Settlement before clean break

Hi all,
Not sure if there is a quick answer to this, but I'll throw it out there.
Me and the Mrs have amicably agreed to go our separate ways after 10 years of marriage. No kids involved, not claiming on each others pensions, vehicles, personal property etc. Only main asset is the house. We have had valuations, agreed on a 50 50 split of the equity, I am staying in the house and buying her out. I have remortgaged and the effective settlement money is in my account. The divorce is ongoing so no clean break as yet. Wife has asked for the money so that she can afford to move out and start again. This would work for me also in theory so I could start to move on also, but I'm uncomfortable parting with this money at this stage as it feels as though I have no security. Am I worrying unnecessarily or am I right to sit tight until the clean break is finalised? Moving on and not living together sounds great, but.....
We're not at each others throats, it's just a little uncomfortable.
Thanks for reading.
Stewie.

Make sure than any money you give her is part of a formal financial settlement documented in a consent order and approved by the court. Generally any payment is made once the consent order has been approved and after the decree absolute has been granted.

Absolutely do not pay any lump sum unless and until there is a court order in place which formalises and finalises your agreement. If you pay this lump sum over without the agreement having been formally turned into a court order then not only do you run the risk that you will not be able to get a court order any time soon (because your wife will have no incentive to co-operate once she has the money) but also you run the risk that she asks for more or something substantial in addition. Get the agreement properly formalised as a court order and do not think of paying the money over until that court order is in place.

I cannot begin to tell you how many people I have seen come to grief by not doing it this way.

Many thanks for the replies. Appreciate it, and understood.