Consent order

A consent order is an order of the Family Court in England and Wales that records a financial agreement reached between spouses or civil partners on divorce or dissolution and gives it the force of a court order. Section 33A of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 defines it as “an order in the terms applied for to which the respondent agrees”, and allows the court to make it “on the basis only of the prescribed information furnished with the application”, unless it has reason to think there are other circumstances into which it ought to inquire.[1] The prescribed information is the statement of information on Form D81, which rule 9.26 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 requires to be filed with two copies of the draft order.[2][3] The court fee is £62 under fee 5.1 of the family fees order as shown in the July 2026 edition of HMCTS fee list EX50.[4][5]

A consent order can deal with the family home and other property, lump sums, pensions, spousal maintenance and, by agreement, child maintenance, and it usually contains a clean break dismissing each person’s future claims against the other.[6][7][8][9] A consent order cannot be approved before the conditional order in the divorce, and GOV.UK advises applying before the final order because of the consequences for pensions.[5][10] The judge considers the application on paper, may raise questions or ask for changes, and approves the order if satisfied that it is fair.[2][5] Once sealed, its capital terms are final; maintenance terms can be varied; and the order can be set aside only on limited grounds such as fraud, material non-disclosure or a supervening event.[11][12][13] In January to March 2026, 73 per cent of the 12,646 financial remedy applications made in England and Wales were uncontested.[14]

Written by Jess Knauf, Director of Client Strategy at Mediate UK and Associate Member of Resolution. Reviewed by Belinda Atkins, Managing Director of Mediate UK. Last reviewed 6 September 2026; last updated 6 September 2026; next scheduled review March 2027.

Definition and purpose

In the law of England and Wales a private agreement between divorcing spouses about money and property, however carefully drafted, is not by itself a final settlement of their claims under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. The court’s powers to make financial orders survive the agreement, and either person can in principle apply to the court later; the Supreme Court confirmed in Wyatt v Vince that “there is no time-limit for seeking orders for financial provision or property adjustment for the benefit of a spouse following divorce”.[15] A consent order is the mechanism by which the agreement is converted into an order of the court, so that it becomes enforceable as a court order and, where it contains a clean break, brings the parties’ claims against each other to an end.[1][9]

The order derives its authority from the court, not from the agreement. In Sharland v Sharland the Supreme Court said that “the court does not either automatically or invariably grant the application to give the bargain force of an order. The court conducts an independent assessment”.[12] That assessment is conducted against section 25 of the 1973 Act, which requires the court, in deciding whether and how to exercise its powers, “to have regard to all the circumstances of the case, first consideration being given to the welfare while a minor of any child of the family”.[16] GOV.UK puts the same point in plain terms: “A judge will approve your consent order to make it legally binding if they think it’s fair. If they do not think it’s fair, they can ask you to change it.”[5]

The term is used only for financial orders made by agreement in matrimonial and civil partnership proceedings. Agreed orders about children are made under the Children Act 1989 and are described on Family Law Wiki. An agreement recorded without a court order, for example a separation agreement, is a contract and is treated by the court as one of the circumstances of the case rather than as a binding disposal of the claims.[17]

Section 33A of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, inserted by the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984, provides that on an application for a consent order for financial relief “the court may, unless it has reason to think that there are other circumstances into which it ought to inquire, make an order in the terms agreed on the basis only of the prescribed information furnished with the application”.[1] The prescribed information is set by rules of court. Rule 9.26 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 requires the applicant to file two copies of the draft order, one “endorsed with a statement signed by the respondent” signifying agreement, and a statement of information in the form referred to in Practice Direction 5A, which is Form D81.[2][3] Unless the court directs otherwise, “the applicant and the respondent need not attend the hearing”.[2]

Section 33A(3) defines “order for financial relief” as an order under sections 23, 24, 24A, 24B or 27 of the Act: financial provision orders, property adjustment orders, orders for sale, pension sharing orders and orders for failure to maintain.[1] The equivalent provisions for civil partners are in Schedule 5 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004, and the same rule 9.26 procedure applies. Rule 9.26 also cross-refers to the pension rules in Chapter 8 of Part 9, which require a pension sharing annex in Form P1 for each pension being shared and notice to the pension arrangement.[2][18]

