Divorce form question - tick box or not?

[N Dentressangle]

I'm trying to help a friend with her divorce paperwork.

Her soon to be ex-husband has presented her with Form D8:

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/for...

In Part 10 'Prayer', he has ticked all of the boxes in section 3, 'Financial Order (if you wish to make an application for a Financial Order)'. However, he and my friend have no children and have already made arrangements for the division of their assets. Neither of them want maintenance or any kind of support - just a clean break from each other.

My friend has questioned why her husband has ticked the section 3 box and has received the following email from him:

[i]I have e-mailed the solictiors and the financial order section has to be ticked otherwise the courts could potentially refuse the divorce.
I can promise that i am not going to claim any finacial orders, all i want is the divorce.
I will gladly sign anything to state that i am not interested in any financial orders relating to yourself.[/i]

and he has forwarded her the email from his solicitors:

The Petition ends with Part 10 known as “the prayer”, which begins, ‘the Petitioner therefore prays’. This incorporates a request for all of the financial claims, which are available. This is a standard section and 3(a) will always be ticked. This does not imply that you are applying for any orders just that you can if you wish to in the future such as a Clean Break Order. If 3(a) is not ticked then we must advise you that the judge may refuse your divorce and it will prevent you from claiming any financial relief in the future including the Clean Break Order.

So who's right? Should he tick the box, and what should my friend do? Thanks in advance!

[PurpleMoonlight]

Yes it should be ticked.

Your friend MUST sort out the financial division of the matital assets. If this is not done at the time of the divorce it can come back to bite her in the ass at a later date.

Sorting out the finacial side is called Ancillary Relief. If the spouses can agree what they want to do then a solicitor can easily draft a Consent Order which will eventually be stamped by the Court making it legally binding. Minimal finacial disclose is usually required to achieve the Consent Order.

[N Dentressangle]

Thanks. Division of the marital assets is already sorted though - they have a financial agreement drawn up by their solicitors. They're relatively young and were only married for a couple of years, so there's nothing complex like pensions to worry about.

The guidance does seem to indicate that section 3 doesn't need to be completed in her case.

[PurpleMoonlight]

N Dentressangle said:

Division of the marital assets is already sorted though - they have a financial agreement drawn up by their solicitors.

Not worth the paper it's written on, and typical of solicitors not doing the job properly.

[V8 Vum]

Interesting...

N Dentressangle said:

Part 10 known as “the prayer”, which begins, ‘the Petitioner therefore prays’. ...

I am not being frivolous, but surely if I was Agnostic as many these days are... how on earth could one complete such a section without being disingenuous/ dishonest??? ..therefore would not be valid surely!

I don't pray, I don't believe in any higher being so where would I stand in this hypothetical situation???

[N Dentressangle]

PurpleMoonlight said:

Not worth the paper it's written on, and typical of solicitors not doing the job properly.

Are you a solicitor?

[JumboBeef]

N Dentressangle said:

PurpleMoonlight said:

Not worth the paper it's written on, and typical of solicitors not doing the job properly.

Are you a solicitor?

I'm not, and I'll argeee with the comment. Only a stamped Court Order is worth anything, the rest is worthless.

[Starfighter]

V8 Vum said:

Interesting...

N Dentressangle said:

Part 10 known as “the prayer”, which begins, ‘the Petitioner therefore prays’. ...

I am not being frivolous, but surely if I was Agnostic as many these days are... how on earth could one complete such a section without being disingenuous/ dishonest??? ..therefore would not be valid surely!

I don't pray, I don't believe in any higher being so where would I stand in this hypothetical situation???

I thought the same myself, also an athiest.

[Observer2]

"Pray" is just archaic legal jargon for "request" used where a "petitioner" seeks a dispensation from the court which is a higher authority). There's no religious connotation.

Edited by Observer2 on Thursday 29th September 06:31

[N Dentressangle]

JumboBeef said:

N Dentressangle said:

PurpleMoonlight said:

Not worth the paper it's written on, and typical of solicitors not doing the job properly.

Are you a solicitor?

I'm not, and I'll argeee with the comment. Only a stamped Court Order is worth anything, the rest is worthless.

Looks like you're right - thanks chaps.

For future reference, she needs to get one of these:

http://www.bsdivorcesolicitors.co.uk/consent_order...