are happy with it and send it back to your solicitors.

The Consent Order acts as a contract between yourself and your partner. If your partner breaks the agreement you can go back to court to enforce the agreement against your partner.

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The articles on legal topics published in these pages are for interest only and are necessarily general in their terms. You should not act (or refrain from acting) on the basis of the information given without specific advice, as the principles and laws concerned may change, and their application will vary according to the particular circumstances.