Rule 9.26(2) and (3) deal with signature of the statement of information. Where the parties’ information is contained in one form, both must sign to certify that they have read the contents of the other’s information; where separate forms are used, each signs the other’s.[2] Rule 9.26(5) allows the court to dispense with the statement of information where the parties attend a hearing, and to direct how the information is to be given instead.[2] Practice Direction 9A adds the wider duties that apply to any financial remedy application, including the parties’ duty to give “full and honest disclosure to the other party of facts, information and documents”.[19]

What a consent order can contain

A consent order can contain any order the court could make after a contested hearing, and it commonly contains several. The Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 provides for periodical payments and secured periodical payments (spousal maintenance), lump sums including lump sums by instalments, transfers and settlements of property, variation of nuptial settlements, orders for sale, and pension sharing orders.[6][7][20][8] Alongside these, the order may record undertakings (promises to the court by either party) and recitals of agreed facts or intentions, and it will normally dismiss the parties’ remaining claims against each other and against each other’s estate, producing a clean break.[9]

Provisions commonly found in a financial consent order in England and Wales
ProvisionStatutory basisTypical use in a consent order
Periodical paymentsMCA 1973, s.23(1)(a) and (b)[6]Spousal maintenance for a fixed term or joint lives; may be nominal (for example 5p a year) to keep a claim open; ends automatically on the recipient’s remarriage[21]
Lump sums.23(1)(c); by instalments under s.23(3)(c)[6]A payment on sale of the home, a balancing payment for an unequal division of property, or capitalised maintenance
Property adjustments.24(1)(a) to (d)[7]Transfer of the family home or other property from one party to the other, or into trust for children; variation of a settlement
Order for sales.24A[20]Sale of the home with the proceeds divided in stated shares, often with a deferred trigger such as a child finishing school
Pension sharings.24B[8]A percentage of one party’s pension transferred to the other; takes effect only after the final order, and needs a Form P1 annex for each pension[18]
Pension attachmentss.25B and 25C[8]Payment of part of a pension or lump sum death benefit to the other party when it becomes payable; less common than sharing
Child maintenanceChild Support Act 1991, s.8(5)[22]Permitted by consent where a written agreement exists; either party can apply to the Child Maintenance Service after twelve months
Clean breakMCA 1973, s.25A; s.28(1A)[9][21]Dismissal of each party’s capital and income claims, with a bar on later applications under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975
Undertakings and recitalsInherent jurisdiction; Standard Family Orders[23]Promises to pay a mortgage, to obtain a release from a joint loan, or to keep life insurance; a record of the basis of the agreement

The court cannot include a child maintenance order in a consent order except where section 8 of the Child Support Act 1991 permits it, principally where the order is made in the terms of a written agreement between the parents; the Child Maintenance Service otherwise has exclusive jurisdiction to calculate maintenance for children living in the United Kingdom.[22] Orders about arrangements for children are not part of a financial consent order and are dealt with under the Children Act 1989. See child maintenance.

Since the introduction of the Standard Family Orders by the President of the Family Division, consent orders are expected to be drafted from the published templates. Volume 1 of the standard orders covers financial remedies, and the Financial Remedies Court guide published in March 2026 states that “the standard order templates should be used, adapted as appropriate to the facts”.[23][24] The templates supply the standard recitals, the clean break wording, the pension sharing provisions and the undertakings in a form the court is accustomed to approving. The separate pages on clean break orders, pension sharing orders, spousal maintenance and property on divorce describe each type of provision in more detail.

