Consent Order Approval - would this get rejected by the court?

topcatz1

My husband and I are divorcing and trying to agree the financial split without lawyers being involved. We have agreed 50/50 house split (he has contributed more) and to leave out our own pension and even savings pots. My question is would this get rejected by the court even if we said we are happy to do it and have had legal advice?

Peter999_2

Funnily, I am in exactly the same situation and just waiting for it to go through.    We didn't want to waste money on solicitors when we knew exactly what we wanted to share.

It's with a judge now and we are waiting for their decision.    However, I have read that they can't actually change what you want to do, they can only ask for more information and question what you are doing.  Ultimately, the law seems to see you both as grown adults who can make their own decisions with the right information.

topcatz1

Great if that's the case. Are you sharing pension/savings pots? 

AskAsk

i am in the same situation.  we have a formal separation agreement drawn up by the solicitors but they haven't advised us on the merits of it.

the separation agreement has worded to invite the court to accept it as our decision so we will see what happens but i would expect the court to agree to it, if we are both happy with what we have agreed with and neither of us are in any financial need after the split.

the courts haven't yet got the process for amicable divorce as this is something new in the law but i would hope that as time goes on, this becomes more of a straightforward thing, where couples can decide between themselves of the split without the court interferrence.

i think they need to make sure no one is being taken advantage of, so you may need to satisfy the judge that you are both aware of your rights and have decided with this knowledge and have not been co-erced by anyone in your decision.

WYSPECIAL

Peter999_2 said:

Funnily, I am in exactly the same situation and just waiting for it to go through.    We didn't want to waste money on solicitors when we knew exactly what we wanted to share.

It's with a judge now and we are waiting for their decision.    However, I have read that they can't actually change what you want to do, they can only ask for more information and question what you are doing.  Ultimately, the law seems to see you both as grown adults who can make their own decisions with the right information.

They can refuse to order it as a court order though which then means you don't have a clean break.
If you don't have a clean break order than you are still open to future claims.

VyEu

The court only really rejects orders if it's massively one sided and leaves one party unable to meet their housing / income needs. You've had legal advice, is that on the d81 and/or the face of the consent order?

VyEu

AskAsk said:

i am in the same situation.  we have a formal separation agreement drawn up by the solicitors but they haven't advised us on the merits of it.

the separation agreement has worded to invite the court to accept it as our decision so we will see what happens but i would expect the court to agree to it, if we are both happy with what we have agreed with and neither of us are in any financial need after the split.

the courts haven't yet got the process for amicable divorce as this is something new in the law but i would hope that as time goes on, this becomes more of a straightforward thing, where couples can decide between themselves of the split without the court interferrence.

i think they need to make sure no one is being taken advantage of, so you may need to satisfy the judge that you are both aware of your rights and have decided with this knowledge and have not been co-erced by anyone in your decision.

Oh no, you don't have a formal consent order do you? I hate to tell you this but this leaves you open to financial claims.

The court system already can be very amicable and actually prefers consent orders. At the moment most consent orders don't get rejected unless they are he heavily one sided. You just need to sealed by the court really.

But if you want to take the risk of formal financial remedy proceedings (and it's based on current finances not just finances at point of separation) then that's your choice. 

AskAsk

VyEu said:

AskAsk said:

i am in the same situation.  we have a formal separation agreement drawn up by the solicitors but they haven't advised us on the merits of it.

the separation agreement has worded to invite the court to accept it as our decision so we will see what happens but i would expect the court to agree to it, if we are both happy with what we have agreed with and neither of us are in any financial need after the split.

the courts haven't yet got the process for amicable divorce as this is something new in the law but i would hope that as time goes on, this becomes more of a straightforward thing, where couples can decide between themselves of the split without the court interferrence.

i think they need to make sure no one is being taken advantage of, so you may need to satisfy the judge that you are both aware of your rights and have decided with this knowledge and have not been co-erced by anyone in your decision.

Oh no, you don't have a formal consent order do you? I hate to tell you this but this leaves you open to financial claims.

The court system already can be very amicable and actually prefers consent orders. At the moment most consent orders don't get rejected unless they are he heavily one sided. You just need to sealed by the court really.

But if you want to take the risk of formal financial remedy proceedings (and it's based on current finances not just finances at point of separation) then that's your choice. 

we are going to apply for the consent order, which is why the separation agreement is referring to the court proceedings and inviting the court to accept the signed separation agreement.  the agreement already states that we are in the process of a divorce.

we had to get the separation agreement done as we can't yet apply for the consent order because my ex-husband is still waiting for the transfer value of his pension from the teacher pension scheme and we don't have a timescale for when that will become available.  my ex-husband had applied for the transfer value last June and as yet, we are still waiting (angry emoticon)