By 
Family law guide
A divorce financial settlement is the set of terms that divides a married couple’s money, property, pensions and debts after separation. A court approves those terms within financial proceedings.
In undefended divorce and financial cases a financial settlement can often be obtained through a consent order. That order records the terms you have both agreed, and the court then seals it as final. If you fall into this category, it is important to get legal advice. That advice should check the financial settlement after divorce is fair. It should also check that it covers your future needs and those of any children of the marriage.
You should finalise a financial settlement before your divorce is final. Otherwise, financial claims can come back to disrupt your life years after the divorce.
A financial remedy order is the court order that divides a divorcing couple’s money, property and pensions. It is the formal name for what most people call a divorce financial settlement. The Family Procedure Rules 2010 use “financial remedy” as the name for this group of orders. The court’s power to make them comes from Part II of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973.
One order can cover several things. It can require one of you to pay maintenance or a lump sum under section 23. It can also transfer property, such as the family home, under section 24, and share a pension under section 24B. A judge can make the order once you have your conditional order. It only takes effect when the court makes the divorce final.
There are two routes to a financial remedy order. If you and your ex agree terms, you put them in a consent order and ask a judge to approve it. If you cannot agree, one of you applies on Form A and the court decides. Until a judge approves it as an order, your agreement is not legally binding. We advise getting it sealed before the final order.
In England and Wales, if neither of you concluded a financial settlement, you can still make financial claims against your ex after the divorce. Your ex can still make them against you too. If you have divorced but not concluded your finances after divorce then speak to our divorce law experts for advice today on 0330 094 5880 or arrange a telephone appointment.
Our family lawyers advise on complex financial settlements, shaped by each party’s needs and circumstances and by the assets and income available. That is why it helps to get legal advice on how to reach a suitable settlement.
The financial issues to consider during a divorce will differ from family to family.
All assets should be considered as a starting point which may include:
Any financial settlement should be properly considered in terms of being fair, practical and realistic in both short and long term.
Other factors we recommend you consider are:
A divorce financial settlement may have the paying party make monthly mortgage contributions for several years. If so, think carefully about that person’s health, promotion prospects and ability to keep earning.
You may want to consider placing a charge against an asset, if available, as a form of security in the event of the paying party being unable to fulfil their financial commitment to you; so you can recoup the shortfall balance from the asset.
At Kabir Family Law we see financial settlements drawn up with no practical security in place in case things go wrong later. That is why it is important to get advice from an experienced divorce law specialist.
Our divorce law specialists can explore how to shape a proposal that reduces the risk of a financial settlement not being honoured in the future. We also regularly advise and assist clients who need to challenge or reopen a financial settlement. Usually that is because of untruthful disclosure, or because the maintenance can no longer be paid.
A financial order divorce is the phrase which describes the financial proceedings within a divorce matter. Applying for a financial order divorce used to be called ancillary relief, and you will still see that phrase used; since the Family Procedure Rules 2010 the correct term is a financial remedy. It is separate to the divorce proceedings and is made in addition to the divorce. When considering financial order divorce the separating partners will need to comply with the pre-application protocol.
Before anyone applies to court for a divorce settlement, both of you are expected to follow the pre-application protocol, which many people call the pre-action protocol. It is annexed to Practice Direction 9A. It asks you to try to resolve the dispute out of court, for example through mediation, and to give full and honest financial disclosure.
Section 2.1 of the practice direction says what the protocol is for. It sets out the steps parties should take to resolve their dispute without going to court. It also covers how to seek and provide information from each other before applying for a financial remedy. Financial remedy covers divorce settlements and financial order divorce. The court expects the parties to comply with the terms of the protocol.
If either of you fails to follow the protocol, the court can take that into account when it decides costs. It may order that person to pay the other’s legal costs. The protocol gives you and your ex-partner the chance to resolve the divorce settlement without asking a court to decide. That can save costs and reduce stress.
When dealing with divorce settlements parties will make an application. Following the application, the separating parties will complete the financial statement which is known as the Form E. This document provides information on the parties’ financial status and is required to be completed should you apply to court for divorce settlements.
The court fixes the first appointment when the application is issued, and you both exchange Form E at least 35 days before it. At the first appointment a district judge decides what other information needs to be disclosed and identifies the issues between you.
The purpose of the Financial Dispute Resolution Appointment (FDR) is to hear the outstanding issues to determine if the matter can be settled. During this hearing the district judge can give their view on the likely outcome if they were hearing it. Many cases settle at this stage of the divorce settlement proceedings.
