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Consent Order Checklist
If you are submitting an agreed financial settlement to the court, this is the most useful place to start. These are the core documents most people need to understand first.
- Form A — Opens the financial remedy application and flags that the application is by consent.
- Form D81 — Provides the fairness snapshot of both parties’ financial positions.
- Draft Consent Order — The proposed binding terms you want the court to seal.
- Form P1 — Required if the order includes pension sharing.
If you are submitting a consent order, the court will usually expect a full set of documents so a judge can check that the agreement is fair and approve the terms.
Common Confusions
Use this section to clarify the points people most often misunderstand when trying to finalise finances after divorce or separation.
- Divorce vs Financial Order — A divorce ends the marriage legally, but it does not automatically end financial claims. A Financial Order, often a Consent Order, is what finalises finances and can dismiss future claims.
- Conditional Order vs Final Order — A Conditional Order confirms the divorce can proceed. A Final Order legally ends the marriage.
- Final Order vs Financial Finality — A Final Order does not prevent future financial claims by itself. Financial finality usually requires a Clean Break achieved through dismissal of claims in a sealed financial order.
- Consent Order vs Informal Agreement — A private agreement is not automatically enforceable. A Consent Order becomes binding only when approved and issued as a Sealed Order by the court.
- Clean Break vs “We’ve agreed everything” — A Clean Break is a legal outcome achieved through specific clauses dismissing claims, not a description of how amicable the separation feels.
- Form A by consent vs Form A in contested cases — Form A is the gateway to financial remedy. If you are applying by consent, you still use Form A, but you tick the consent route and lodge the agreed order with D81, and P1 where relevant.
- Form E vs D81 — Form E is the full disclosure form used in contested proceedings. D81 is the fairness snapshot used specifically to support a Consent Order.
- MIAM and Consent Orders — A MIAM is usually relevant when you are issuing contested applications. Where both parties are already agreed and applying for a Consent Order, the process is usually document-based, though mediation can still help reach agreement.
- Spousal Maintenance vs Child Maintenance — Periodical Payments for a former spouse are ordered by the court. Child Maintenance is usually dealt with by the CMS.
- Pension Sharing vs Pension Attachment — Pension Sharing creates a separate pension credit for the other party. Pension Attachment directs future pension payments to the other party when they come into payment.
- Disclosure “light” vs non-disclosure risk — Even in consent cases, incomplete disclosure can lead to future challenges. Serious failure may support a set-aside application later.
- Without Prejudice vs Open Offer — Without Prejudice communications are protected. An Open Offer can be shown to the court and may matter later on costs.
Financial Disclosure & Forms
This section explains what financial disclosure means and which forms appear in financial remedy cases and consent order applications.
- Financial Remedy — The court process for making financial orders between spouses.
- Financial Remedy Application — The application asking the court to determine or approve financial outcomes.
- s.25 Factors — The Matrimonial Causes Act checklist guiding fairness.
- Needs / Sharing / Compensation — The main rationales used when deciding financial outcomes.
- Duty of Full and Frank Disclosure — Legal duty to provide complete and accurate financial information.
- Statement of Truth — Formal confirmation that information provided is true.
- Disclosure Documents — Evidence supporting disclosure, such as bank statements, payslips, accounts, tax returns, pension statements and valuations.
- Capital — Assets with a present value, such as property, savings, investments and business interests.
- Income — Earnings and income streams.
- Liabilities — Debts and financial obligations.
- Matrimonial Assets — Assets built up during the marriage, often treated as shareable subject to fairness.
- Non-Matrimonial Assets — Typically pre-marital, inherited, gifted or post-separation assets.
- Add-Back — Discretionary approach treating dissipated sums as notionally still available.
- Conduct (Financial) — Exceptional financial misconduct relevant to outcome.
- CETV — Standard pension valuation figure used to quantify pension assets.
- PPF — Pension Protection Fund.
- State Pension Sharing — Sharing of state pension entitlement where eligible.
- Valuation — Evidence of value used for negotiation or court decisions.
- SJE — Single Joint Expert.
- Redemption Statement — Lender’s statement showing mortgage balance and charges on a given date.
- Equity — Net value in a property after secured debt.
- Form A — Form used to start financial remedy proceedings, including consent order applications.
- Form A1 — Alternative form used for certain limited routes.
- Form E — Primary disclosure form in contested financial remedy proceedings.
- Form D81 — Statement of Information for a Consent Order; enables the judge to assess fairness.
- Draft Consent Order — The proposed order wording reflecting the parties’ agreement.
- Sealed Order — The court-issued sealed order; the enforceable version.
- Form P — Pension inquiry form used where pension sharing or attachment may be made.
- Form P1 — Mandatory technical annex for implementing a pension sharing order.
- Help with Fees — Fee remission scheme for eligible applicants.
- HMCTS — HM Courts & Tribunals Service.
- MyHMCTS — HMCTS online filing system used by solicitors.
