How to Apply for a Financial Order on Divorce in England: A Complete Plain-English Guide

When a marriage ends, dividing money, property and pensions is often the most stressful part of the whole process. A financial order is the legal document that makes your financial settlement binding, and without one either of you could make a financial claim against the other years down the line. This guide explains exactly how to apply for a financial order on divorce in England, what the steps look like, how long it takes, and how to keep costs under control.

What Is a Financial Order and Why Do You Need One?

A financial order (sometimes called a financial remedy order) is a court order that sets out how you and your spouse will divide your finances after divorce. It can cover the family home, savings, investments, pensions, debts, and ongoing maintenance payments.

Many people assume that once they are divorced, any financial ties automatically end. Unfortunately, that is not the case. In England and Wales, divorce and finances are dealt with as two entirely separate legal processes. You can be legally divorced and still have an open financial claim hanging over you, sometimes for many years.

The only way to fully protect yourself is to get a financial order sealed by the court. Without one, a former spouse could, in theory, make a financial claim against you even after you have both moved on, remarried, or received an inheritance. The courts have the power to make orders at any point after divorce if no financial order was ever put in place.

There are several types of financial order, including:

• Consent orders: Used when you and your spouse have already reached an agreement. A solicitor drafts the order and both of you sign it. The court checks it is fair and seals it.
• Clean break orders: Cut all financial ties between you completely, so neither party can make future claims.
• Pension sharing orders: Split one or both pensions between you as part of the settlement.
• Maintenance orders (periodical payments): Require one spouse to pay the other a regular amount, often where one person has a much lower income.
• Property adjustment orders: Transfer or sell the family home or other property.

If you are divorcing a self-employed spouse, valuing income and assets can be particularly complex. Our guide on divorcing a self-employed spouse in the UK explains how income, assets and settlements really work in those situations.

The Two Routes: Consent Order or Contested Financial Proceedings

Before you look at forms and court fees, it helps to understand which route applies to your situation. There are broadly two ways to get a financial order in England.

Route 1: Consent order (you have already agreed)

If you and your spouse have reached a financial agreement between yourselves, perhaps through negotiation, mediation, or with solicitors, you can turn that agreement into a binding court order by applying for a consent order. This is the cheaper and quicker route. You do not need to attend a full court hearing in most cases. A judge reviews the proposed order on paper and, if satisfied it is fair, seals it. Court fees and legal costs are much lower this way.

Route 2: Contested financial remedy proceedings (you cannot agree)

If you cannot reach an agreement, either spouse can apply to the court for it to decide how the finances should be divided. This is known as making a financial remedy application and involves a series of hearings. It is considerably more expensive and time-consuming, but sometimes it is the only realistic option, particularly where there are complex assets, hidden income, or one party is simply refusing to engage.

Most financial cases in England and Wales are resolved before they reach a final hearing, either through negotiation between solicitors or at a court hearing called a Financial Dispute Resolution (FDR) appointment. Even if you start down the contested route, settlement is still possible at any point along the way.

Understanding your costs early is important. You can get a sense of the full financial picture using our free divorce financial calculator, which helps you work out what a settlement might look like in your circumstances.

Step-by-Step: How to Apply for a Financial Order in England

Here is the process broken down into clear stages, whether you are applying for a consent order or starting contested proceedings.

1. Complete the divorce application first (or at the same time). Financial remedy proceedings can only result in a sealed order once the conditional order (previously called decree nisi) has been granted in your divorce. You can start financial proceedings at any point, but the order will not be finalised until the divorce itself has progressed far enough. For a full overview of the divorce process, see our complete guide to divorce in England and Wales.
2. Consider mediation first. Before applying to the court for a contested financial order, you are generally required to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM). This is a meeting with a trained mediator to explore whether mediation could help you reach agreement without going to court. There are exemptions, for example if there has been domestic abuse, but most applicants need to attend a MIAM and have the mediator sign the relevant section of the court form.
3. Fill in Form A (Notice of Intent to Proceed with an Application for a Financial Order). This is the form you submit to the court to start financial remedy proceedings. You can download it from GOV.UK. You state what type of financial order you are applying for (for example, a property adjustment order, a pension sharing order, or periodical payments).
4. Pay the court fee. As of 2026, the court fee for making a financial remedy application is £275. Fee remission (help with fees) may be available if you are on a low income.
5. Complete Form E (Financial Statement). Both parties must fill in a detailed Form E, setting out their income, assets, debts, property, pensions, and outgoings. This is a lengthy document and must be as accurate and complete as possible. Hiding or undervaluing assets is a serious matter and can result in the order being set aside later.
6. Attend the First Directions Appointment (FDA). This is the first court hearing. The judge sets out a timetable for the case, identifies what further information or evidence is needed, and considers whether any preliminary issues need to be resolved.
7. Attend the Financial Dispute Resolution (FDR) hearing. At this hearing, the judge gives a non-binding indication of what they think a fair outcome would be. Many cases settle at or shortly after the FDR.
8. Final hearing (if still not resolved). If no agreement is reached, the case goes to a final hearing where a judge makes a binding decision.

