If you are going through a divorce in England or Wales, you may have heard the phrase "clean break order" and wondered what it actually means for you. In simple terms, a clean break order is a court order that severs all financial ties between you and your ex-spouse, so neither of you can make future financial claims against the other. Without one, those claims can remain open for years, even after your divorce is finalised.
What Is a Clean Break Order and Why Does It Matter?
A clean break order is a type of financial remedy order made by a court in England and Wales. Its purpose is to end all financial claims between former spouses once and for all. Once the order is sealed by the court, neither party can return to court at a later date to ask for a share of the other person's assets, income, or future inheritance.
This matters more than many people realise. Under English and Welsh family law, the right to make a financial claim against a former spouse does not automatically disappear when you get divorced. Even if you have been separated for years, even if you both agree there is nothing to divide, that legal right technically remains open. A clean break order closes that door permanently.
There are two distinct types of clean break:
- Capital clean break: This covers assets such as property, savings, pensions, and investments. Once agreed, neither party can later claim a share of the other's capital.
- Income clean break: This covers ongoing maintenance payments. An income clean break means neither party will pay or receive spousal maintenance in the future.
It is possible to have a capital clean break without an income clean break, for example where one spouse needs spousal maintenance for a period of time but both parties want to ring-fence their assets. Your specific circumstances will determine what type of clean break is appropriate.
Courts in England and Wales are required by law to consider whether a clean break is appropriate in every case. This does not mean a court will always order one, but it does mean the issue must always be addressed. If you are considering how property and equity will be divided, our guide on what happens to the house and equity in divorce in England and Wales covers that side of things in detail.
Who Can Get a Clean Break Order and When Is It Suitable?
A clean break order is not suitable for every divorcing couple, but it is appropriate in a wider range of situations than many people expect. Courts will assess whether a clean break is fair based on the specific financial circumstances of both parties.
A clean break is generally more suitable when:
- Both spouses are financially independent and have similar earning capacity
- The marriage was relatively short and there are no children
- Both parties have agreed on how assets are to be divided and neither will need ongoing financial support
- The couple have already separated finances during a long separation
- Both parties have enough capital to meet their own housing and living needs without ongoing support from the other
A clean break may be more difficult to achieve when:
- One spouse has significantly lower earning capacity, for example after years out of the workforce to raise children
- There are young children whose primary carer needs financial support
- There is a big disparity in income or pension provision that cannot be addressed through a one-off capital settlement
- One spouse has health needs that affect their ability to work
Even in cases where a full clean break is not immediately possible, it is sometimes structured to occur in the future. For example, a court might order spousal maintenance for a fixed number of years, after which it terminates automatically. This is sometimes called a "Duxbury" settlement where a lump sum replaces ongoing maintenance.
If you are uncertain about your financial position and want to model different outcomes before speaking to a solicitor, the free divorce financial calculator on Clarity Guide is a good starting point.
How to Get a Clean Break Order: Step by Step
Getting a clean break order involves a formal legal process. The order must be approved and sealed by a court to be legally binding. A verbal agreement or a written agreement between the two of you, without court approval, is not enforceable and does not protect either of you.
Here is how the process typically works:
- Reach an agreement: Both parties agree on the financial settlement, including what assets each will keep, whether any lump sum payments will be made, and that there will be no ongoing spousal maintenance (or that maintenance will run for a fixed period).
- Instruct a solicitor to draft the order: A solicitor will prepare a consent order that reflects your agreement. This document sets out all the terms clearly and in the required legal format.
- Both parties sign the order: Once drafted, both you and your ex-spouse sign the consent order. Each person should ideally receive independent legal advice before signing, even if you have reached agreement amicably.
- Submit to the court: The signed consent order, along with a statement of information form (Form D81) showing both parties' financial positions, is submitted to the court. You do not usually need to attend a hearing for a straightforward consent order.
- A judge reviews the order: A judge reviews the paperwork to check that the terms are fair and reasonable. They have the power to reject it if they have concerns.
- The order is sealed: Once the judge approves it, the court seals the order and it becomes legally binding. This is the moment the clean break takes effect.
The process from drafting to sealed order typically takes between four and twelve weeks, though this depends on court workloads and how quickly paperwork is submitted. Note that the court will not seal a financial order until after the conditional order stage of the divorce has been granted.
What Does a Clean Break Order Actually Include?
The specific contents of a clean break order will vary depending on your circumstances, but most orders will include a combination of the following provisions:
- Property transfer or sale: Instructions about what happens to any jointly owned property, including who keeps it, whether it is sold, and how proceeds are split.
