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A property adjustment order is a type of court order relating to property on divorce or separation. Examples of a this type of order are: an order transferring a property from joint names to one name; an order that one person receives more than half of the equity on a sale; and an order postponing … Read more
How are property adjustment orders and stamp duty linked on divorce/dissolution? In this article I am going to talk about property adjustment orders and stamp duty. I will refer to spouses generally, but the rules apply to civil partners as well. I will use the term divorce more often than dissolution of civil partnership but … Read more
Unsurprisingly, a fair consent order is all about getting the balance right. There are four key steps to take that may help you achieve this. Gather information. You need to have all the details about the value of your assets and bills, to be able to make important choices and informed decisions. A summary of … Read more
When do you need to tell your mortgage lender you are applying for a financial remedy order (even a consent order)? You must inform your mortgage lender when you are making an application for a financial remedy order and it is an application relating to land. This applies to consent orders and applications that are not by … Read more
There are times when you may find that you need to change the terms of a consent order by agreement. For example, you have a consent order for the sale of the family home and now in fact you want to transfer it from joint names to one name instead. Do you need to change … Read more
The answer to this is no, I’m afraid not.
A consent order is a legally binding agreement.
It requires the agreement of both parties to the marriage/civil partnership and the approval of the court.
Both you and your husband/wife/civil partner will need to sign all the forms including the Form A, the D81 and the order itself.
Read moreCan I send in a consent order without the agreement of my husband/wife?
You can’t download a consent order from the court website. So, you need to draft one (or arrange for a solicitor or barrister to draft one for you). A consent order needs to fit your requirements perfectly. One size doesn’t fit all.
The court only accepts court orders prepared in an approved format. This is usually best done by a solicitor who specialises in this type of family law.
I use court approved precedents like those produced by Resolution the Solicitors Family Law Association for its members.
Read moreCan I download a consent order form from the court website?
This form can be downloaded from the court service website here. It is used to start an application for a financial order on divorce – whether that is for a consent order or not. It is a long form and not very user-friendly. We supply a completed form with both our clean break consent order … Read more
The form A application for a financial order asks for the address of any property which is the subject of an application for a property adjustment order to be inserted “in the box below”. There are two issues with this. First of all as you will see to the left, there isn’t a box. Secondly … Read more
Best practice is to have the order first and I will try to explain why.
Mr and Mrs Williams are getting a divorce. They’ve been separated for a while and they’ve agreed that Mr Williams will stay in the family home and buy out his wife. He has been to a financial adviser and applied for a mortgage. The value of the house and the amount he is paying to his wife has been agreed.
All is going to plan and the couple are reasonably amicable. They both want to draw a line under their finances after the transaction has completed and they know that the best way to do this is to have a consent order in which there will be “clean break” clauses.
This type of order means that there can be no further claims for more money or property between each of them in the future, even after either of them dies.
But, in order to obtain the order, not only do Mr and Mrs Williams have to agree to the terms, the District Judge has to agree that the terms are fair to them both as well.
Read moreAll I want is a clean break. Can we transfer the house first?