When a consent order can be applied for

An application for a consent order can be lodged at any time after the divorce application has been issued, but the court cannot make the order until the conditional order has been pronounced. GOV.UK states that it is usually simpler to ask for approval “after you have your conditional order or decree nisi, the court cannot approve a consent order before this”, and “before you get your final order or decree absolute, if you ask after this, there may be financial consequences, particularly for pensions”.[5] Under the no-fault divorce procedure in force since 6 April 2022, the conditional order cannot be applied for until 20 weeks after the divorce application was issued, and the final order not until six weeks and one day after the conditional order.[25][10]

Two statutory rules explain the advice to settle finances before the final order. First, a pension sharing order “is not to take effect unless the divorce or nullity of marriage order on or after which it is made has been made final”, and the pension scheme then has an implementation period; a party who dies after the final order but before the pension sharing order is made loses the benefit of it.[8] Secondly, section 28(3) of the 1973 Act provides that a person who remarries or forms a civil partnership after the final order is no longer entitled to apply for a financial provision or property adjustment order in their own favour, a rule sometimes called the remarriage trap.[21] GOV.UK accordingly states: “If you want a legally binding arrangement for dividing money and property you must apply to the court for this before you apply for a final order or decree absolute.”[10]

A consent order can nevertheless be made after the final order where neither party has remarried, and orders are regularly made years after a divorce where the financial claims were never dealt with. The court will require an explanation of the delay where the application for the final order is itself made more than twelve months after the conditional order.[10] The stages of the divorce are described on conditional order and final order, and the overall timetable on divorce timescales.

Procedure

A consent order application has four components: the draft order signed by both parties; the statement of information on Form D81; Form A (the notice of application for a financial order) with the box indicating that the application is by consent; and the £62 fee.[2][26][27][4] Where the applicant is legally represented the application must be made online through the MyHMCTS financial remedy service, a requirement in force since 24 August 2020; an unrepresented applicant sends the paper documents to HMCTS Financial Remedy, PO Box 12746, Harlow, CM20 9QZ.[28][29][5] A judge then considers the papers, and “there’s usually no court hearing”.[5]

Drafting and signing

The order is drafted once the terms are agreed, normally by a solicitor or other drafter instructed by one party, and reviewed by the other party or their adviser. GOV.UK states: “You can get legal advice or you can ask a solicitor or divorce specialist to draft a consent order for you.”[5] Rule 9.26 requires the draft to carry the respondent’s signed endorsement of agreement; in practice both parties sign, and any undertakings are signed separately by the person giving them.[2] Where a pension is being shared, a Form P1 annex is completed for each pension and the pension scheme is given notice so that it can object to the terms within the time allowed.[18]

The statement of information

Form D81 is the prescribed statement of information. The current version, D81 (04.25), runs to 23 pages and asks for the length of the marriage, the ages of the parties and children, each party’s capital, income and pension position before and after the order, the net effect of the proposed order, the parties’ housing arrangements, any new relationship or intention to remarry, whether the mortgage lender and pension scheme have been notified, and “the main reasons for your proposed consent order’s division of assets”.[26] Where the order includes an income clean break, the form asks the parties to explain why that is fair and how each will meet their income needs. Both parties sign a statement of truth.[26] The form was redesigned as a single joint statement in February 2022, when the Financial Remedies Court directed that “the new form is to be used immediately”.[30] No Form E is required for a consent order; the fuller Form E disclosure belongs to contested proceedings.[2][19]

Filing and the judge’s consideration

On receipt, the application is checked by court staff at the Courts and Tribunals Service Centre and placed before a judge, usually a district judge of the Financial Remedies Court.[29] The judge reads the draft order against the D81 and decides whether the information discloses any circumstance into which the court “ought to inquire”.[1] Three outcomes are possible: the order is approved and sealed; the judge raises queries or asks for amendments, which are answered through the portal or by letter; or the judge lists a short hearing under rule 9.26(5), at which the parties explain the agreement in person.[2][29][5] The sealed order is sent to both parties. Where a pension sharing order is included, a sealed copy with the annex is served on the pension scheme, whose implementation period begins after the final order and after the time for appeal has passed.[8][18]

HMCTS does not publish a standard turnaround for consent orders. ConsentOrder.org.uk, an information site published by Family Legal Ltd, the publisher of this wiki, describes the steps in order and gives a working estimate of around four to eight weeks from filing to sealed order as at July 2026, a figure that varies between regional centres and with the volume of queries.[31]

