consent order or not

Hi
Finally my wife has sent a letter to my solicitor telling that she won''t claim any costs against me if I sign the divorce papers and send them to court. Now I m not sure if this is same as Consent Order or my solicitor should draw one for both of to sign.If that is the case, does she have any reason not to sign it ? We didn''t have any properties or savings when we were together.I have a job that is just enough to live properly. Plus, I pay my own rent but she is living with her parents, for free. Her father owns a house so I was thinking if she doesn''t sign the consent order, would I be able to claim part of her inheritance in the future ? One last thing, my credit card has 2700 pounds debt on it and it was gathered while we were together. Does that make any difference ?
Thanks in advance.

It seems to be for the actual divorce to me.Consent Order,finances,are usually done after Decree Nisi is granted.When going for the Consent Order you will both have to declare income,savings etc before it can be granted.

I think you are right, i was thinking the same thing but wasn''t quite sure if that was the case.

Thanks a bunch

There''s 2 different ''Consent''s - one consenting to a divorce (not contesting it) and a Consent Order, which is which is the financial arrangements. A Clean Break order is one where once it is signed neither of you can make a financial claim on the other at a future date.

The Divorce (the ending of the marriage) is separate to the childcare and financial arrangements - all are dealt with separately, but the time-scales are dictated by certain points within the ending of the marriage. For example the Finances can not be rubber stamped until the Divorce is at the Decree Nisi stage and does not take affect until the Decree Absolute stage.

The Consent Order is that you both agree to the dividing up of the marital pot. The marital pot is all your assets (house equity, savings, pensions). It is also agreed what happens with the debt.

Its better if you can agree between you - or use mediation, otherwise if you decide Court is the route, a Judge will decide. Court tends to be a long (1 year +) and expensive process, before going down this route, its worth getting an estimate from your solicitor and weighing up what you''d gain/lose within an agreement vs what you''d lose in legal fees going to Court - you don''t want to pay out £30k arguing over £40k ................

Have a look at this link showing step by step guide:
www.wikivorce.com/divorce/Step-By-Step-G...de/Introduction.html

WR