Applying for a Consent Order: What to Expect

If you and your spouse have already agreed how to divide your finances, a consent order is the most straightforward way to make that agreement legally binding. Here is what the process looks like in practice.

First, one or both of you (usually a solicitor on your behalf) drafts the consent order document. This sets out all the terms you have agreed, for example who keeps the family home, how pensions will be split, and whether there will be any maintenance payments. The language must be precise, as this is a legal document.

You then both sign a document called a Draft Consent Order. Alongside this, you complete a short document called a Statement of Information (Form D81). This form gives the court basic information about your financial circumstances, your children if any, and a summary of the proposed settlement. The court uses this to assess whether the agreement looks broadly fair.

You submit the signed Draft Consent Order, the Form D81, and the court fee (currently £53 for a consent order application) to the court. A district judge reviews the papers without either of you needing to attend a hearing in most straightforward cases.

If the judge is satisfied the order is fair and reasonable, they seal it. Once sealed, the consent order becomes legally binding on both parties.

If the judge is not satisfied, they may ask for more information or list the matter for a short hearing. This is relatively uncommon if the order has been properly drafted.

One important point: a consent order should be drafted by a solicitor even if you have negotiated the terms yourselves. An incorrectly drafted order can cause serious problems later. Solicitors typically charge between £150 and £400 per hour for this work. If you want to understand the full cost picture before instructing anyone, our guide on how much divorce costs in the UK is a helpful starting point.

How Long Does a Financial Order Take in England?

The honest answer is: it varies enormously depending on whether you are going the consent order route or through contested proceedings.

Consent order: Once you have submitted a correctly completed Draft Consent Order and Form D81, it typically takes between four and twelve weeks for a judge to review and seal the order. Court backlogs can extend this, so it is worth submitting as soon as your divorce has reached the conditional order stage.

Contested financial proceedings: These take considerably longer. From issuing a Form A to reaching a final hearing, the process typically takes between twelve and eighteen months, sometimes longer in complex cases or busy court areas. Each stage has its own waiting time:

• After issuing Form A, the court will usually list the First Directions Appointment within twelve to sixteen weeks.
• The FDR is usually listed four to six months after the FDA.
• If a final hearing is needed, it may be listed six months or more after the FDR.

These timelines are estimates and will depend on the specific family court handling your case. Courts in some parts of England are significantly busier than others.

It is worth noting that while financial proceedings are ongoing, you and your spouse are not yet financially free of each other. This is one reason why resolving finances through negotiation or mediation, rather than full contested proceedings, is usually in both parties' interests.

If you are considering handling parts of your divorce yourself to save costs and time, our guide on how to divorce without a solicitor in the UK covers what you can realistically do yourself and where professional advice is genuinely worth the investment.

Costs: Court Fees, Solicitor Fees, and Keeping Bills Down

Financial remedy proceedings can be expensive, particularly if the case is contested and runs to a final hearing. Here is a realistic breakdown of what you might face.

Court fees:

• Form A application (contested financial proceedings): £275
• Consent order application: £53
• Help with Fees (Form EX160) may reduce or waive these if you meet the income criteria

Solicitor fees: Solicitors in England and Wales typically charge between £150 and £400 per hour, with specialist family finance solicitors in London or major cities often at the higher end. A straightforward consent order might cost £800 to £2,000 in solicitor fees. Contested proceedings that run to a final hearing can easily cost £15,000 to £50,000 or more per person.

Mediation: Mediation sessions typically cost £100 to £200 per person per session, but the government offers a voucher scheme that currently provides up to £500 towards mediation costs for eligible cases involving children.

Ways to keep costs down:

• Try to reach agreement before going to court. Even imperfect negotiations are cheaper than litigation.
• Be organised. Solicitors charge for time, so having your financial documents ready saves money.
• Use fixed-fee services where available for straightforward consent orders.
• Get proper information before you start, so you understand what is and is not realistic to expect from a settlement.

At Clarity Guide, our plain-English divorce guide is available from £37 and is designed to help you understand the process, ask the right questions, and approach any professional advice you take in a more informed and cost-effective way. That kind of grounding can make a real difference when solicitors are billing by the hour.

A Note on Scotland: Financial Orders Work Differently There

Everything covered in this article applies specifically to England and Wales. If you are based in Scotland, the legal framework for dividing finances on divorce is quite different, and the terminology, court processes, and legal principles used to decide what is fair all vary significantly.

In Scotland, finances on divorce are governed by the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985 rather than the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. The starting point in Scotland is that matrimonial property (assets acquired during the marriage) should be shared fairly, which usually means equally, rather than the broader discretionary approach taken by courts in England and Wales. The timeframes for making a financial claim in Scotland are also more restrictive.

If your divorce is in Scotland, our complete guide to divorce in Scotland explains the process in full, including how financial settlements work under Scots law.

If you are unsure which jurisdiction applies to you, the general rule is that you divorce in the country where you are habitually resident, but there are circumstances where you may have a choice. A family solicitor can advise you on jurisdiction if you are uncertain.