Skip to main content

CALL NOW      020 3753 4667

Financial Settlements and Consent Orders

Shabana Sultana

Partner & Head of Family Law
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Financial Settlement and Consent Orders Solicitors, London

When a couple divorce or dissolve their civil partnership, their main concerns are:

a) what will happen to my children after divorce and
b) how will our finances be divided on divorce?

At Anglo Law, our solicitors will give clear and honest legal advice about how your case and the likely outcome. You will have peace of mind on both money issues and children’s issues very early on in your case so that you know what to expect and understand how this is worked out. When it comes to working out a financial settlement, our team, led by Resolution member Shabana Sultana, will systematically and pragmatically work towards achieving your desired objectives.

Free Initial Consultation

We understand that you’ll want to discuss your options and find out more about how we can help. We offer both appointments throughout the day and out of hours to accommodate our clients. We are happy to meet you at our offices across London, Essex or Kent. To find out more about free initial consultations, please complete our free consultation form, call us on 020 3753 4667 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Contact our Financial Settlement and Consent Order Solicitors in London

The right solicitor changes everything. Anglo Law Solicitors provides expert legal advice on Financial Settlement and Consent Orders.

Speak directly to a family solicitor now on 020 3753 4667 or complete our online contact form for your free consultation.

Anglo law solicitors serve client across the following areas:

The City of London, Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, Southwark, Bishopsgate, Billingsgate, Canary Wharf, Spitalfields, Aldgate, Bethnal Green, Whitechapel, Tower Hamlets, Redbridge, Kent, Tunbridge Wells, West Malling, Chafford Hundred, Chelmsford, Brentwood, Epping & Loughton

Our Expertise

Our strong track record of providing skilled advice and vigorous representation at court means our clients have full confidence their interests will always be protected. We also partner with a team of trusted experts including barristers, psychiatrists, forensic accountants, actuaries, doctors, and private investigators to collate the expert evidence and support required to build a formidable case. We provide a highly discreet and strictly confidential service from the moment you call us.

We will tailor our expert advice specific to the facts of your case. We will assist you with:

  • Division of the family home
  • Dividing savings and investments
  • Pension valuations and pension sharing
  • Spousal maintenance
  • Child maintenance and assisting with the Child Maintenance Service
  • International assets
  • Trusts and companies
  • Family businesses
  • Enforcing Financial Orders
  • Applying to vary an existing Financial Order

We believe in assisting couples in settling disputes around financial matters in a non-confrontational way and will fully promote methods such as Collaborative Law, mediation, and round-table negotiation. However, if going to court proves inevitable, we will tenaciously fight your position and put in the hours required to achieve success.

What is a Consent Order?

A Consent Order is a legally binding agreement which has been agreed made between the divorcing couple. Where a divorcing couple own a family home and have children and other assets, it is usual for solicitors to help the parties negotiate an agreement as to redistribution of these matrimonial assets. Sometimes, because of the complexity and value of the assets involved it is not always possible to agree a financial settlement through negotiation. Where negotiations have failed, it will become necessary to formally start financial proceedings to get an end to the financial dispute.

The consent order is a very important document as it clearly sets out how the divorcing couple intend to divide the matrimonial assets between them on divorce. The Consent Order will set out:

  • How the family home will be divided including who will get what furniture and precious jewellery
  • It will state an end date for claims against one another to stop them continuing forever so each person can then move on with their new life in the safe knowledge that whatever they generate in terms of income and wealth in the future will be theirs alone.
  • It will set out the penalty for any delayed execution of the agreed terms of the consent order for example withholding maintenance payments from an ex-spouse or delaying the sale of the home or paying a lump sum in accordance with the terms of the agreement
  • It will set out how any pensions will be treated and if there is to be any pension sharing then the exact terms will be clearly set out in the consent order
  • It will clearly set out what will happen to the joint bank accounts, joint credit cards and deal with any joint debts and loans. Most importantly it will expressly state how these debts must be discharged and by whom and using what funds.

