Financial Consent Order

[Feste]

Am really hoping for some advice here, dear Mumsnetters. I’ve not started a thread before, so here goes.
I officially separated from my husband in 2018. Since then we’ve both had legal advice, sold the house, drawn up a financial settlement, got divorced, weathered covid (he is paid a salary that’s risen since our separation - even since the consent order went in) and my self employment has also gone up, and is now about two-thirds his salary. We have joint custody of our daughter for which neither of us get any support money from the other.
The financial settlement gave me a larger share of our equity to offset his much larger pension.

The financial order finally went in the end of last year, and has been rejected on the ground of it not being a 50/50 split. More information is needed, apparently.

My question therefore is, since so much has changed since separation and even since the order was submitted, how much of our new financial situation will be brought newly into play if we have to renegotiate? Is this likely?

His pension and salary has gone up, my pension has not - we both own new houses - I now have a few savings and I’ve no idea what his situation is.

Where’s the cut off when so much has moved on and everything taken so long, largely due to the pandemic? I’m in a terrible panic that I’ll be thrown into the mess of having to sell, re-mortgage, renegotiate. It’s awful. I’d hoped that we could have drawn a line under everything by now.
Thank you in advance for your advice.

You would need to let a solicitor look it over and they should be able to tell you in detail what you need to do and provide to resubmit. It could depend on several things eg if there was anything in your original consent order to explain and put into context the reason for your agreed larger equity to offset his much larger pension. Since you are divorced already - Decree Absolute granted, right, then I wouldn't have thought your financial status currently need to be considered. It's not like you actually need to renegotiate something you have both agreed to so I would be inclined to approach it as doing what you need to get the original agreement approved and signed off. I mean the 50/50 split is simply a starting point and it is not for every agreement. I don't think there is a cut off date as such. It's only if either party wants to renegotiate.

If you both agree to it you just need to go in front of a judge. They just need to check you both understand what you are each entitled to and have had legal advice and then they'll sigh it off. One of you could let the other have everything and that would be fine too, as long as you had had advice and were deemed capable of making decisions.