I’ve not long had my divorce granted with my ex and the next step we agreed is that she will pay me a final lump sum (under £5K) and we will then have no further claim going forward on either’s houses, money etc.

We have wasted far too much already on a useless solicitor and ended up finishing the divorce ourselves, so I’m keen not to line their pockets anymore BUT my ex is very keen to have it all legal and in writing.

Is there an easier/cheaper way or are we doomed to pay a solicitor even more money….?

write it, sign it, have it witnessed by someone reliable. And then keep a copy safe. That said, for the potential value of future claims / liabilities is a simple solicitor’s letter going to be that expensive?

(not like a mate who loaned his ex-GF money to buy a place where they wrote an agreement that should she ever sell then he was entitled to his money back plus a share of any profit, and then didn’t change the locks so she nicked his copy and denied it existed. Had to pay a fortune in court to get an injunction to prevent her selling and disappearing with the proceeds while the case was heard and then about 6 months of solicitor and barrister time to fight the case. In the end the costs were almost entirely swallowed up by his share of the profit and his initial loan back, but in turn she was bankrupted because of her greed and dishonesty. Vindictive? Possibly but crime should not pay, and there was no way he was going to let her walk away with quarter of a million to move in with her new boyfriend)

When the (previous) Mrs and I split there were no solicitors involved. We simply wrote a document outlining what the assets held were and how they were going to be split. We then printed two copies and each signed both, keepin a copy each. We didn’t get them witnessed, although this could be an idea.

How legally binding this would be is probably questionable, but it would be difficult for either party to say “no, that’s not what I agreed”.

I’ve lost my copy mind…

I’ve lost my copy mind…

DON’T READ MY POST THEN!!!!

New house/keys 🙂

it would be difficult for either party to say “no, that’s not what I agreed”.

It would be extremely easy for either party to destroy their own copy and then, when presented with the other copy to say ……” That’s not what I agreed and I didn’t sign that. You must have forged my signature”…. and back to court we go.

Witnesses are probably a good idea.

You’ll have to get a Consent Order drafted by a solicitor in order for the court to approve and for it to be legally binding.
You’ve done the hard bit in getting the agreement so an online fixed fee service for £150 or so for peace of mind doesn’t seem much…..

https://www.gov.uk/money-property-when-relationship-ends/apply-for-consent-order

OP – your divorce has been granted?
Isn’t the money stuff sorted out before that can happen, and after divorce noone can ask for anything more?

Isn’t the money stuff sorted out before that can happen, and after divorce noone can ask for anything more?

You’d think so wouldn’t you but divorces do go through with no consent order in place even when kids are involved and the divorce is acrimonious. I know this as my ex wifes new partner found himself divorced with no agreement at all on the finances. That is now all going through the courts as her demands are somewhat ridiculous, i.e I want 100% of everything and you to pay me £2K a month for the rest of my life.
We did ours through a consent order, I wouldn’t have finalised the divorce without one and I didn’t leave the house till we had one agreed on.

I divorced with no final financial settlement – so it is definitely possible & OP seems agree 😉

Oh, OK.
I did a simple divorce – maybe only available in Scotland. I think our rules are a bit easier.

Basically says, you both agree to divorce, have been apart 1 year and the money stuff is sorted out. You get it witnessed by a notary, put it in the court, £100-ish and it’s done. My paperwork came through this week actually.

[clipart-party]

It is possible – but if you have kids or any capital…

You’ll have to get a Consent Order drafted by a solicitor in order for the court to approve and for it to be legally binding.
You’ve done the hard bit in getting the agreement so an online fixed fee service for £150 or so for peace of mind doesn’t seem much….

…seems like good advice and is roughly what we did, not online, but we used the same solicitor saying we had agreed it all already and didn’t want to get confrontational even when they tried stirring the pot a bit.

If in Scotland, you can get a copy of any agreement lodged with Registers of Scotland (Books of Council & Session). Handy if copies go missing later.

https://kb.ros.gov.uk/registration/guidance/register-of-deeds/register-of-deeds

Get one posted, registered, to a reliable friend and ask them to keep the original envelope unopened.

Maybe just get a better solicitor? Though online may be OK if you’re not in a rush to get it sorted.

What you need is a consent order , as stated above it is easy enough for you to draw up and effectively binding. From massively out of date memory you can’t finalise as in get a decree absolute without one if you have kids.
In an amicable divorce with no major assets business , pensions extra houses on a 50/50 split both employed AND no children, it would be a waste of cash to pay a solicitor.

From massively out of date memory you can’t finalise as in get a decree absolute without one if you have kids.

You can, see my post above, it seems crazy to allow it but it happens even with kids in an acrimonious divorce with just about zero agreement on anything. In my case my ex wife went to a solicitor to get a consent order drawn up based on what we’d agreed. I looked through it, got some legal advice asked for a few small changes then her solicitor made those amendments and we signed it. For me that’s the best way to ensure it’s watertight at the least cost.

it seems crazy to allow it but…

Just curious; why does it seem crazy to allow a divorce without a final financial settlement in place? The way it was explained to me is that the divorce changes nothing regarding whether either party has a financial claim over the other, and whilst holding up the proceedings can be a bargaining tool for one party over the other, when both parties just want out it may as well be done whether or not financials are sorted.

(Posted as a newly divorced (absolute) dad of two, who’s ex wife is still living in the matrimonial home, and is currently selling his half to her, all civil(ish) like).

We never made a full and final financial settlement despite solicitors advice that I should – we had three children under ten, didn’t seem right to cast things in stone when circumstances could change in the future. Did have to get a statement of arrangements for kids though and is going back 20yrs now.

Just curious; why does it seem crazy to allow a divorce without a final financial settlement in place?

Let’s just say your great long lost aunt dot who you never knew existed drops dead and leaves you the million quid she’s been stashing in old biscuit tins around the Knightsbridge home she’s lived in since 1932 which she’s also left you. Bet you’re wishing you’d got that consent order now aren’t you. 🙂

Thanks for the replies – I think as mentioned about a consent order IS needed…..

Let’s just say your great long lost aunt dot who you never knew existed drops dead and leaves you the million quid she’s been stashing in old biscuit tins around the Knightsbridge home she’s lived in since 1932 which she’s also left you. Bet you’re wishing you’d got that consent order now aren’t you.

No, you miss my point. I’m not saying that a consent order isn’t a good idea, it obviously is. What I’m asking is why hold up a divorce for it?

why hold up a divorce for it?

I’d just say what advantage is there to being divorced if the finances are not sorted. For me it meant that the absolute meant something, it was the final thing in the whole process and drew a line under everything.