Fixed Fee Consent Orders
What is a Fixed Fee Consent Order?
A consent order is a legally binding agreement signed by two parties that sets out the arrangements for care of your children and division of assets and property after separation.
A fixed fee consent order is a consent order prepared by the team at Barton Family Lawyers for a fixed fee quote.
If the consent order deals with asset division, the consent order must set out the circumstances of the relationship including financial and non-financial contributions of the parties and what the future is looking like for both parties. This information must be included in any application for consent orders for the division of property, so that the Court can make sure the division of property is fair or equitable in the circumstances.
A consent order is reviewed and approved by a Judge or a Registrar. A consent order will not automatically be made by a Court. A consent order can be rejected by the Judge or Registrar if the way the consent order is drafted is legally incorrect, if the Consent order is not in the best interests of the children or if the agreement is not fair and equitable in the circumstances.
It is therefore usually best to get an experienced family & divorce lawyer to draft your fixed fee consent order for you, to make sure it is done right and to ensure it protects you in future.
A consent order is legally binding and has the same effect as a court order, but you don’t have to go to Court.
Why do a fixed fee consent order?
You don’t have to do a fixed fee consent order, but there are several benefits to doing so:
- A consent order can be done without having to go to court;
- To document an agreement reached between you and your former partner and make it legally enforceable;
- To create stability and certainty in relation to the care arrangements for the children;
- To avoid conflicts and minimise the possibility of your former partner seeking to change the informal care arrangements of the children in future if/when circumstances change and the arrangement no longer suits them;
- To minimise any possibility of your former partner seeking to change the care arrangements of the children in future;
- To cut financial ties with your former partner and enable you to move on with your life financially by formally agreeing on the way your assets are divided;
- It protects you in future from a claim by the other party against your post separation acquired assets (your assets acquired post separation are NOT protected without a consent order);
- You can get an exemption from stamp duty if you are transferring a property pursuant to the consent order and save thousands of dollars. It is often more financially beneficial to engage a solicitor to do a consent order than it is to pay stamp duty.
- Only do a consent order if after legal advice you are confident it is in the children’s best interests and in relation to the division of assets, it must be an equitable agreement. The Court will not approve consent orders that are not just and equitable or which are not in the best interests of the children. The court can also reject consent orders which are not drafted in a legally correct way.
What happens if I breach a consent order?
Breaching a consent order is breaching a court order. There can be serious consequences if you breach a consent order. You can be taken back to court and you may be held to have contravened the order, unless you had a reasonable excuse. You may be required to pay the other party’s legal costs, you might have to pay a fine, enter into a bond or you may even have to serve a term of imprisonment.
You should always seek legal advice in circumstances where think you may have breached a consent order or a court order, in order to minimise the potential negative impact on you.
What happens after the consent order is made?
The consent order needs to be complied with.
In relation to consent orders dealing with asset division, after the consent order is made, you will then need to physically arrange compliance with the order by transferring assets, selling the home and splitting your superannuation. It is best to get legal advice about how you go about doing this after the consent order is made.
A consent order in relation to your children is final and it is very difficult to change. A court will only allow you to change a final consent order with respect to the care arrangements of your children, if you apply to the court and can satisfy the court that there has been a significant change in circumstances since the order was made. This is a difficult hurdle to get over. You should get in contact with one of our experienced Family & Divorce Lawyers to see if there has been a significant change in circumstances since your court order was made, that might entitle you to change the order.
A consent order that deals with asset division will finalise your financial relationship with the other party and ensure that the other party cannot make a claim against your post separation acquired assets in the future. This is one of the most important reasons to do a consent order, to protect you in the future from a claim by your former partner against your assets.
Fixed Fee Consent Orders
We offer fixed fees for all services, including consent orders. Our fixed fee consent order package is for you if you have already agreed on the care arrangements of your children and/or the division of your assets. Our consent orders vary in price depending on the nature of the agreement.
We offer a discount to clients to want to legally formalise by way of consent orders their asset division and children’s care arrangements at the same time.
Please contact us to book a reduced rate consultation with one of our experienced family & divorce lawyers and we will provide you with preliminary advice in relation to your case, advise you of the documents you need to gather and provide you with a reasonable fixed fee consent order quote, specific to your individual circumstances.
