Divorce and Clean Break Agreement.

RobertT

Hi Guys, I'm just after some advice.. My wife and I are going through a divorce after nearly 9 years of marriage, she has struggled with Alcoholism throughout the entire marriage and eventually it caused us to not have children, get into lots of debt and argue to the point whereby she went off with someone else and said she didn't want to be with me anymore. During the 9 years she only worked for about a third of that time, the rest of the time she stayed at home 24/7.. I have therefore filed for Divorce under the grounds of unreasonable behaviour due to her drinking and her starting a relationship with someone else who she is now living with.. She has agreed to the grounds of the divorce and we are keeping things fairly amicable.. At the end of the marriage we had no assets other than two cars which we kept one of each, we lived in rented accommodation and we both just took whatever furniture etc we wanted to keep.. We both have pensions which we have agreed not to touch.. My solicitor is pushing for me to get a financial settlement and clean break agreement put together, obviously at great cost to me, he states it is because if I were to sort out my finances and buy a house or anything else of value, she could try to claim 50% of it at a later date even if this is in ten years time..
Money is a little short as I am trying to get myself back into some kind of order, do I need to pay out for this? If I brought a house in 5 years time would she be able to claim it even if when we split and divorced we had nothing?? Is it even worth me going to work to pay of debt if everything I ever buy she can potentially claim a stake in??

Many thanks for reading this far!!

Caz3121

have you looked at the cost options
somewhere like this does it for £150 then £50 for the court fee
https://www.divorce-online.co.uk/divorce-services/consent-order-services/clean-break-consent-order-service

jackieblack

If you've agreed everything between you, some solicitors will do this for a fixed fee.

The peace of mind you'll get from having a sealed Consent Order will be well worth the cost.

TBagpuss

Yes, she could come back and make a claim against a house you buy in the future. She might or might not be successful, but defending a claim would be expensive.

It's worth getting an order drawn up now. Have you had any quotes from a soliciotr about likely cost?

RobertT

My solicitor seemed to think it would be around 1200 quid which is ridiculous.

jackieblack

RobertT wrote: »

My solicitor seemed to think it would be around 1200 quid which is ridiculous.

That is ridiculous if it's just for the CO. Or is that for the divorce as well?
You can deal with the divorce yourselves, the fee is £550 https://www.gov.uk/divorce/file-for-divorce

Just as an example, my solicitor charged a flat fee £350 to do the CO (last year), we had agreed everything between us before I saw him. You need the Decree Nisi before you can submit the CO to the court for approval and sealing and it becomes binding as soon as the Decree Absolute is issued.
https://www.gov.uk/money-property-when-relationship-ends/apply-for-consent-order

RobertT

Thanks for the info.. Can I use someone else to do the CO as i've already paid the solicitor a fixed fee for the divorce.. and if so do i have to get it done between the Decree Nisi and the Absolute? It's all a little bit of a maze to me??

newbutold

RobertT wrote: »

Thanks for the info.. Can I use someone else to do the CO as i've already paid the solicitor a fixed fee for the divorce.. and if so do i have to get it done between the Decree Nisi and the Absolute? It's all a little bit of a maze to me??

I did my divorce myself but paid a solicitor a fixed fee to draft the consent order which I then filed myself with the court. I told the solicitor what we (me & ex) had agreed and he wrote it and emailed it to me for a fixed fee of £240 inc vat. Solicitors round here charge £195 plus vat per hour. So I reckon you should not be paying more than an hours fee for them to do this.

Definitely worth getting one, as you don't want to get straight and her come claim half in years to come. Which can happen. Mine was quite straight forward, agreed he keeps his new house, I keep ex family home, my pension is mine, his is his, any debt or savings, each keep own. I mainly got it to spot him being able to come back in the future if ever I inherit or win the lotto (here's hoping) or decide that my house had faired better than his and wanting a share!

Good luck

newbutold

RobertT wrote: »

Thanks for the info.. Can I use someone else to do the CO as i've already paid the solicitor a fixed fee for the divorce.. and if so do i have to get it done between the Decree Nisi and the Absolute? It's all a little bit of a maze to me??

From everything I read at the time it was better to get it done between nisi and absolute, then get it done after absolute. You cannot apply for consent order before Nisi.

We were called before the judge for a 10 min hearing for him to satisfy himself that we had freely agreed to consent order & understand what we had agreed to as neither of us was represented by solicitor. At this hearing I took my absolute application with me and asked him if he would process at same time as consent order, so on the day I got both consent order and absolute agreed by judge! :T

karcher

newbutold wrote: »

I did my divorce myself but paid a solicitor a fixed fee to draft the consent order which I then filed myself with the court. I told the solicitor what we (me & ex) had agreed and he wrote it and emailed it to me for a fixed fee of £240 inc vat. Solicitors round here charge £195 plus vat per hour. So I reckon you should not be paying more than an hours fee for them to do this.

Definitely worth getting one, as you don't want to get straight and her come claim half in years to come. Which can happen. Mine was quite straight forward, agreed he keeps his new house, I keep ex family home, my pension is mine, his is his, any debt or savings, each keep own. I mainly got it to spot him being able to come back in the future if ever I inherit or win the lotto (here's hoping) or decide that my house had faired better than his and wanting a share!

Good luck

I admit to being lost for words, that even after a divorce, either ex (if I've understood correctly?) can come back and 'claim half' years later :eek:

I don't understand that at all, not that it affects me as I have never been married, but really, who makes up these laws?

This thread is an unbelievable eye opener for me, and could be devastating for anyone not clued up.

And there was me thinking divorce was exactly what it says on the tin...A Divorce!

newbutold

karcher wrote: »

I admit to being lost for words, that even after a divorce, either ex (if I've understood correctly?) can come back and 'claim half' years later :eek:

I don't understand that at all, not that it affects me as I have never been married, but really, who makes up these laws?

This thread is an unbelievable eye opener for me, and could be devastating for anyone not clued up.

And there was me thinking divorce was exactly what it says on the tin...A Divorce!

This is just one case I remember reading about but no doubt there are others.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3634949/Victory-hippy-millionaire-s-unemployed-ex-wife-wins-500-000-share-fortune-money-decade-broke-up.html