Financial Order Required?

Hi,

I'm currently going through a divorce and seeking advice to help me move this forward.

To give some background on this, I applied for divorce in February 2023 and currently in the cooling off period until July when a conditional order can be applied for.

As part of this divorce my wife still lives in the house that we brought together with our children. This has been the case since April 2021 where I still contribute towards half the mortgage and am paying child maintenance.

Our fixed term mortgage is due at the end of October and my wife and I are now in a position where we would like to put the house up for sale.

We had previously agreed a % split on the house sale verbally and this then changed and have now come to an agreement on how the equity on the house will be split once the house is sold. We have also agreed over email on how we will separate Savings, Pension, Shares, Household Items, Our Car Finance, Loan and ongoing Child Maintenance and Child Care arrangements.

So we can move this forward on the basis of what's been agreed in email between both parties I'm looking to seek advice on how to take this forward either through a mutually agreed document or through a Financial Order which we can have legally binding to ensure the conditions of these arrangements do not change in the future.

I'm looking to seek advice on if I should seek legal advice on getting a Financial Order arranged ahead of our conditional order date of July 15th or if another document can be drawn up and agreed by both parties to ensure that the agreement through our emails on separation of assets can be legally binding and does not change or put me at risk or further change as we process the house sale in the coming months.

I'd like to get some advice on how to proceed and move forward on the appropriate next steps and hoping I can get input around this situation.

Thanks

It is a good idea to take legal advice on any agreement and have a Consent Order drawn up and submitted to court as soon as you have your conditional order.

You should base any agreement on full financial disclosure. At the very least you should know and discuss the details that have to go on the D81 Statement of Financial Information that would need to accompany your application.

You can book a fixed price legal financial consultation via this site. We also offer a low cost consent order drafting and submission service.

If the Consent Order is drawn up and signed that should give you some security, especially if you have taken legal advice. If she changed her mind you could issue a Notice to Show Cause.

Bear in mind that any conveyancing solicitor will only be able to pay the proceeds of sale to you in equal shares if the house is in joint names. Pensions can only be shared with a pension sharing annex to an order. It is wise to wait to complete any sale until you have a legally binding order in place.

Hadenoughnow