Following the Financial Dispute Resolution Appointment, the parties will attempt to go away and try and reach an agreement between themselves. A successful FDR hearing could lead to the couples resolving their divorce settlements and moving onto their new life. If, however the FDR is not successful then the case will continue in the courts. Quite often during these hearings the judge will try and use their skills to persuade the parties to negotiate.
The reason for a divorce doesn’t usually affect the calculation of a financial settlement award. This is because the primary focus of a financial settlement is the welfare and needs of any children before the parties and the parties’ needs will often trump the reason for a marriage breakdown.
While it is rare for the reason of divorce to affect the financial settlement, it doesn’t mean that it is impossible. There are certain reasons that may affect a financial settlement, for example, if one partner’s violence or behaviour has had an impact on the other or if one partner has been reckless or deliberate in excessive spending or destroying assets. An easy example would be if the partner gambled money away due to an addiction.
The length of marriage does affect a divorce settlement. It is one of the factors the court must consider under section 25(2)(d) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. The length of time a couple had lived together prior to marriage is also relevant when considering the length of marriage. Generally, where there is a financially weaker partner, the longer the marriage is the more likely they will be given a settlement which enables them to be financially secure for the rest of their life. With long marriages the division of assets and finances is likely to be equal, or very close regardless of whether or not the finances and assets have all come from one party.
However, the length of marriage is only one factor amongst others. Each family matter depends on its facts. Contact us today for a consultation and advice based on your own circumstances.
There is no set formula in calculating a financial settlement because no case is the same, as each family will differ from one to the other. Our financial settlement specialists are trained and experienced in helping you work out a settlement, starting with your basic needs.
There is no official divorce settlement calculator, because the law in England and Wales sets no formula. Under section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, the court looks at all the circumstances. The welfare of any child of the family under 18 comes first. It then weighs income, earning capacity and needs. Age, health, contributions, the standard of living and the length of the marriage also count.
Judges apply three principles from Miller v Miller; McFarlane v McFarlane [2006] UKHL 24: needs, compensation and sharing. In most cases the search for fairness begins and ends with needs, because the money rarely stretches to two homes. Sharing starts from equal division, the “yardstick of equality” from White v White [2001] 1 AC 596. A court departs from it only for good reason. Compensation can apply where one of you gave up earning power for the family. Our Standish v Standish guide explains how the 2025 Supreme Court ruling treats what one of you owned before the marriage.
An online calculator can only apply a fixed rule to the figures you type in. It cannot weigh a child’s housing need against a pension. It cannot tell what one of you owned before the marriage from what you built together. Treat any figure it gives as a rough starting point. Book a free consultation before you make or accept an offer based on it.
There is no official average divorce settlement in the UK. The Ministry of Justice’s Family Court Statistics Quarterly counts financial remedy cases in England and Wales but publishes no settlement values. In April to June 2026 it recorded 12,369 financial remedy applications, and 72% of them were uncontested.
An average would also tell you little about your own case. It would blend a short marriage with no property and a long one with a family home and two pensions. A typical settlement for your family depends on where the children will live and what each of you can earn or borrow. It also depends on what the pensions are really worth. Our family law specialists can advise you on a realistic range once they have your figures.
A consent order is an agreed order, so it needs both of you to sign it. If your ex will not sign, you do not lose your claim: you apply to the court for a financial order instead, and a judge can decide the division and impose it without your ex ever agreeing to it.
That is the thing worth knowing when someone digs their heels in. Refusal delays you. It does not defeat you. The application is made on Form A, the court then sets a timetable you both have to follow, and full financial disclosure on Form E becomes compulsory rather than optional. Before you can issue it you normally have to attend a mediation information and assessment meeting, a MIAM, unless one of the exemptions applies, such as domestic abuse. And the court carries a duty under section 25A of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 to consider whether your financial obligations to each other should be ended altogether. Put plainly: a judge can give you the clean break your ex refused to sign.
Getting these the wrong way round wastes months. If there is no order yet, there is nothing to enforce, so enforcement is the wrong tool entirely; you apply for a financial order and ask the court to decide. If an order already exists and your ex is ignoring it, you go the other way and apply to enforce it. Which of the two you are in changes the form, the cost and the timescale, so it is worth getting right on day one.
Two things bite. Delay is the first. An agreed consent order is usually finished in weeks, while a contested application runs on the court’s timetable: rule 9.12 of the Family Procedure Rules requires the first appointment to be listed not less than 12 and not more than 16 weeks after the application is filed, with the final hearing sitting well beyond that.