- Lump sum payments: If one party is to pay the other a one-off cash sum as part of the settlement, this will be recorded in the order.
- Pension sharing or pension attachment orders: If pensions are being divided, the order will include a pension sharing annex specifying what percentage transfers. This is an increasingly important part of many settlements. Our article on how to protect your pension in a divorce in England and Wales explains how pension division works in more detail.
- Dismissal of financial claims: This is the heart of the clean break itself. The order will include specific legal wording that dismisses all current and future financial claims between the parties, including claims arising from death. This wording must be present for the clean break to be effective.
- Child maintenance: Clean break orders do not cover child maintenance. The Child Maintenance Service handles child maintenance separately and parents cannot contract out of their obligations to their children through a consent order.
It is important to be thorough when drawing up the order. If an asset is not mentioned, it could potentially be subject to a future claim. A well-drafted order will address all assets, even if some are being retained by the person who already owns them, to ensure the dismissal of claims is comprehensive.
How Much Does a Clean Break Order Cost?
The cost of obtaining a clean break order varies depending on how you approach it. Here is a realistic breakdown:
| Route | Typical Cost |
|---|---|
| Instructing a solicitor to draft and submit a consent order | £500 to £2,000+ |
| Solicitor hourly rate (if negotiations required) | £150 to £400+ per hour |
| Court fee for sealing a consent order | £53 (as of 2026) |
| Using an online guide and template service | From £37 |
The court fee of £53 is payable regardless of which route you take. This is separate from any solicitor fees.
If you and your ex-spouse are already in agreement about the financial settlement and simply need help understanding the process and preparing the paperwork, the cost can be kept significantly lower. Clarity Guide provides plain-English guides from £37 to help you understand exactly what needs to happen and how to approach it, which many people use before or alongside taking specific legal advice.
If your situation is contested or complex, for example involving business assets, significant pensions, or disputes about property, instructing a solicitor is strongly advisable even if it costs more. The cost of getting it wrong, or of facing a future financial claim from an ex-spouse years down the line, can far outweigh the cost of proper legal advice at the outset.
For a broader sense of how divorce costs add up, our guide on how much divorce costs in the UK covers the full picture.
Can You Get a Clean Break Order Without a Solicitor?
Technically, it is possible to prepare and submit a consent order without using a solicitor, and some couples in straightforward situations do exactly that. However, there are important practical and legal considerations before going down that route.
The consent order must be drafted in the correct legal format and contain precise legal wording. If the wording is incorrect or incomplete, the judge may reject it or, worse, it may appear to be approved but fail to protect you fully in the future. The dismissal of claims clause in particular must be worded correctly to be effective.
Many people choose a middle path: they use a plain-English guide or an online resource to understand the process fully, then instruct a solicitor for the specific task of drafting and submitting the consent order only, rather than engaging a solicitor for the entire divorce. This can keep costs manageable while ensuring the legal document is correctly prepared.
If you are considering handling your divorce more independently, our guide on how to divorce without a solicitor in the UK is worth reading. It sets out what is and is not practical to handle yourself, and where professional input is particularly important.
One area where independent legal advice is particularly important is before signing any consent order. Even if the agreement was reached amicably, having a solicitor review the order before you sign it helps ensure you understand what you are agreeing to and that your interests are protected. Many solicitors offer a fixed-fee review service for this specific purpose.
Note that Scotland operates under a different legal system. If you are in Scotland, you would be looking at a minute of agreement or a court interlocutor rather than a consent order. Our complete guide to divorce in Scotland covers the Scottish process in full.
What Happens If You Divorce Without a Clean Break Order?
This is one of the most important points in this entire article. Many people assume that once the divorce itself is finalised, their financial relationship with their ex-spouse is automatically over. It is not.
Without a financial order, including a clean break order or a broader consent order, either party retains the legal right to make financial claims against the other, potentially for the rest of their lives. This means that if one of you inherits money, receives a windfall, builds a successful business, or significantly increases your income years after the divorce, the other could still apply to court for a financial settlement.
There have been well-publicised cases in England and Wales where former spouses have successfully claimed against each other many years after separating, precisely because no financial order was ever put in place. Courts retain jurisdiction over finances indefinitely until an order is made.
Even if you and your ex-spouse have no assets to divide right now, obtaining a clean break order is still worthwhile. It protects both of you from future claims based on assets or income that either of you may acquire in the future. Think of it as closing a door that would otherwise remain permanently ajar.
The process of applying to court for a financial order after divorce is more complicated if the divorce itself has already been finalised, so it is always better to deal with finances at the same time as or immediately after the divorce proceedings.
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