The court’s scrutiny and refusal

The court’s function on a consent order application is limited but real. It does not investigate the parties’ finances afresh, and it is entitled to rely on the D81; but it must be satisfied that the order is one it could properly make under section 25, and it must not act as a rubber stamp.[1][12] The duty of disclosure that makes this possible was stated by the House of Lords in Livesey (formerly Jenkins) v Jenkins [1985] AC 424 and is quoted by the Supreme Court in Sharland: each party owes “a duty to the court to make full and frank disclosure of all material facts to the other party and the court”.[12] In Livesey the wife had agreed to remarry before the order was made and did not say so; the order was set aside.[12]

The commonest reasons for a judge to raise queries or decline approval are visible from the questions asked on the D81: an unexplained departure from equality in a long marriage; one party left without housing or without an explanation of how they will meet their income needs after a clean break; a large pension left with one party without offsetting provision; incomplete or inconsistent figures; or a party who has had no legal advice.[26] The judge may ask for a short letter of explanation, an amended order, or a hearing.[2][29] Because the parties are free to agree a division the court would not itself have imposed, an unequal division is not in itself a reason for refusal provided the reasons are explained and the outcome meets both parties’ needs.[16]

Where the agreement has been reached through a properly conducted process, the court gives it substantial weight. The Supreme Court in Radmacher v Granatino held that the court should give effect to a nuptial agreement freely entered into by each party with a full appreciation of its implications unless in the circumstances it would not be fair to hold the parties to it, and the same approach informs the treatment of separation agreements and mediated settlements that are placed before the court for approval.[17] The parties’ agreement is not, however, a substitute for the court’s own assessment, and the court may decline an order that is plainly unfair to one party even where both have signed.[12][16]

After the order: enforcement, variation and setting aside

Enforcement

Once sealed, a consent order is enforceable in the same way as any other financial remedy order. Non-payment of a lump sum or maintenance can be pursued through the court’s enforcement powers, and a refusal to sign a transfer can be met by an order that a judge sign in the defaulting party’s place. GOV.UK notes the contrast with an unapproved agreement: “If your agreement is not legally binding, a court cannot enforce it if there are any issues later.”[5] Undertakings given to the court are enforceable as if they were orders. Enforcement procedure is covered on Family Court Wiki.

Variation

Section 31 of the 1973 Act lists the orders that can later be varied or discharged: maintenance pending suit and interim maintenance, periodical payments and secured periodical payments, lump sums payable by instalments, deferred lump sums attached to pensions, and pension sharing orders made before the divorce order is final.[11] Lump sums, property adjustment orders and pension sharing orders that have taken effect are not on the list and cannot be varied; they are final when made.[11] On a variation application the court must consider “all the circumstances of the case, first consideration being given to the welfare while a minor of any child of the family”, including any change in the matters to which it had regard when the order was made.[11] Where the original order contained a direction under section 28(1A) that the recipient may not apply to extend a term of maintenance, that direction is binding.[21] Where both parties agree a change, they may apply for a further consent order varying the first.[32]

Setting aside

A consent order can be set aside, as opposed to varied, only on limited grounds. Since 3 October 2016 rule 9.9A of the Family Procedure Rules has provided a procedure for applying to set aside a financial remedy order, including a consent order, “where no error of the court is alleged”; the application is made to the court that made the order rather than by appeal.[33] The recognised grounds are fraud, material non-disclosure, mistake, undue influence or duress, and a supervening event of the kind described in Barder v Caluori [1988] AC 20.[12][34][13]

The non-disclosure cases were settled by two Supreme Court decisions given on the same day in October 2015. In Sharland v Sharland the husband had misled the wife and the court about plans to float his company; the court held that fraud unravels the agreement unless the other party can show it would have made no difference, since “a party who has practised deception with a view to a particular end, which has been attained by it, cannot be allowed to deny its materiality”.[12] In Gohil v Gohil the court held that a recital in the consent order recording the wife’s acceptance of the husband’s disclosure had “no legal effect”, because the duty of disclosure is owed to the court and one spouse cannot release the other from it.[34] Innocent non-disclosure can also found a set-aside, but only where the undisclosed facts would have led to a substantially different order.[12]

