Clean break order

same_ol_story

Myself and my soon to be ex-husband have agreed on a clean break order which to a judge may seem unfair due to this being a 5/95% split. However there are reasons for this and we're both keen to get this finalised. We have both had legal advice and understand the consequences of the order.
My questions are as follows-
Is the judge likely to reject the order?
If they do, how can we remedy this?

Accountant_Kerry

they may well question it and ask you to confirm you have had proper legal advice, that's about it

jackieblack

As you are probably aware, a judge has more flexibility in approving an agreement that has been made amicably between the couple than they have if they have to decide on the financial split between a couple who cannot come to a mutual agreement, however they still have to be satisfied that it is ‘fair’ to both parties. (‘Fair’, obviously, can be quite subjective.)  Our Consent Order would appear to outsiders to have been heavily in my favour, but there were a myriad of factors involved which were important and relevant to the two of us after our 26 years together, but which wouldn't have been considered had the judge had to make the decision for us.

When negotiating our agreement, we were advised that 70/30 was about the point at which the judge would start to ask questions, and we were advised to submit a joint letter explaining some of the reasons behind our agreement. (The judge doesn’t necessarily need to agree with these reasons, but must be satisfied that they are mutually freely agreed.)

After submitting our Consent Order the judge had two queries regarding particular figures in our agreement and also wanted written confirmation that my ex-husband had taken legal advice (he had, he had been advised (as we both knew) that he was entitled to a larger % according to legal guidelines, but he happily exercised his right to ignore this).  After answering these points the judge sealed the Consent Order with no further questions. The solicitor who drew up the CO said that the judge might want to speak with us both if he had any further concerns, but he didn’t.

(Five years on we have remained on good terms and, even though things haven't exactly worked out for my ex-husband exactly as he thought they would, he remains perfectly happy with what we agreed and has no regrets.)

Ultimately, if the judge cannot be persuaded that your agreement is ’fair’, it could be rejected. If the judge refuses to grant a consent order, a legally binding clean break settlement cannot be achieved, leaving either of you free to make a claim against the other’s assets in the future.

sweetsand

Hi
Slightly OT but lets say someone else was to go for a 5/95% split and there was a reason behind this, one half expecting to go bankrupt, money claim against them etc so a fake split in order to avoid - would the just be aware of that and/or if the judge allowed the split those claiming, could they chase the person that has a lot less assets and this was done in avoidance. I hope I'm clear and this is not aimed at the OP but something that someone that is trying to do that we know. Thanks and sorry for the slighty OT
x

Scottishgal87

sweetsand said:

Hi
Slightly OT but lets say someone else was to go for a 5/95% split and there was a reason behind this, one half expecting to go bankrupt, money claim against them etc so a fake split in order to avoid - would the just be aware of that and/or if the judge allowed the split those claiming, could they chase the person that has a lot less assets and this was done in avoidance. I hope I'm clear and this is not aimed at the OP but something that someone that is trying to do that we know. Thanks and sorry for the slighty OT
x

Once again IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU! What has this got to do with the Op has asked? Nothing. So why don’t you just go back to driving your many cars and looking after your numerous rental properties. ( PS They do this all the time - make it about them,  use poor grammar and spelling and give out quite frankly useless advice).