A clean break order can be applied in the court during a divorce by either party to sever all financial ties. Without one either person could make a financial claim against the other in the future. This does not include any spousal maintenance.
This means that you would no longer be required to financially support them, and they would have no entitlement to claim any money from you in the future.
Essentially, any financial commitments that you have to your ex (either current or potential future commitments) would end.
Why is a Clean Break Order Important?
Many people believe that if they get a divorce, then once this has been completed and the Decree Absolute has been issued, any ties they had to their ex will have been severed. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
In the eyes of the law, the marriage will indeed have ended and either person could then legally marry someone else, but the law in England and Wales stipulates that the couple would actually still have a financial commitment to one another.
This means that decades down the line, if one person became financially successful, for example, or inherited a significant sum of money, then the other could be legally entitled to a share of this. Astonishingly, this could happen even though the couple may not have seen or even spoken to one another for decades.
Clean Break Orders are important for couples who are getting a divorce or dissolving a civil partnership and do not have any joint assets or money to divide at the time of the divorce.
Couples in this situation might feel that obtaining a Clean Break Order is an unnecessary expense and an added stress when they have no financial matters to resolve at the time. However, it’s a necessary measure to take to ensure the protection of each person’s finances in the future.
How Can I Get a Clean Break Order?
A Clean Break Order should be drawn up by a Divorce Solicitor to ensure the agreement is fair to each person in the divorce, otherwise the Judge is unlikely to approve it.
Once a Divorce Solicitor has drawn up the Clean Break Order on your behalf, it will be sent to the Court, where a Judge will review it to check that it’s fair and that everything is in order. If the Judge is happy, then your Clean Break Order will be granted.
How Much Does a Clean Break Order Cost?
Connaught Law can prepare your Clean Break Order on a very competitive fee if the financial situation is not unusually complicated. We realise that your financial circumstances could be more complicated than this. For example, you might own property jointly, have shared pensions or investments to consider, have agreed to ongoing maintenance payments or have business assets to divide between you.
There is also a Court fee of £50 which will need to be paid directly to the Court.
Disclaimer:
The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Connaught Law and authors accept no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please don’t hesitate to contact Connaught Law. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Connaught Law.
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