Costs are the second. The usual rule in financial remedy proceedings is that each of you pays your own legal costs, but Practice Direction 28A is blunt about the exception: to refuse “openly to negotiate reasonably and responsibly” is conduct “in respect of which the court will consider making an order for costs”. Stonewalling is not a free tactic, and putting that in open correspondence is often what unlocks a signature. The rule cuts both ways, which is worth knowing before you harden your own position.
Without a clean break, the financial claims you each hold against the other survive the divorce, and there is no time limit on them. In Wyatt v Vince the Supreme Court allowed a wife to bring a claim in 2011 against a husband she had divorced in 1992, by which time he had built a substantial business; the case settled in 2016 with a lump sum of £300,000. That is the exposure people underestimate. An inheritance, a pension that matures, the sale of a business, a lottery prize: money that arrives long after the divorce can still be looked at, because the divorce itself does not close the financial claims. Only a clean break order does.
So the open question is not whether your ex will eventually sign. It is how long you are prepared to stay exposed while they decide. If they are refusing, the useful next move is rarely another round of emails. Call us on 0330 094 5880 for a free consultation and we will tell you whether a firmer open offer is likely to unlock it, or whether the court application is now the faster and cheaper route.
Where an order already exists and your ex will not comply with it, our family lawyers can advise and assist you with enforcement. The court’s powers include:
Court Enforcement Powers:
– Freezing bank accounts and assets
– Placing charges on property
– Wage deductions through employers
– Bailiff action to seize assets
– Committal to prison for up to six weeks, where the court is satisfied the payer had the means to pay and refused
Our Enforcement Strategy:
Our specialist team can help you record each missed payment, advise which enforcement application suits your case and assist you in preparing it.
Clean break orders provide complete financial separation after divorce, protecting both parties from future claims. Our family lawyers advise on whether one suits your circumstances:
Benefits of Clean Break Orders:
– Permanent end to financial obligations
– Protection from future claims
– Complete independence after divorce
– Peace of mind for new relationships
When Clean Breaks Are Possible:
– Both parties can achieve financial independence
– No ongoing childcare needs requiring maintenance
– Sufficient assets for fair division
– Agreement between you, or a judge deciding a clean break is just and reasonable
Deferred Clean Break Orders:
Sometimes clean breaks occur after specific events, such as children finishing education or property sales completing. Our specialists can advise on how to structure these arrangements.
Understanding settlement timelines helps you plan through the divorce process. The ranges below are typical estimates, not deadlines, and your case may move faster or slower. Our family lawyers guide clients through each stage:
– Initial disclosure: 2-3 weeks
– Negotiation period: 3-6 weeks
– Consent order drafting: 1-2 weeks
– Court approval: 2-3 weeks
– Form A application: 2-3 weeks
– First Appointment: 12-16 weeks after the application is filed
– Financial Dispute Resolution appointment: 4-6 months
– Final hearing: 6-12 months
– Asset complexity and valuations required
– International property or business interests
– Hidden asset investigations
– Cooperation levels between parties
Early advice and complete disclosure from the start make delay less likely.
In divorce settlements assets can be divided between the parties without the need of court intervention. In such circumstances there is no set way to divide the assets; it depends on what the former partners agree. If partners are unable to reach an agreement, then the courts will need to direct on the division of assets.
The courts will follow the guidelines stated within s.25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 when dealing with divorce settlements. The starting point for the courts would be to consider a 50/50 split of the assets and finances. The court, however, will take into account further factors before reaching its decision. It gives first consideration to the welfare of any child of the family under 18. When considering the divorce settlements and exercising its powers the courts will have regard to the following:
Having considered these factors and the individual circumstances of each party the court can order the division of the assets as it sees fit. If you would like more advice on your personal circumstance contact us today to see how we can assist you in looking to reach an agreement for your divorce settlement.
The starting point in divorce settlements is that the assets are split 50/50. The general principle is that the family assets should be divided equally. This principle is known as the “yardstick of equality” and was specified in the case of White v White.
However, the court can deviate from this approach where it is fair and reasonable to do so. The factors considered by the court before moving away from the 50/50 division of assets in divorce settlement are:
A financial settlement can be agreed before or after the divorce is final. Remarriage is the trap. If you remarry before you have applied for a financial order, you lose the right to apply for most orders in your favour under section 28(3) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. It is advisable to conclude a financial settlement during your divorce, before the final order is made. The final order was called the decree absolute until 6 April 2022, when the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 renamed it.
