Agree a fair financial settlement on divorce and make it binding

This guide is for married couples and civil partners in England and Wales who are divorcing or dissolving their partnership and need to divide money, property and pensions. The divorce itself only ends the marriage; your financial claims against each other stay open, sometimes for decades, until a court makes a financial order. Here you will build full disclosure, understand what a court would consider fair, deal properly with pensions and the home, use mediation to reach agreement and turn it into a consent order with a clean break where possible. It is general information, not legal advice: Scotland and Northern Ireland have different law, and you should get advice from a family solicitor, mediator or Citizens Advice before you sign anything.

What is inside

• Full step-by-step method9 detailed steps with decision points
• Ready-to-use templatesEmail proposing a voluntary disclosure exchange · Asset and options schedule · Letter to a pension scheme for divorce information
• Timed action plan8 stages from “Week 1” to “Within a month of the final order”
• Costly mistakes to avoid4 traps and what to do instead
• Complete checklist12 items to tick off
• Insider tips and fixes4 tips and 4 common problems solved

Step by step

1. Get the timing right and protect your position

   Treat the divorce and the money as two separate legal processes: the divorce runs online through GOV.UK, while the financial order needs its own application, ideally made after the conditional order and before the final order. If either of you has a pension, do not apply for the final order until the financial order is approved or you have taken advice, because on the final order you can lose spouse's pension and death benefits. Do not remarry or form a new civil partnership before a financial application has been made, as this can bar you from making some claims. If the home is in your partner's sole name, ask a solicitor about registering your home rights with HM Land Registry so it cannot be sold or remortgaged without you knowing. If there is domestic abuse or you fear assets being moved, get legal advice quickly; mediation may not be suitable and urgent court orders exist.