The most important and reassuring thing about Consent Orders is that they terminate all future claims between the parties. The Consent Order which is approved by the court and once sealed, will permanently dismiss all financial obligations towards one another.

As Resolution members, we are committed to following a strict Code of Practice and helping clients resolve disputes in a measured and respectful way. By reaching financial agreements between themselves, couples can learn to communicate in a constructive way and feel completely in control of the ultimate division of their assets.

How will the court decide how to divide the property and money on divorce?

The court has a wide discretion when it comes to dividing matrimonial assets on divorce. The first thing to understand is that the court will always put the needs of any children of the family first. When the court looks for guidance as to how to divide a couple’s assets fairly, it looks at the guidance set out in Section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. The following factors will be considered:

  • The welfare of any child of the family
  • The income, earning capacity, property and resources available to each party
    financial needs, obligations and responsibility of each person
  • The standard of living enjoyed by the family before the breakdown of the marriage
  • The age of each person at the time of the divorce and the length of the marriage
  • Any physical or mental disability
  • The contribution made by each person to the welfare of the family, including in the primary carer for the children and giving up work to be the homemaker
  • The conduct of each party will as a rule not be taken into consideration unless it is exceptionally bad conduct and unjust to disregard it. The court will not consider adultery or similar conduct

The House of Lords delivered judgment in White v White [2001] 1 AC 596. In this decision, nearly four decades of case law and jurisprudence was deemed discriminatory. The case involved a divorcing farming couple with assets of over £4.5 million. At first instance, after assessing the needs of the couple, Mrs White was awarded one-fifth of the total assets, which amounted to a sum the judge considered enough to meet her reasonable requirements.

The Court of Appeal provided a much larger award, amounting to 40% of the total family assets (largely consisting of two farms that the parties had created in a formal farming partnership). Both parties appealed to the House of Lords, where Mr White sort to restore the High Court’s original ruling.
In dismissing both appeals the House of Lords turned the process of working out financial settlements on its head, and from that point on, the courts are directed to work from a starting point of equal sharing and then consider the principles laid out in section 25 of the Matrimonial Cause Act 1973 to come to an appropriate financial settlement. One of the biggest changes this introduced was that contributions could no longer be measured merely in financial terms; all contribution "including any contribution by looking after the home or caring for the family" would be evaluated equally.

Will I have to make spousal maintenance payments?

A Spousal Periodical Payments Order (also known as Spousal Maintenance Order) is a continuing obligation for one party to pay the other a weekly or monthly sum. Unlike lump sum or property adjustment orders, a Spousal Periodic Payment Order can be varied as circumstances change.
These types of orders can be used to achieve a fair financial settlement, considering the needs and contributions of each party.

Can I argue for a ‘clean break’?

Where it is appropriate, it is always the court’s preferred choice to encourage a clean break on capital and income. A clean break truly allows the couple to draw a line under their marriage and freely move on with their lives.

The court has a duty to consider ordering a clean break, whereby each parties’ financial obligations end once the decree absolute is issued. A clean break may be appropriate if the marriage has been of short duration or one party is cohabiting with another partner.

If success to you is achieving a clean break following divorce, our team has the skills and experience to help you achieve a clean break where one is possible. We are experts in making a persuasive argument and obtain the evidence needed to get you the result you want.
We will carefully consider the facts of your situation and form a pragmatic strategy to ensure your objectives with regards to preserving your wealth or achieving a financial settlement are achieved. We will leave no stone unturned to ensure your best interest always come first.

How to get in contact 

Call us now on 020 3753 4667, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or fill in our online contact form to book a free consultation.

Anglo Law Solicitors service clients across the following areas:

LONDON AREAS- City of London, Aldgate, Tower Hamlets, Spitalfields, Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, Southwark, Bishopsgate, Canary Wharf, Islington & Highbury, Angel, Belsize Park, Hampstead, Swiss Cottage, Finchley.
ESSEX- Chigwell, Hainult, Woodford, Epping, Chafford Hundred, Chelmsford, Brentwood, Upminster, Grays.
KENT- Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, West Malling, Maidstone, Sevenoaks.