Consent Order Review: Life Insurance and Car on Finance—Advice Needed

chrisj1762

Hi everyone,

I’m in the process of finalising a Consent Order following my divorce and would really appreciate some feedback to ensure everything is covered properly. I’m trying to handle this on my own to save money, as I’ve been struggling financially and have used legal aid in a family law court case.

The Consent Order includes a clean break between myself and my ex, intended to prevent any future financial claims. However, I’m concerned about a couple of specific areas that haven’t been directly addressed:

1. Life Insurance Policies: We had joint life insurance policies during the marriage, but these have now been cancelled. Should these be mentioned in the Consent Order even though they no longer exist? I want to ensure there’s no possibility of future claims or issues related to these.

2. Car Bought on Finance: My ex bought a car on finance, but it was registered in my name with the DVLA. Since our separation, we’ve signed it back over to him via the DVLA. Should this be included in the Consent Order to ensure there’s no confusion around ownership or financial responsibility, especially as it was financed?

Any advice on whether these should be explicitly mentioned, or if the clean break clause already covers them, would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help!

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In the Family Court

 

Case Number:

Court:

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Between:

Applicant: APPLICANT NAME

Respondent: RESPONDENT NAME

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Consent Order

 

Recitals

1. The Parties
   The Applicant, NAME, and the Respondent, NAME, were married on XX June XXXX and separated on XX October XXXX. They have one child of the family, NAME, born on XX September XXXX. The Decree Nisi has been granted, and the parties have agreed to apply for the Decree Absolute upon the approval of this Consent Order.
2. Child Arrangements
   A Child Arrangements Order is already in place, providing that NAME shall live with the Applicant, and the Respondent shall have supervised video contact with the child fortnightly. This Consent Order does not address child maintenance or alter these existing arrangements.
3. Clean Break
   The parties confirm that they do not have any shared assets or debts, and they agree that neither will make future financial claims against the other. This agreement is a full and final settlement of all financial claims arising from the marriage.

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Orders by Consent

 

The parties hereby agree as follows:

1. Clean Break Order
   It is ordered by consent that this Consent Order shall serve as a clean break between the Applicant and Respondent. This clean break applies to all financial claims, including but not limited to:

• All claims for income or spousal maintenance;
• All claims for capital, lump sums, transfers of property, or variation of settlements;
• All claims in respect of each other’s pensions;
• All claims in respect of personal belongings, including furniture, artwork, jewellery, and motor vehicles;
• All claims against each other’s estate upon death;
• Any other financial claims in any jurisdiction, whether in England and Wales or elsewhere.

Solvency Declaration
Both parties declare that they are solvent as at the date of signing this Consent Order, confirming they can pay their own debts as they fall due and that the value of their assets equals or exceeds their liabilities, including contingent and prospective liabilities.

Costs
There shall be no order as to costs. Each party shall bear their own legal costs in relation to these proceedings and the preparation of this Consent Order.

Liberty to Apply
Both parties shall have liberty to apply to the court for assistance with implementing the terms of this order if any issues arise regarding timing or enforcement.

Finality
This Consent Order is intended to be a full and final settlement of all financial claims between the parties arising out of their marriage. Neither party shall make any further financial claims against the other.

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Signatures

 

By signing this Consent Order, each party confirms that they understand its terms, have received independent legal advice, and intend to be bound by it.

 

Applicant:
Signed: ____________________________
Date: ____________________________

 

Respondent:
Signed: ____________________________
Date: ____________________________

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RAS

Are you in contact with wikivorce? 

chrisj1762

RAS said:

Are you in contact with wikivorce? 

Sorry I'm not sure what that is?! I'll have a Google.

VyEu

This is terribly drafted (why is the solvency declaration in the orders section? This isn't something the court can order). And if you receive legal advice, as the order says you will do, they will also tell you that.

If you refuse to hire a solicitor to actually draft it, are you using the precedent? Google standard financial remedy orders on divorce, you want the may 2024 updated version..order 2.1 is the financial remedy order precedent.

In relation to the life insurance, you can add it in as a recital or as a general declaration/agreement (this should be before the orders section and after the definition section) as to what happened i.e. you had it but then cancelled the policy. 

As for the car, same as above. 

You've done a d81 form as well right? So an alternative would be to add the extra info into box 13.