Do we really need a solicitor for a straightforward Consent Order?

Hi all, I'm new here. My husband and I are divorcing after 10 years together. We haven't really been a proper couple for years, more like friends and housemates. We finally admitted to each other that it's time to uncouple in the most amicable way, and there is no animosity or tension over it.

We've gone the no-fault route, paid the £600-odd quid and now we're in the 20 week period.

We selected the consent order option, and all it said was 'you will need to complete another form (Form A or Form A1) and pay a fee'. But since then I've been looking around and a lot of advice says we'll still need to hire an independent legal professional rather than simply use a customised boilerplate version.

The thing is, we have literally no shared assets - we rent, we have no kids, we have always had our own bank accounts. There is really nothing jointly owned to split.

My husband did not even think we needed to bother with the consent order, but I felt it was important to draw a line under our marriage and tie up all loose ends, even though we 99% trust each other to not make any claims in future... you just never know, right? Better to leave nothing hanging. He made jokes about not wanting to take my money, knowing neither of us really have much to our name right now. But I really would not want this topic to come up again in the future when we're divorced.

Does anyone have any advice for what would be the best option in this case? Could we get away with a generic, simple self-draughted consent order? Are there any solid examples of this out there? If not, what's the absolute simplest/cheapest option?

I really appreciate any help, thanks so much in advance - I'll check back here regularly and try to answer honestly if anyone has any questions.

Daisy



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2024 07:20PM by WaveRider.

You can try to draft your own consent order in much the same sort of way you can remove one of your own teeth without using a dentist. It simply isn't a sensible thing to do. It is just too technical and the risks are too great if you get it wrong. If you and your husband are agreed the cost of using a solicitor to draft it should be quite modest.

David Terry Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You can try to draft your own consent order in
> much the same sort of way you can remove one of
> your own teeth without using a dentist. It simply
> isn't a sensible thing to do. It is just too
> technical and the risks are too great if you get
> it wrong. If you and your husband are agreed the
> cost of using a solicitor to draft it should be
> quite modest.

Yeah, this was the conclusion I was coming to... do you know if the service offered by Wikivorce is legit? They claim £149 for draughting it...

>>.. do you know if the service offered by Wikivorce is legit? They claim £149 for draughting it...

I can't say. I have never had any experience or contact with them. If you and your husband are agreed on the terms of settlement any solicitor should be able to give you proper cost information so that you can compare. It is contested cases that are expensive. When terms are agreed the costs should not be eye watering.

Thanks for your advice, I will contact a local solicitor or two this coming week and see what they quote.

Just to check, I think I read that I now need to wait out the 20 weeks for the conditional order to be processed before filling out the forms and applying for the financial part? Or should I get the ball rolling now? It was a bit confusing and unclear to me exactly what order and timeframe stuff should be done in.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/17/2024 06:16PM by WaveRider.

The court has jurisdiction to make a final financial order at any time after (not before) the conditional order has been made. Therefore if you have the conditional order you can (and should) get on with it now. Even if you do not have the conditional order it typically takes a little time to draft a consent order and collect the necessary signatures so it is usually prudent to put it in hand so that the paperwork can be lodged with the court as soon as the conditional order is pronounced.

A final financial order made by a court does not become enforceable (save for such things as interim periodical payments) until decree absolute has been been granted but the court has jrisdiction to make such an order as soon as the conditional order has been made.

In some cases there are good reasons why one spouse might want to delay rather than deal with these things as soon as possible but that doesn't seem to be the case here. In fact when both spouses are agreed on the terms of settlement it is usually prudent to try to get that formalised and made final as soon as reasonably possible. That is because the longer that type of situation is left the greater the chance that something will happen which causes the agreement to fall apart.

thanks for all your advice, I appreciate it.