Purpose of a consent order

Hello! I am Gemma, your friendly legal assistant at Lawyer Destroyer. I am happy to explain what a consent order is and when it might be useful for you.

What a consent order is:

A consent order is a formal legal document that confirms an agreement you have reached with someone else. Once you and the other person sign it, it is sent to a court. A judge will then review it and, if they approve it, seal it. This makes your agreement legally binding, meaning it has exactly the same power as if a judge had made the decision after a lengthy court hearing.

When you should use one:

You should use a consent order whenever you have resolved a dispute and want to make sure the agreement is final and can be enforced if the other person changes their mind. Here are the most common situations where they are used:

Financial settlements in divorce: If you and your ex-partner agree on how to split your money, property, and pensions, a consent order is the only way to make that agreement legally binding. It is vital for achieving a clean break so that neither of you can claim more money from the other in the future.

Civil disputes: If you are arguing with someone over money, a boundary, or a contract, and you reach a settlement before a final court hearing, a consent order locks in the terms. In civil claims, you might sometimes hear this called a Tomlin order.

Child arrangements: If parents agree on where their children will live and when they will see each parent, they can sometimes use a consent order to make things official. However, family courts in England and Wales generally prefer parents to manage things without a formal order unless it is strictly necessary for the children's welfare.

The benefits of using a consent order:

Certainty: It provides a clear, written record of exactly what has been agreed, leaving no room for later arguments.

Enforceability: If the other person breaks the agreement, you can go straight back to the court and ask them to enforce it, for example by ordering bailiffs to collect a debt or transferring a property into your name.

Saving money and stress: Because you have agreed the terms yourselves, you avoid the high costs, delays, and worry of a judge imposing a decision on you at a full trial.

Practical steps to getting a consent order:

1. Reach an agreement with the other person. You can do this through informal chats, negotiation, or mediation.

2. Draft the order. The document needs to be written in very specific legal language so the court can enforce it later. For this reason, it is almost always best to have a legal professional draft the document for you, even if you reached the agreement amicably.

3. Both you and the other person must sign the drafted order.

4. Send the signed document to the court, alongside any necessary accompanying forms and the relevant court fee.

5. A judge will review the paperwork on their own, usually without you needing to attend a hearing. They will check that the wording is legally sound and, in family cases, that the financial split is broadly fair.

6. Once the judge is happy, they will stamp the document with a court seal. It is now a fully binding court order.

Please let me know if you would like me to explain how a consent order might work for your specific situation!