Do I need a solicitor to draw up consent order?

[hallamoo]

We’ve drafted our own (with the help of AI), houses and savings have been split, the consent order is just for the pension sharing agreement. It’s amicable, we agree, we’ve completed the D81, draft consent order, form P1 pension sharing annex and the CETVs.

Can I sent them to the court and represent myself? Do I need a solicitor?

There is a company called amicable.io that has people who are legally trained but bill less than solicitors. They appoint also one person who works for both divorcing partners, so it is much cheaper than appointing two adversarial solicitors.

I am not aware of any rule that says that a solicitor MUST draft the consent order, but having it done by someone legally trained may increase the chances that it just gets accepted quickly and without hassle, allowing people to move on.

The courts will want to ensure that you have both had legal advice, particularly if there is any deviation from a 50/50 split.
You may be as well paying for a solicitor to check the order because if it is not correct, it will delay thjngs and need to be resubmitted, presumably also paying the court fee again for the order.

We did not.

we drafted our own and sent along with d81 etc. no problems and was agreed and sealed in days