Is there anyway of having a legally binding financial settlement agreement without filing form Es?

[HenriettaBarnet]

H is saying he doesn't want to file his Form E because it would mean declaring income he doesn't want to declare (yes, I know...).

He is saying that if he does declare it, then that would mean he pays more tax and less money would come to me. He is self-employed in anycase, and doesn't have any accounts as he only became self-employed this year, so there are no records of his income, just what he estimates will come in. For some reason he is reluctant to put estimates on there. (I think he would leave some big jobs off actually, which wouldn't help me either).

He has agreed to pay me quite a large amount - I think I would not get awarded this by a court.

I'm happy with that amount - just to get all of this sorted and him out of my life.

Is there any other route we can take to finalise this without doing Form Es?

Thanks

[HenriettaBarnet]

and if we did want to reach agreement without solicitors, is there a template/heads of agreement that I can use to ensure that we do cover all of the main points?

[Mumblechum1]

You can do a separation agreement which is binding to a degree but can always be set aside if one of you makes an application to the court (usually on the basis of non-disclosure).

The agreement cannot however grant a pension sharing order so if that is an issue (and you absolutely MUST get at least a Cash Equivalent Transfer Valuation for all pensions), then a sep agreement is not going to be good enough.

[HenriettaBarnet]

He doesn't have a pension so that's not an issue

I think we can reach agreement on the house and also on a monthly maintenance sum.

if we go the form D81 route, do we need to file the Form e at court then? He says he's happy disclosing future income (which is estimated anyway because he's a consultant) - and it seems to be just one box rather than pages and pages.

I would like it to be binding so that I can rely on it for mortgage purposes etc. and also because ex is a bit of an arse.

[HenriettaBarnet]

thank you for answering by the way!