Overview
Before you can apply to court for a financial order you need to consider whether it is possible to reach agreement about the financial arrangements with your ex-husband/wife/civil partner, see Consent Orders
If it is not possible to agree, then you can make an application to the court for it to decide what type of financial order to make. Before you can do this, you must attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) with a family mediator except in certain circumstances.
You can apply for a financial remedy order when you apply for divorce or civil partnership dissolution, or at any time afterward, though you should wait until after you have received your conditional order (decree nisi). There is no time limit for making a financial claim after a divorce has been finalised.
Applying to the Family Court
If you are not able to reach an agreement, either you or ex-husband/wife/civil partner can make a formal application to the court for a financial order by filing a Form A (Notice of intention to proceed with an application for a financial order), in the family court.
When the court considers making a financial order a number of factors are taken into consideration
- The welfare of any child of the family under 18 years old . (This is a very important factor and must be the first thing the court considers. In many cases, it can mean that most, maybe all, of your joint resources will go towards providing a home for your children, at least whilst they are under 18 and sometimes older. Typically, the children will live with the person mostly responsible for their day to day care. This is why it is common to come across situations where the person mainly looking after the children stays with them in the family home.)
- The income, earning capacity, property and other financial resources which each of you has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future
- The financial needs, obligations and responsibilities which each of you has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future
- The standard of living enjoyed by the family before the breakdown of the marriage or civil partnership
- Age and the length of your marriage or civil partnership
- Any physical or mental disability
- Contribution made to the welfare of the family, including by looking after the home or caring for the family
- Behaviour, but only if it was so extreme that it would be unfair not to take it into account
- The value of any benefit which either of you will lose the chance of acquiring
- Whether it is fair and reasonable to order a clean break
Form A asks you to tick the boxes to show which orders you are applying for. You should tick all boxes that you think apply to you. If you are unsure, tick all of the boxes so that the court has all of the options available. Child maintenance is usually dealt with by the Child Maintenance Agency.
Listed below are the most common orders and a brief explanation
Interim Maintenance, periodical payments & nominal orders
Maintenance is money paid to help support you or your ex-husband/wife/civil partner. Pending suit means that the money is paid in the short term, up until the case is finished.
The court can order periodical payments will continue until you or your ex-husband/wife/civil partner dies or the person getting the maintenance remarries or registers a new civil partnership. But it is more usual for the court to order that the periodical payments will end at a specific point in the future, which you may hear referred to as a ‘term order’.
If you get a term order, you may be able to ask the court to extend the length (this is called the term) of the order as long as you do this before the time period runs out and there is no order preventing an extension
A nominal order is an order for a minimal amount of maintenance (for example 1p a year) to be paid. If you get a nominal order, this keeps open the possibility of asking for more in the future if your or your ex’s circumstances change, for example, because of your redundancy, serious ill-health or disability.
Lump Sum Order
This is an order that you or your ex pay a fixed amount of money. The court can order you or your ex-husband/wife/civil partner to pay a lump sum in one go or in instalments.
Pension sharing orders
These orders set out what percentage, if any, of a pension belonging to you or your ex must be transferred to the other and when payment start
Clean break order
This order makes clear that your financial responsibility for each other is over. This means neither of you has to pay maintenance to the other on an ongoing basis. This does not include child maintenance.
It usually also means that you cannot ask to inherit anything from your ex if they die. These orders are only suitable when there is enough money to make both of you self sufficient. The court will consider whether to make this kind of order in every case. It is not always the right thing to do. Whether the court makes one in your case will depend on your individual circumstances.
Complete the form as fully as you can, make sure that you complete all sections that relate to you
Send 3 copies of the form with the correct court fee to the same divorce centre that is dealing with or has dealt with your divorce. You will have to pay a fee (see Family Court fees) or apply for fee remission If you are on benefits or on a low income (see Form EX160A)
Court hearings
First Appointment
Once you have sent your application, the court will send both you and ex-husband/wife/civil partner a Notice of a first appointment (Form C). The first appointment is the name for the first hearing.
You and your ex-husband/wife/civil partner must both attend. The aim is to make sure you have each provided all the information the court needs to work out how much you own, both together and separately.
The notice will tell you when and where the first appointment will take place. It will also tell you what you need to do before then.
You and your ex-husband/wife/civil partner will be ordered to complete and exchange a Form E before the first appointment. It requires details of all your finances including properties, savings, debts, income and pensions. Your spouse will be asked to complete the same form for their financial circumstances. This process is called financial disclosure.
You must send it to the court and a copy to your ex-husband/wife/civil partner at least 35 days before the first court hearing (known as the first appointment).
Financial dispute resolution appointment
This hearing is where the judge tries to resolve your financial dispute with your help and agreement. You may hear lawyers and court staff call this appointment the FDR for short.
The judge cannot make a decision for you at this hearing. What the judge will do is give an opinion about what the court is likely to order if your case goes all the way to a final hearing.
The final hearing
This is the last hearing – the one where the judge considers all the evidence in the case and decides what you both have and how to share it out between you and your ex.
During the hearing the judge will listen to what you and your ex-husband/wife/civil partner and any witnesses have to say.
At the end of the hearing you must be ready to put your final argument to the court to persuade them to your point of view about the order you want made.
The judge you see at this hearing may not be the same one you met at the Financial Dispute Resolution appointment and you cannot mention what you talked about in that meeting here.
Last Updated on June 4, 2026 by Ashford Advice