Consent Order vs Financial Remedy Order in the UK: Which Do You Need?

Your Final Order dissolves the marriage. It does not touch the money. Without a separate financial order sealed by the court, your ex-spouse can make a financial claim against you years — even decades — after the divorce is finalised. That possibility alone should make the financial settlement your first priority after receiving your Final Order.

There are three types of financial order you will encounter. Understanding which one applies to your situation determines how much you pay, how long the process takes, and whether your ex can come back for more later.

Consent Order: The Agreed Route

A consent order is the order you get when both parties agree on how to divide assets. You draft the agreement — covering property, pensions, savings, and debts — then submit it to the court on Form D81 along with a statement of financial information. A judge reviews the proposal on paper (no hearing required) and, if satisfied it is fair, seals it into a legally binding court order.

As of July 2026, the court fee for a consent order filed without notice is £62. Compare that to the cost of a contested hearing and it is clear why roughly 90% of financial settlements in England and Wales take this route.

The process typically takes four to twelve weeks from submission to the sealed order landing in your inbox. The court does not rubber-stamp every application — a judge will reject the consent order if the proposed division appears manifestly unfair to one party, particularly where children are involved.

Financial Remedy Order: The Contested Route

When you cannot agree, either party can apply for a financial remedy order using Form A. This triggers the contested financial proceedings pathway — a structured sequence of disclosure, negotiation, and potentially a final hearing before a judge who decides how the assets are split.

The Form A application fee rose to £321 in July 2026. But the court fee is the smallest cost. Contested financial remedy proceedings typically involve a First Directions Appointment (FDA), a Financial Dispute Resolution hearing (FDR), and — if settlement still cannot be reached — a final hearing. Solicitor costs for contested proceedings commonly run between £5,000 and £30,000 per party, depending on the complexity of the asset pool.

For Wales residents, all hearings take place in the Family Court. Under the Welsh Language Act 1993, you have the statutory right to conduct proceedings and submit documents in Welsh, with HMCTS providing bilingual forms and interpretation services.

Clean Break Order: Severing Future Claims

A clean break order is not a separate type of order — it is a clause within either a consent order or a financial remedy order that permanently ends both parties' ability to make future financial claims against each other. Without a clean break clause, a former spouse can theoretically apply to the court for financial provision at any point in the future, even if they did not claim anything at the time of the divorce.

The clean break works by dismissing all future claims under Section 25A of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. Once sealed, neither party can return to court to vary the settlement or claim a share of future earnings, inheritance, or lottery winnings.

A clean break is not always possible. If one party is financially dependent on the other (for example, a stay-at-home parent with young children), the court may order ongoing periodical payments (maintenance) instead, which can only be varied or dismissed by a further court application.

Which Order Do You Actually Need?

For most divorcing couples in Wales, the answer is a consent order with a clean break clause. It is the cheapest, fastest, and most final option. You can draft the financial agreement yourselves or with a mediator, then have a solicitor review it before filing.

If you cannot agree on the division of the family home, pension sharing percentages, or ongoing maintenance, the financial remedy route is unavoidable. Consider mediation first — a single session costs £100 to £150 per person per hour, significantly less than contested court proceedings.

Whichever route you take, the sealed financial order is what makes your pension sharing order enforceable, your property transfer legally binding, and your clean break permanent. Without it, your divorce is legally complete but financially unfinished.

The Wales Post-Divorce Checklist walks you through the exact sequence — from filing the consent order through to executing the pension split and property transfer — with pre-drafted worksheets for each step.

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