Mediation successful, now what?

Hi,
My soon to be ex and I have so far been able to deal amicably with our divorce. I have a Decree Nisi, I am the applicant, and did all the paperwork myself, and we have just completed mediation. We have agreed about arrangements for the kids. We have agreed splits for the house and assets, and monthly child support. I believe he will pay this. I know we have to use a solicitor to draw up paperwork for the share of the equity in the house that he will retain. The mediator advised using the same solicitor to save money as there is no disagreement.

What else do we need to ask the solicitor to do?

Do I now apply for Decree Absolute?

Are there any obvious pitfalls I should be aware of?

What you need to do is to have what is known as a ' Consent Order ' - namely a Court order where the parties are agreed on the terms of the order which the Court is being asked to make. This is neither particularly difficult nor expensive, and as you say, the arrangements for the house, along with the other terms agreed between you, can be set out in the order.

One word of warning, my understanding that you should get your consent order first and only then apply for the decree absolute. By all means check this with your solicitor as you will be seeing him/her anyway, but I don't think I am wrong.

Wouldn't it be nice if all divorces were as straightforward as this ?

Mike 100468