A Barder application relies on an event after the order that invalidates the basis on which it was made. The conditions, as restated by the Court of Appeal in Myerson v Myerson, are that new events have occurred since the order “which invalidates the basis, or fundamental assumption, upon which the order was made”, so that an appeal would be certain or very likely to succeed; that the new events occurred within a relatively short time of the order, which Lord Brandon thought would in most cases be no more than a few months; and that the application is made reasonably promptly; a fourth condition protects third parties who have acquired interests in the property for value in good faith.[13] The Court of Appeal in Myerson refused to reopen an order after a collapse in the value of the husband’s shares in the 2008 financial crisis, holding that “the natural processes of price fluctuation, whether in houses, shares, or any other property, and however dramatic, do not satisfy the Barder test”.[13] Successful Barder applications are rare. The practical position is summarised for lay readers by ConsentOrder.org.uk (Family Legal Ltd, the publisher of this wiki).[32]

How an agreement becomes a consent order

A consent order records a deal that has already been done; the court process does not itself produce the agreement. The agreement can come from direct negotiation between the parties, from negotiation between solicitors, from family mediation, from a separation agreement made earlier, from collaborative law, from a private financial dispute resolution appointment, or from arbitration. The Family Procedure Rules list these as forms of “non-court dispute resolution”: “mediation, arbitration, evaluation by a neutral third party (such as a private Financial Dispute Resolution process) and collaborative law”.[35] Whatever the route, the outcome reaches the court in the same form: a draft order, a D81 and a Form A.[2]

Routes by which a financial agreement reaches the court for approval
RouteWhat is producedHow it becomes a consent order
Direct negotiationHeads of agreement or an exchange of correspondenceOne party’s solicitor or a drafting service prepares the order; the other party takes advice and signs[5]
Solicitor negotiationOpen offers and a final agreed schedule, usually after voluntary disclosure on Form E or a shorter scheduleThe solicitors agree the wording of the order and lodge it, often before or during proceedings already started on Form A[19]
Family mediationMemorandum of understanding and open financial statementThe memorandum is not binding; a solicitor converts it into a draft order, and the open financial statement supplies the figures for the D81[35]
Separation agreementDeed of separation made before or without divorce proceedingsThe terms are restated as a consent order once the conditional order is available; the court gives the agreement weight but is not bound by it[17]
ArbitrationAn arbitral award under the Institute of Family Law Arbitrators schemeThe award is converted into an order by consent, the court retaining its own duty under s.25[35][16]
Private FDR or collaborative lawAn agreement reached with the help of a private evaluator or in four-way meetingsDrafted and lodged as a consent order; the FRC guide requires a D81 where the order follows a private FDR[24]
Court proceedings settled part-wayAgreement at the First Appointment or FDR appointmentThe order is drawn up at court and approved by the judge conducting the hearing; the D81 may be dispensed with under rule 9.26(5)[2]

Where no agreement can be reached, either party may apply on Form A for the court to decide. That application starts contested financial remedy proceedings, with exchange of Form E, a First Appointment fixed between 12 and 16 weeks after filing, a financial dispute resolution appointment and, if necessary, a final hearing; the fee is £321.[18][36][4] A large majority of contested cases settle before a final hearing and end in an order made by consent at one of the earlier hearings.[14] Attendance at a MIAM is required before a contested application but not before an application for a consent order.[27]

Whether a consent order is needed at all is a question that arises where a couple have few assets or have already divided them informally. The legal answer is that without an order the claims remain open, as Wyatt v Vince illustrates: the parties divorced in 1992, the husband later built a business valued at more than £57 million, and the wife’s application issued in 2011 was allowed to proceed.[15] The Divorce Circle, an information site published by Family Legal Ltd, the publisher of this wiki, offers a 25-question self-assessment on the point.[37]

Cost

The court fee for an application by consent for a financial order is £62 under fee 5.1 of the Family Proceedings Fees Order, as shown in the EX50 fee list updated on 13 July 2026; the fee for a contested application (fee 5.4) is £321.[4] A person on a low income or qualifying benefits may apply for Help with Fees, which can remit the fee in full or in part; the scheme’s income and savings thresholds are set out on GOV.UK.[38] Divorce and court fees generally are collected on divorce fees.

