Consent Orders

• Child arrangements: Living arrangements, time spent with each parent, decisions about education or health, travel considerations, parental responsibility and any specific decision or arrangement for your children. This would be an order under the Children Act 1989 and so can cover a wide range of arrangements covered by this authority.
• Financial arrangements: Division of assets, pension shares, maintenance, Mesher Orders, future protection for assets, and the separation of any other joint financial asset, interest, or obligation you may hold. This would be an order under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 for Divorce or judicial separation, or the Civil Partnership Act 2004 for Dissolutions.

• Legally binding: They may be ‘by consent’ but they are still an Order of the Court. This carries the same legal force as a decision made after a full court final hearing, often without the need to attend a single one.
• Cost-effective: Saves money and time compared to fighting a case through a court battle. Your court fee is also much less than a contested application and can be shared by both parties.
• No court appearance: Parties generally do not need to attend court; a judge reviews the paperwork in private. If you do, it is likely to be more of a formality or with less uncertainty.

• When financial disclosures have not been completed for financial settlements.
• When either party is not willingly in agreement or does not fully understand the terms.
• When an agreement cannot be reached and a judge is required to decide the disputed issues.
• When either party raises serious or significant safeguarding concerns and the proper investigations or protections are not contained within the agreement.

• When the matter concerns financial separation between unmarried or cohabiting couples. This does not mean that no financial settlement options are available; they follow a different process. See our Separation Agreements Support Service for more information.

• Simply put, the process avoids lengthy legal arguments, disputes and court hearings unless a judge requires a hearing because the agreement appears unfair or there are concerns about the children’s safety or welfare. This can reduce or remove the need for solicitors to spend extended periods on back-and-forth correspondence or for barristers to represent the parties at several hearings over a long period.
• You are not reliant on court timetables until the final review of your agreement. Courts often deal with urgent situations and applications, so listed hearings may be delayed or postponed at short notice, extending an already lengthy process. By contrast, a consent order application can often be considered on paper by a judge and may be dealt with more efficiently. A prompt resolution can also significantly reduce the emotional strain associated with drawn-out legal disputes and hearings.
• Ultimately, funds are not spent on expensive legal fees while waiting months or years for an outcome.

• In respect of child arrangements, any changes can be addressed with a further consent order or application, for instance if one parent falls ill. If your agreement addressed potential eventualities already, it may provide for alternative arrangements to be made in writing between the parents, if the changes are minor, without the need for a further court application being made. It is unlikely anything in a Child Arrangements Consent Order would not be able to be revisited in necessary situations as the Court will always prioritise the safety and welfare of a child.

• In respect of financial settlements, things may be different depending on a lot of factors such as whether it changed the financial landscape drastically, should have been foreseen, arose from a failure to disclose accurate information, and others of a more serious nature. However, it is not easy or even possible in some cases to revisit a financial settlement after it has been sealed if it has been drafted correctly and based on accurate disclosure.

• If doubts arise about the truth or integrity of the financial disclosures, or further information becomes available over time, the matter may be brought back before the court. The same applies where either party fails to comply with the agreed and sealed order and enforcement action is required through the court.

Some minor things may be able to be contained in the Consent Order as ‘to be agreed between the parties’ or ‘to be discussed at the point of sale’ and the like. However, most aspects need to be finalised to avoid gaps in your final order.

We can support you alongside your final negotiations by starting your draft agreement, which may help identify the gaps for further discussion. Also, if you know the missing areas but simply cannot agree, we may be able to work with you both through our combined collaborative service to get you over that final hurdle.  

As a last resort, a Consent Order can be submitted identifying some clauses agreed alongside identified outstanding areas and agreed court directions for how best to enter proceedings to obtain a judgement from a Judge on those points. It is important to note that depending on the outstanding matter to be agreed, this may still require active proceedings if contested and may not be settled within one hearing.

Yes, you can often reach an agreement at any time. Being involved in court proceedings does not prevent you from making a consent order; in fact, many cases conclude this way for several reasons. Some parties settle to avoid further delay or costs. Others reach agreement after the court has resolved the largest disputes or clarified the priorities, reducing the areas of tension. Some encounter new information or perspectives during proceedings that lead them to make or accept a settlement offer they did not previously consider.

The process differs little from obtaining a consent order without existing court proceedings. The main difference is that the order may need to address the proceedings, usually by bringing them to an end and, where necessary, vacating any future hearing that has already been scheduled.

If you are supported in your proceedings already and want to reach an agreement, speak to your legal support or that of the other party. If neither of you are supported, you can reach out to us together or individually for how you finalise your agreement and end your proceedings correctly.