A divorce can be obtained without a financial order divorce or divorce settlement. However, there could be implications for both separating parties. Despite the divorce, your ex will still be able to make a claim for financial settlement at any stage. Furthermore, if you remarry without having reached a financial settlement with your former spouse you may lose the right to make a financial claim against them, whereas they would still be in their rights to make a financial claim against you.
Quite often parties may overlook a financial settlement on the basis of neither party having many assets. However, if you fail to reach a settlement or agreement, any finances or assets you acquire in the future may be considered if your former partner makes a financial claim in the future.
Although a divorce can be concluded without a financial settlement our family law specialists advise you to consider dealing with the financial settlement at the same time as the divorce. Contact us today to arrange a consultation and see how we can assist.
You may want to consider either placing a restriction on the account so no money can be taken out without both your consent, or freezing the account, if possible so they are preserved as part of the financial settlement or later used by agreement.
You will both be responsible for any overdraft on a joint account, so it is important to take steps to protect it.
Yes. A consent order is a financial order made in the terms both separating partners have agreed. Under section 33A of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, a judge can make an order in the agreed terms. The consent order will detail how the assets, finances, debts, pensions and income will be split following the divorce. Once the court approves it, it is legally binding, and neither of you can simply change your mind later. The difference from a contested financial order divorce is the route. In a contested case you could not agree, so one of you applies on Form A and a judge decides.
You can send the court a consent order when you apply for your divorce or at any time after that. A judge cannot approve it until the conditional order has been made. The conditional order was called the decree nisi until 6 April 2022. You cannot have a consent order without a divorce having been issued first. Separating partners can agree their divorce settlement earlier. The order still only takes effect once the final order is made, as GOV.UK explains.
A fair consent order is one that will take into account the needs of the parties. In most cases the starting point of dividing assets is a 50/50 split. However, this may not be applicable in every family case. To decide whether a consent order is fair, the judge will look at each party’s earning potential and childcare responsibilities.
It would be unfair to include a 50/50 split in a consent order where one person has a reduced earning potential due to leaving a job and looking after the family. Likewise, if one party has made significant contributions to the assets it would be unfair to provide them a lower share of the assets. It is important to note that the judge will only grant the consent order if they are satisfied the order is fair to both parties. If the judge feels the order is unfair to either party, they will question how you came to the settlement and ask for more information to ensure both parties understand the proposed order.
In order to agree a fair consent order in divorce settlements the most important aspect is ensuring you have full financial disclosure. A fair consent order will be reached if both separating partners have full understanding of each other’s full income, assets and pension values. If you are unsure as to whether you have sufficient information to be able to reach an agreement on a fair consent order, then you should seek legal advice. At Kabir Family Law, our specialists can assist you in reviewing your financial disclosure to assess whether a proposed agreement is fair and could also assist in situations where you believe your partner may be hiding assets.
A clean break order is a type of financial order, or a term within one, that severs your financial ties for good. Once the court makes it, neither of you can make further claims against the other’s finances. Without a clean break order through a court, your spouse may later apply to the court for money from you. That could include any inheritance you receive. A clean break can be agreed in a consent order. If you cannot agree, section 25A of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 requires the judge in a financial order divorce to consider whether one is appropriate. It usually sits in the same order that divides your assets. It does not suit every case. Where one of you still needs maintenance, the order may keep that claim open.
Child maintenance should be considered for the parent who is retaining care of the children after the divorce. The amount of child maintenance payable depends mainly on the paying parent’s gross income and how many nights the children stay with them.
The usual child maintenance rates apply where the paying parent’s gross income is up to £3,000 a week. Above that, once the Child Maintenance Service has made its calculation, the court can add a top-up order on top of it under section 8(6) of the Child Support Act 1991. Speak to our family law specialists about whether a top-up suits your case. Our divorce law specialist would advise that any child maintenance payments are factored into a financial settlement.
If they simply will not sign a consent or clean break order, you apply to the court for a financial order and a judge decides without their agreement. If an order already exists and they are ignoring it, that is enforcement, which is a different application. Courts provide powerful enforcement mechanisms when ex-spouses ignore court orders. Judges can freeze bank accounts, place charges on property, deduct wages and authorise bailiffs to seize assets. Our family law specialists can advise which enforcement route fits your case.
Agreed cases are usually the quickest, because a judge only has to approve the consent order. Contested cases run on the court’s timetable. Rule 9.12 of the Family Procedure Rules sets the first appointment 12 to 16 weeks after the application. The final hearing comes months later. Early negotiation and full disclosure help keep delays down.
