Financial Vs consent order difference?

Hi all,

getting the ball rolling here finally even though my ex was the one that left / wanted the divorce. Suspect I'm the one filing because they dont want to pay the £550 to the courts. Anyway I digress.

The application service on gov.uk has the below

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Dividing your money and property
If you disagree with your wife about how your property, money, pensions and other assets will be split, then you can ask the court to decide for you. This includes maintenance payments.

These decisions are called 'financial orders'. You can apply for orders for yourself, and/or, if appropriate, for your children.

If you both agree on how to split your money and property and want to make it legally binding, you can apply for a 'Consent Order'.

Do you want to apply for a financial order?
Yes / No

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Its asking me if I want to apply for a financial order. I'm viewing this as a bit premature as the legal divorce process hasn't even started so this hasn't been broached at all. I say "legal divorce process" because we've been separated since 2015 and so emotionally we've both moved on and she's now with someone else.

Anyway, is the financial order purely if you disagree? I'd like to think we'd agree on things and therefore will not require one. But theres always the chance we wont. I don't want to apply for something I may not need. Similarly, if I say "no" and things dont go smoothly, can I get one later?

This is a good point. You could follow the process through and see where you get to. If a consent order is an option that will be £50 whereas a financial application is £255.

The difference between the two is that parties often try to negotiate a settlement without the court but they need the court to approve and agreement which is where a consent order comes in.

You both agree what terms are to be placed in an order and as you both consent to those terms you submit an application for an order by consent. You then get a 'consent order' as opposed to an 'order' which is that which is imposed by the court after a trial.

As you say though, this is premature, you cannot apply for a financial order until the divorce petition has been issued.

Charles

Hi Charles,

Thanks for the reply. Yes it isn't very clear is it. After more reading I did say "yes" because I view the financial order essentially as a Clean Break which is ultimately what I would like for my own sanity.