⚠ Wait for the Conditional Order first
You cannot submit the Consent Order for approval until the Conditional Order (previously called the Decree Nisi) has been made in your divorce. Filing earlier is one of the most common reasons a Consent Order is returned. If your Conditional Order is not yet through, prepare everything and hold until it is.
What you're actually submitting
Three documents go to court together. The Consent Order itself is not enough on its own — the judge needs the D81 to check the agreement is broadly fair, and Form A is the formal application that opens the financial remedy case.
| Document | What it is | Who signs |
|---|---|---|
| Draft Consent Order | The legally worded order setting out the property, pension, lump sum, maintenance and clean break terms. | Both parties (original signatures, wet ink) |
| D81 Statement of Information | A financial summary telling the judge what each party has and gets under the agreement. Required alongside every Consent Order. | Both parties (each completes their own copy or a joint copy) |
| Form A (Notice of Intention to Proceed) | The formal application that starts the financial remedy case at court. Two copies filed. | Signed by the applicant (or both if a joint application) |
Step-by-step submission
Print two clean signed copies of the Consent Order
The draft order should be printed on plain A4, single-sided. Both parties sign the same copies in wet ink (blue or black). Signatures on the last page above the printed names. The court needs two signed originals — one to seal and return, one for its file. If you download from DivorceCompanion's Consent Order Online, the DOCX opens straight into Word ready to print.
Complete Form D81 (Statement of Information)
Form D81 tells the judge what each spouse owns and owes, and what each gets under the agreement, so the judge can assess broad fairness. You can complete it jointly (one form signed by both) or separately (one form each). Signatures must be wet ink. The Amicable Bundle includes a D81 builder that fills it from the same figures you used in the Consent Order.
Complete Form A (Notice of Intention to Proceed with a Financial Application)
Form A is the trigger that opens the financial remedy case. On page 1 tick "Consent Order" as the type of application. Two signed copies. It's a short form — most of it just repeats the divorce case number and the parties' details from the D8.
Pay the £62 court fee
The current fee for applying for a Consent Order is £62. You pay it when you submit. If your income is low, you may qualify for Help with Fees (HWF) — apply first at gov.uk/get-help-with-court-fees, get the HWF reference, and quote it on Form A instead of paying.
Submit — HMCTS portal or by post
Most Consent Orders are now submitted electronically via the HMCTS Financial Remedies portal. You upload the signed PDFs and pay by card. If your divorce was started on paper or the portal doesn't accept your case, post the two signed originals of the Consent Order, D81 and Form A to the court dealing with your divorce (address on any earlier order). Send by tracked or recorded delivery.
Wait for the judge's review
A judge considers the papers on the file — no hearing in the vast majority of cases. If everything is in order, the judge seals one copy and returns it to you (this is your sealed Consent Order — the legally binding document). If the judge has queries, the papers come back with a note explaining what needs changing. See how long a Consent Order takes to be approved for realistic timings.
The HMCTS Financial Remedies portal
The portal is the modern route and now the default for most no-fault divorces started online. You'll need:
- Your divorce case number (starts with the year and court code)
- The signed PDF of the Consent Order (scan of the wet-ink original)
- The signed PDF of the D81 (jointly or one each)
- The signed PDF of Form A
- A debit or credit card for the £62 fee (or your HWF reference)
The portal accepts each document as a separate upload. Name the files clearly (e.g. ConsentOrder-Smith.pdf, D81-Smith.pdf, FormA-Smith.pdf). Once submitted you receive an email confirmation with your financial remedy case reference — keep it safe, it's how the court identifies your file.
Submitting by post
If your case is on paper, or the portal won't accept it, post to the court that dealt with the divorce. The address is on your Certificate of Entitlement to a Conditional Order. Send:
- Two signed original copies of the Consent Order
- Signed Form D81 (jointly or one each)
- Two signed copies of Form A
- Cheque for £62 payable to HMCTS, or the HWF reference
- A short covering letter with your case number and return address
Use tracked delivery. Keep a copy of everything you send. Courts have been known to lose paperwork, and reconstructing signed originals is painful.
What happens after submission
You'll receive an acknowledgement (email from the portal, or a stamped receipt if posted). The papers then go into the judge's queue. In most straightforward cases:
- The judge reviews the D81 and the draft order at a "paper hearing" — no attendance required.
- If satisfied, the judge signs and seals one copy of the Consent Order.
- The sealed order is returned to you (via the portal or by post).
- Once you have the sealed order, it is legally binding.
If the judge has questions or the paperwork is incomplete, the order is returned with a note. See what to do if the court sends it back.
How DivorceCompanion helps
The £99 Consent Order Online product produces the signed-ready Consent Order in Word format — with an AI Assisted Review that flags issues before you print. The £149 Amicable Bundle adds the D81 builder, so the same figures flow from the Consent Order into the D81 without re-typing. Neither product files the papers for you, but everything you upload to the HMCTS portal comes out of the app ready to sign.
Skip the drafting, keep the £99 court-ready output
Consent Order Online drafts every clause the court expects and lets you download a clean DOCX ready to sign and file. AI Assisted Review runs before you finalise, so avoidable rejections are caught early.
- ✓ Legally worded Consent Order in Word format
- ✓ Two free AI Assisted Reviews before you buy
- ✓ Court-ready DOCX ready for signatures and D81 submission