Agree Divorce Financial Settlement Early – Or Risk Costly Mistakes

Contested financial orders have surged to a 16-year high — here’s why you should agree your divorce financial settlement early to avoid legal and financial stress

If you’re going through a separation, one of the smartest decisions you can make is to agree your divorce financial settlement early. With contested financial orders at a 16-year high, more and more couples are finding themselves in costly legal disputes that could have been avoided with an early agreement.

In this article, I’ll explain what’s going wrong — and how to protect yourself by reaching a legally binding agreement at the right time.

What is a financial remedy order — and why are so many going wrong?

A financial remedy order is the court’s way of settling how finances, property, pensions, and other assets should be divided after a divorce. If couples can’t agree, the court steps in and makes a decision for them.

But more and more couples are contesting these orders — either because they didn’t secure an agreement at the right time or because they’re trying to reopen old agreements due to life changes, like:

• A drop in house prices or pension values

• The rising cost of living

• One party refusing to comply with the original order

• Undisclosed assets coming to light later

In short: delaying your financial settlement opens the door to future conflict — and often leaves people in a much worse financial position than if they’d acted early.

🕓 The Average Divorce Now Takes 63 Weeks — Ours Takes Just Over 7 Months

Many couples assume that divorce automatically severs financial ties — but that’s not true. If you don’t get a court-approved consent order, your ex can make a financial claim years after the divorce is finalised.

That’s why we submit your consent order alongside the divorce, ensuring everything is dealt with at the same time — with no loose ends and no future claims.

At Easy Online Divorce:

• We finalise divorces in just over 7 months – twice as fast as the national average

• We prepare and submit your consent order during the divorce process – so you’re protected from day one

• If you’ve already started your divorce, we can have your consent order ready in 7 days, as long as your Conditional Order has been granted or is about to be

⚠️ Why You Must Agree Your Divorce Financial Settlement Early

Here’s what we’re seeing more of:

• Ex-partners refusing to sell or transfer a property, saying they can’t afford to move or rehouse themselves

• People trying to back out of agreements due to changes in the value of pensions, property, or investments

• High legal fees from solicitors being brought in late to resolve disputes that could have been avoided

The reality is: the longer you wait, the messier it gets. The earlier you agree your divorce financial settlement, the more likely you are to avoid drawn-out disputes, protect your assets, and move on with confidence.

🧾 A consent order is the only way to legally protect your settlement

If you and your ex have agreed how to split your finances — whether it’s a clean break, a property transfer, or a pension share — you still need the court to approve it. This is done through a legally binding consent order, which protects both parties and prevents future claims.

Without a consent order, you remain financially tied to your ex — even years after the divorce.

At Easy Online Divorce, we offer:

• Clean Break Orders – when there’s nothing to divide but you want future claims blocked

• Consent Orders – for simple asset splits like property or savings

• Pension Sharing Orders – required by pension providers to split pensions legally

• Fast Track Options – for clients who need everything finalised quickly

Property, pensions, savings — it all needs agreeing

Many people underestimate how complex divorce finances can be. You may need to consider:

• Whether one party will stay in the family home

• How to divide pensions fairly — especially valuable public sector or final salary schemes

• How to offset assets like savings, investments, or business ownership

• Whether ongoing maintenance payments are needed — and how to protect them

Trying to “DIY” these issues without legal protection is a gamble. We make it simple, affordable, and fast — with fixed fees and expert support at every step.

✅ Act now — before things get complicated

Delays in financial agreements don’t just create stress — they can lead to court battles, unexpected claims, and thousands in extra legal fees. Whether you’ve just started your divorce or are partway through, the best time to sort your finances is now.

The best way to protect your future is to agree your divorce financial settlement early and get a court-approved consent order in place.

We’re here to help.

👉 Book a free consultation
or
👉 Get started with a consent order now