The larger cost is usually the drafting and advice. There is no fixed scale. Published fixed fees in September 2026 range from £499 including VAT for a paralegal-drafted clean break order limited to simple cases, through solicitor packages of around £1,649 plus VAT per person that include mediation and drafting, to hourly-rate solicitor work where pensions, businesses or maintenance require negotiation.[39][40] Legal aid for a solicitor to advise on or draft a consent order is available only to a party who passes both the means test and the domestic abuse or child protection evidence gateway. Legal aid for family mediation is means-tested only, and can cover the mediation from which the agreement comes. See legal aid.

Statistics

Financial remedy and divorce figures, Family Court Statistics Quarterly, January to March 2026
MeasureJanuary to March 2026Note
Financial remedy applications12,646Up 11 per cent on the same quarter in 2025[14]
Uncontested (consent) applications73 per cent27 per cent contested[14]
Financial remedy disposals12,764Up 12 per cent[14]
Divorce applications28,63272 per cent sole, 28 per cent joint[14]
Final orders granted27,320Up 24 per cent[14]
Median time from divorce application to conditional order27 weeksMean 39 weeks[14]
Median time from divorce application to final order39 weeksMean 67 weeks[14]

The Ministry of Justice counts financial remedy applications and disposals and divides them into contested and uncontested, the latter being applications made by consent; it does not publish the number of consent orders refused or returned with queries.[14] Set against roughly 27,000 final orders in the quarter, the 12,646 financial applications suggest that a substantial proportion of divorcing couples end their marriage without any financial order, leaving their claims open.[14] The most recent ONS release on divorces, for 2023, recorded 102,678 divorces in England and Wales; see divorce.

History

Development of the financial consent order in England and Wales
DateDevelopment
1984The Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 inserted section 33A, allowing the court to make a consent order on the prescribed information alone, and section 25A, imposing the duty to consider a clean break[1][9]
1985Livesey v Jenkins: the House of Lords held that both parties owe the court a duty of full and frank disclosure on a consent order application, and set aside an order where the wife had not disclosed her engagement[12]
1987Barder v Caluori: the House of Lords set the conditions for reopening an order after a supervening event[13]
1 December 2000Pension sharing orders became available under section 24B for petitions issued on or after that date[8]
6 April 2011The Family Procedure Rules 2010 came into force, with rule 9.26 replacing the earlier ancillary relief rules on consent orders[2]
14 October 2015Sharland and Gohil: the Supreme Court confirmed that fraudulent or material non-disclosure entitles the other party to have a consent order set aside[12][34]
3 October 2016Rule 9.9A introduced a dedicated procedure for applications to set aside a financial remedy order[33]
24 August 2020Legally represented applicants required to lodge consent order applications online through MyHMCTS[28]
3 February 2022The Financial Remedies Court published the redesigned 23-page joint Form D81, to be used immediately[30]
6 April 2022No-fault divorce under the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020: decree nisi and decree absolute became the conditional order and final order, with the 20-week and six-week minimum periods[25][10]
13 July 2026Fee for an application by consent set at £62 in the current EX50[4]

Criticism and debate

The consent order procedure has been criticised from two directions. Practitioners have questioned the depth of scrutiny that a paper review can provide, particularly where neither party has had legal advice and the D81 discloses a marked inequality; the 2022 redesign of the form, which requires the parties to explain departures from equality and the fairness of any income clean break, was a response to that concern and to the number of orders being returned with queries.[30][26] From the other side, the growth of low-cost drafting services and the requirement that every agreed settlement pass through the court have been said to add cost and delay to cases in which the parties have already agreed.

A further debate concerns the number of couples who divorce without any financial order. The Ministry of Justice figures show around 12,600 financial applications in a quarter in which around 27,300 final orders were granted, and Wyatt v Vince demonstrated the consequence of leaving claims open.[14][15] The Law Commission’s scoping report on financial remedies, published on 18 December 2024, set out four possible models for reform of the discretionary framework in section 25, and the Ministry of Justice consulted between 5 June and 14 August 2026 on a “codification-plus” model that would bring the principles of needs and sharing into statute.[41][42] Any change to the underlying law would alter what the court checks when it approves a consent order, but would not remove the need for one.

