Ex won't sign consent order for clean break

[nearlyhometime]

I'm just about at the end of my rope with this and am hoping someone here will be able to come up with a solution.

In a nutshell, my ex and i split up nearly 6 years ago. Decree nisi has just been pronounced (he wouldn't sign divorce papers so I ended up having to wait for the 5 year separation thing).

We've come to an agreement on the finances - we sold our house a couple of years ago and split the proceeds 50/50. We're keeping our flat and renting it our for three years until he buys me out or vice versa.

He has (or had) a fairly significant amount of money in the bank (he inherited around 250k years ago - he says most of it has gone now but i don't know how true that is) but currently has no income.

I earn a reasonable amount and have my half of the proceeds from the sale of the house in the bank.

My solicitor wants him to sign a consent order so that we can get a judge to make the agreement binding and for a clean break order. It's a really simple form, earnings, savings, pension, intention to remarry etc.

He won't sign it. I think he won't sign it because he has to put down how much money he has in the bank and he doesn't want to.

so what now? Solicitor says its not a good idea to apply for the decree absolute until finances are done. She says if he won't sign we'll have to go to court and spend a small fortune (which i'm not prepared to do).

I really want to buy a house for me and DD. have been living with my parents for the last 6 years and I really need to start afresh now, not sure i can wait any longer.

If i buy a house without having a clean break order can he come after half of it ten years down the line? What if he's destitute and has more kids, can he hit me up for spousal maintenance in the future? if I end up inheriting money is he entitled to any of it?

Would appreciate any advice from any family solicitors or people who have been in a similar situation ....

Many thanks

What does your family solicitor say? I agree with her FWIW.

Do you speak to him?

TBH, if you are aware of the money amyway does it matter if he puts it down or not if that's the problem?

Me & my ex only put down the bare minimum of financial information & the judge stamped our consent order. Where people I know were called into court as long as they confirmed they were happy with the financial split then it got stamped,

I would try to allay his fears & get a clean break signed.

You both have to provide full financial disclosure. If he won't do that and won't sign consent order you will have no choice but to make an application to the Court for ancillary relief. You need to get the finances sorted and can't allow things to drag on

I had a similar situation.

I started divorce proceedings 6 years after separation. Ex was happy to sign so did 2 years with consent. I did this myself, no solicitor. All financial dealings were concluded about 2 years after we had separated so I was just going to get consent order.We were both happy with the financial split.

However after the decree nisi, the ex stopped all contact with me and the children. He wouldn't respond to phone calls or emails. I don't know the reason. He was the one who had an affair and left me.

In the end I went ahead with the decree absolute without a consent order. I do know that I am taking a risk, but I just wanted the divorce finalised. He still has a good job and although he still has no contact with me or the kids he pays regular maintenance.

I don't think he even knows about a consent order as apart from initially getting advice from a solicitor at the beginning he hasn't seen one since. If ever he gets in contact with me again I will ask for a consent order. He can pay for this as I paid for one though a DIY company but as he wouldn't talk to me I couldn't use it.