Ex-spouses retain financial claim rights indefinitely without proper court orders. In Wyatt v Vince the Supreme Court let a wife pursue a claim in 2011 against a husband she had divorced in 1992; it settled in 2016 for £300,000. Our specialists advise on clean break orders that close those claims and protect your assets.
The court looks at everything either of you has or is likely to have, under section 25(2)(a) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973: property, savings, pensions, business interests and investments. Assets you owned before the marriage or inherited are often treated differently from what you built together, but they are still considered. Our family lawyers can advise where you suspect hidden assets or need complex holdings valued, such as international property.
Courts weigh income disparity, lifestyle standards, earning capacity, and future needs. Courts consider marriage duration, childcare responsibilities, and each party’s financial circumstances. Our specialists can advise on fair maintenance arrangements for your situation.
A clean break order permanently ends the financial claims you and your ex-spouse hold against each other, so neither of you can come back for more later. It cannot stop either parent applying for child maintenance. Our family lawyers can advise whether a clean break suits your case, which usually depends on whether you each have enough to live independently.
Usually, yes. Many couples agree terms through mediation or negotiation. A judge still has to approve the agreement as a consent order to make it legally binding, but there is usually no court hearing. Our family lawyers can advise and assist you through each step.
Pension sharing orders divide retirement benefits between spouses as part of financial settlements. Our specialists can advise on getting the pensions properly valued, the tax implications and what a fair split looks like for your retirement.
A business is valued as part of the financial settlement, often by a forensic accountant who looks at trading profits, future prospects and how the company is owned. Our family lawyers can advise on how to protect the business while keeping the settlement fair to you both.
Complete financial disclosure requires bank statements, property valuations, pension statements, business accounts, and investment portfolios. Our family lawyers can guide you through gathering them so that your disclosure is complete.
Have you reached an agreement on your financial settlement after divorce, or do you simply need further advice? Our divorce specialists are happy to speak to you on 0330 094 5880 or let us call you back. The costly mistake is an agreement that never becomes a sealed financial remedy order. That leaves your ex free to bring a claim years later. Book a free consultation and we will check where you stand before you sign anything.
8 of 20 guides — scroll sideways for more
Tradwife Legal Protection UK: Essential Rights and Safeguards for Traditional Wives?
Financial Consent Order
Enforcement of Financial Court Orders
Section 25 Conduct Argument
Teacher Pension Delays in Divorce: Understanding Your Rights and Options
Will I Have to Share My Bonus in Divorce?
Short videos from the Kabir Family Law team, explaining family law in plain English.
We are a team of legally trained family law and divorce specialists with years of experience across all areas of family law. We are not part of a firm of solicitors, do not undertake legal reserved activities unless permitted and are therefore entirely independent. Please subscribe to our mailing list.
![Prest v Petrodel [2013] UKSC 34: What It Really Decided](https://www.kabirfamilylaw.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Prest-v-Petrodel-1024x572.jpg)
![Radmacher v Granatino [2010] UKSC 42: What It Decided](https://www.kabirfamilylaw.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Radmacher-v-Granatino-1024x572.jpg)
Type a topic to see the pages that cover it, or choose one below.
Or choose a topic
Or call us on 0330 094 5880
A few things we have shared lately. Plain answers, quiet updates, and the occasional reminder that you are not the first person to stand where you are standing.
Kabir Family Law, the start of the bright side of life.
View this Facebook post, opens in a new tab
When the roots are deep there is no reason to fear the wind.
View this Instagram post, opens in a new tab
Kabir Family Law brings hope to families in times of crisis.
View this X post, opens in a new tab
You are never truly alone. Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is ask…
View this Facebook post, opens in a new tab
Would you rather talk it through with someone?
Book a free consultationThe first conversation with one of our family law specialists costs nothing.
12 Cathedral Rd
Pontcanna
Cardiff
CF11 9LJ
Friars House,
Coventry
CV1 2TE
Chester House
1st and 3rd Floors
81 - 83 Fulham High Street
Fulham
London
SW63JA
16 High Holborn
Holborn
London
WC1V6BX
Clavering House
Clavering Place
Newcastle upon Tyne
Tyne and Wear
NE1 3NG
20-30a Abington Street
Northampton
NN1 2JA
2 King St
Nottingham
NG1 2AS
1 & 3 Kings Meadow
Oxford
OX2 0DP
2 Copenhagen St
Worcester
WR1 2HB
Tower Court
3 Oakdale Road
North Yorkshire
York
YO30 4XL
You do not need the right words. Tell us what is happening, or pick whatever comes closest.
What is happening?