Getting help

Consent orders are drafted by solicitors, by barristers under public access, by legal executives, and by unregulated drafting services. Independent legal advice before signing is not a legal requirement, but the D81 asks whether each party has had it, and a party who has not had advice is more likely to receive queries from the court.[26] The Law Society’s Find a Solicitor service and Resolution’s directory of family justice professionals list regulated practitioners.[43][44]

See also

References

  1. Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 33A: Consent orders for financial provision or property adjustment. legislation.gov.uk. Inserted by the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984, s.7. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  2. Family Procedure Rules 2010, rule 9.26: Applications for consent orders for financial remedy. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  3. Practice Direction 5A: Forms. Ministry of Justice. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  4. Family court fees (EX50). HM Courts and Tribunals Service. updated 13 July 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  5. Money and property when you divorce or separate: apply for a consent order. GOV.UK. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  6. Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 23: Financial provision orders in connection with divorce proceedings, etc.. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  7. Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 24: Property adjustment orders in connection with divorce proceedings, etc.. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  8. Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 24B: Pension sharing orders in connection with divorce proceedings. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  9. Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 25A: Exercise of court’s powers in favour of party to marriage on divorce or nullity of marriage order. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  10. Get a divorce: finalise your divorce. GOV.UK. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  11. Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 31: Variation, discharge, etc., of certain orders for financial relief. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  12. Sharland v Sharland [2015] UKSC 60. Find Case Law, The National Archives. 14 October 2015. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  13. Myerson v Myerson [2009] EWCA Civ 282. Find Case Law, The National Archives. Sets out the four conditions from Barder v Caluori [1988] AC 20. 1 April 2009. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  14. Family Court Statistics Quarterly, January to March 2026. Ministry of Justice. 25 June 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  15. Wyatt v Vince [2015] UKSC 14. Find Case Law, The National Archives. 11 March 2015. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  16. Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 25: Matters to which court is to have regard in deciding how to exercise its powers. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  17. Radmacher (formerly Granatino) v Granatino [2010] UKSC 42. Find Case Law, The National Archives. 20 October 2010. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  18. Family Procedure Rules 2010, Part 9: Applications for a financial remedy. Ministry of Justice. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  19. Practice Direction 9A: Application for a financial remedy. Ministry of Justice. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  20. Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 24A: Orders for sale of property. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  21. Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 28: Duration of continuing financial provision orders in favour of party to marriage, and effect of remarriage or formation of civil partnership. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  22. Child Support Act 1991, section 8: Role of the courts with respect to maintenance for children. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  23. Update to Standard Orders. Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 21 May 2024. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  24. The Financial Remedies Court of England and Wales: Financial Remedies Guide 2026. Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. March 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  25. Get a divorce: apply for a conditional order. GOV.UK. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  26. Provide information about the parties’ financial situation to support your application for a consent order: Form D81. HM Courts and Tribunals Service. updated 16 July 2026 (form version 04.25). Accessed 5 September 2026.
  27. Give notice of your intention to proceed with an application for a financial order: Form A. HM Courts and Tribunals Service. updated 21 July 2026 (form version 05.26). Accessed 5 September 2026.
  28. Financial remedy consent order applications: mandation of online applications. The Law Society. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  29. MyHMCTS: how to use online financial remedy services: managing a case (consent). HM Courts and Tribunals Service. updated 13 August 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  30. Notice from the Financial Remedies Court: D81. Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 3 February 2022. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  31. How to file a consent order with the court: full guide. ConsentOrder.org.uk (Family Legal Ltd). July 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
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  33. Family Procedure Rules 2010, rule 9.9A: Application to set aside a financial remedy order. legislation.gov.uk. Inserted with effect from 3 October 2016. Accessed 5 September 2026.
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  39. Online clean break consent order. Family Law Service (Family Legal Ltd). Price £499 including VAT as shown on 6 September 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  40. Consent order package. Mediate UK (Family Legal Ltd). Price £1,649 plus VAT per person as shown on 6 September 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
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This article is part of Divorce Law Wiki, published by Family Legal Ltd. It is general information about the law of England and Wales, not legal advice. Last reviewed 6 September 2026. About this site and editorial policy · Report an error.