FILE DRAFT FINANCIAL CONSENT ORDER, WHILE WAITING FOR DECREE NISI

CAN WE STILL FILE A DRAFT FINANCIAL Consent Order, WHILE WAITING FOR THE Decree Nisi TO COME BACK ??

---

Hi everyone – hope you can help…

I filed/served a divorce petition last year, which was undefended – but due to an oversight by the solicitors, the decree nisi was then never applied for.
(long story, and not really important …fact is, it wasn’t done)

It has now been applied for (this week), and I have confirmation that the application is now with the court waiting to be dealt with. It’s not a complicated divorce, so should be no issues.

Meantime, my soon-to-be-ex-wife and I have finally reached an agreement on financials, and are preparing to get an agreed draft consent order written up. This will then be signed and sent to court along with the other docs (covering letter, disclosure form Etc).

The divorce and the financial remedy application are being dealt with by two different courts (not unusual it seems, and the two aspects share the same case number).
---
My question is, although the decree nisi is not yet granted – it has at least been requested, and is now confirmed as waiting for approval by the court.
Therefore, can we still file a draft financial consent order with the other court “now” as well ?
Presumably, the court will not stamp the consent order until it learns that the decree nisi has been granted.
The court dealing with the divorce tends to turn things around a bit quicker than the one dealing with the financials.
So I expect that by the time a judge gets around to looking at the draft financial consent order, the decree nisi will have been granted (but either way, he/she will know it has at least been requested).
---
Is my train of thought correct here?
The main question is, are we ok to still get the draft consent order in the post to the court now? …and then let the two courts work through the process.
(I appreciate there may be issues around financial agreements being binding or not with/without decree nisi, and with regards implementation of the order etc etc …but that is less important at the moment; my question for now is just a procedural one at this stage as I really want to get the consent order finalised and in the post)

Thanks for your help,
Fred.

A consent order can only be submitted to court AFTER the date of the Decree Nisi being granted, so you will need to wait for your Nisi to come through first before sending in the consent order. I would have thought that the solicitor drafting your consent order would have explained this to you?

Thanks for your reply - but I just spoke to the court this morning and that's apparently incorrect. The court said that a judge will not consider the draft order until the decree nisi is in place - BUT there is nothing to stop you sending in the draft order for it to be dealt with when the decree nisi is in place. It will just sit in a tray waiting. The reality here though, is that the court dealing with the order has huge backlogs/delays, and in all likelihood, by the time it gets round to looking at the draft order, the nisi will have been granted by the other court. Semantics really - but just keen to get all the paperwork done and dusted and in the post before Christmas! - and given the court's response, that is fine.

If you have a date for pronouncement of Decree Nisi then there should be no reason not to submit the CO.
Applicants are asked to send a copy of the DN if there is one in place. I think the Covid 19 backlogs have caused problems with financial settlements being reached ahead of DN, including in cases going through the courts. You cannot have a legally binding settlement until DN is in place.

Hadenoughnow