What a judge checks before approving a consent order

A consent order is reviewed by a district judge on paper. No hearing, nobody attends. The judge has your order, your D81 statement and perhaps a covering letter, and a duty to check the order is fair before making it binding. Most are approved. The ones that come back usually show one of these patterns.

1. One person walks away with almost nothing

After a long marriage, a split like 90/10 draws a question even when both of you signed it. Sometimes there's a good answer: an inheritance kept separate, a short marriage after a long time apart, one person taking all the debt. Put the reason in the D81 and it usually goes through. Leave it out and expect a letter.

2. The pension is ignored

The commonest flag in DIY orders. One person has a £300,000 NHS pension, the other has nothing, and the order splits the house and says nothing about pensions. The judge will ask. See pensions in divorce.

3. The parent with the children can't be housed

The court's first concern is the children's housing. A 50/50 split that leaves the main carer unable to buy or rent somewhere suitable will be queried. The D81 needs to show how the children are housed. A deferred sale is one way couples answer it.

4. A side promise that isn't in the order

"He said he'd pay the mortgage until the kids finish school." If it isn't in the order it isn't enforceable, and a judge who sees a lopsided deal propped up by an informal promise may ask for it to be written in.

5. The D81 doesn't add up

Assets listed don't match the order, the before and after columns differ, a jointly owned property shows only one person's share. The judge can't assess fairness from numbers that don't reconcile, so it comes back. Agreeable checks this automatically.

6. A clean break for someone who can't manage

If one person has no income, little earning capacity and health problems, and the order ends all maintenance claims forever with nothing in exchange, the judge may question whether they understood it.

7. Signs of pressure

A heavily one-sided deal, children involved, and one party with no legal advice. Some judges will ask whether that person understood what they were signing. A fixed-fee solicitor review for the weaker party removes the question.

What the judge does not do

Rewrite your deal into what they'd have ordered at trial. There's real latitude. An unequal split with a sensible reason in the D81 is usually approved. The usual response to a borderline order isn't refusal but a letter asking a question, and a one-paragraph answer normally settles it.