Ways to Resolve Disputes
This section explains mediation, arbitration, and the main stages of a contested financial remedy case, including the FDA, FDR and Final Hearing.
- MIAM — Meeting to assess suitability of mediation and explain options.
- Mediation — Facilitated negotiation led by a neutral mediator who does not impose a decision.
- Shuttle Mediation — Mediation where parties are kept separate and the mediator moves between them.
- Memorandum of Understanding — Mediator’s written record of proposals.
- Open Financial Statement — Open schedule of finances from mediation that can be shown to the court.
- Collaborative Law — Solicitor-led negotiation process committed to settling without court.
- Arbitration — Private adjudication by an arbitrator, typically embodied in a court order.
- Private FDR — Privately arranged FDR-style settlement hearing with a neutral indication.
- Roundtable Meeting — Solicitor-led settlement meeting aimed at finalising terms.
- FDA — First hearing in contested financial remedy; the court sets directions.
- Questionnaire — Written questions about disclosure, usually following Form E.
- Directions — Court orders setting procedural steps.
- FDR — Without-prejudice settlement hearing where the judge gives an indication.
- Final Hearing — Trial where the judge makes final financial orders if no settlement is reached.
- Position Statement — Short document setting out each party’s position and the orders sought.
- Section 25 Statement — Evidence addressing outcome by reference to the s.25 factors.
- Chronology — Dated timeline of key events.
- Hearing Bundle — Indexed and paginated pack of documents for the judge.
- Scott Schedule — Table-format schedule to structure disputed issues point by point.
- ES1 — Standardised summary filed for hearings.
- ES2 — Standardised assets and liabilities schedule updated for hearings.
- Without Prejudice — Settlement communications protected from being shown to the judge on the merits.
- Open Offer — Offer that can be shown to the court.
- Calderbank Offer — Offer shown only on costs to support costs arguments.
- Costs Order — Order requiring one party to pay some or all of the other’s costs.
Key Divorce Terms
This section explains the main legal terms used in the divorce process in England and Wales under the no-fault divorce system.
- Sole Application — A divorce application made by one spouse alone.
- Joint Application — A single divorce application made by both spouses together.
- Applicant — The spouse, or spouses in a joint case, applying for divorce.
- Respondent — The other spouse who receives the divorce application.
- Marriage Certificate — Official evidence of the marriage, usually required to issue the application.
- Irretrievable Breakdown — The sole legal basis for divorce.
- Statement of Irretrievable Breakdown — The formal statement confirming irretrievable breakdown without alleging fault.
- Jurisdiction — The court’s legal authority to deal with the divorce.
- Habitual Residence — Where a person’s life is settled and centred in practice.
- Domicile — A legal concept of a person’s permanent home.
- Forum — The country whose courts should determine the case.
- Issue / Issued by the Court — The point when the court accepts the application and starts proceedings.
- Service — Formal delivery of the application and related documents to the respondent.
- Deemed Service — The court treating service as effective based on evidence of receipt.
- Dispensation of Service — Permission to proceed without service.
- Acknowledgment of Service — The respondent’s formal confirmation of receipt and position.
- Dispute of Jurisdiction — A challenge that the England and Wales court should not hear the case.
- 20-Week Period — Minimum wait from issue before applying for the conditional order.
- Conditional Order — The first divorce order confirming the divorce can proceed.
- 6 Weeks + 1 Day — Minimum wait after conditional order before applying for final order.
- Final Order — The order that legally ends the marriage.
- Online Divorce Service — HMCTS’ digital service used to issue and progress most divorces.
- Nullity — A different legal route where a marriage is declared void or voidable.
- Judicial Separation — Court-recognised separation without ending the marriage.
Updated Divorce Terms
Older websites and guides still use pre-2022 divorce language. This section shows the modern equivalent so you can translate older terms quickly.
- Petition — Older term for starting a divorce; now generally called an Application.
- Application — Modern term for the document that starts divorce proceedings.
- Petitioner — Older term for the person who started the divorce; now Applicant.
- Decree Nisi — Older term; now the Conditional Order.
- Decree Absolute — Older term; now the Final Order.
Key Acronyms
A quick-reference section for the acronyms most commonly used in divorce and financial remedy work.
- AoS — Acknowledgment of Service.
- CMS — Child Maintenance Service.
- CETV — Cash Equivalent Transfer Value.
- ES1 — Financial Remedy Summary of Case.
- ES2 — Schedule of Assets.
- FDA — First Appointment / First Directions Appointment.
- FDR — Financial Dispute Resolution.
- FRC — Financial Remedies Court or Centre.
- HMCTS — HM Courts & Tribunals Service.
- HWF — Help with Fees.
- MIAM — Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting.
- MoU — Memorandum of Understanding.
- OFS — Open Financial Statement.
- PPF — Pension Protection Fund.
- SJE — Single Joint Expert.