Our jointly owned property has been sold, can we immediately divide the sale proceeds between us?

Upon separation, a married couple may place their property on the market for sale and may have reached an agreement as to how the sale proceeds should be divided between them.

Divorcing couples are always advised to have the agreement they have reached in respect of financial matters and the division of their assets recorded within a consent order. Such an order would confirm the agreement that has been reached and can formally dismiss any further financial claims that either party can raise against the other.

A consent order cannot be sent to the Court for their approval until the Decree Nisi has been granted in the divorce proceedings. Until the order is approved the agreement reached will not be legally binding.

As such, parties are advised to consider not implementing the terms of the order (e.g. by dividing the sale proceeds) until such time that the order has been approved. In such a scenario the sale proceeds would be retained on account by one of the solicitors firms involved in the matter.

There may be specific reasons or set of circumstances that requires the proceeds to be divided prior to the order being approved and at George Green LLP our specialist family solicitors would be able to advise as to the balance of risk dependent on the specific circumstances.

For further information, please contact, a Family Law Solicitor based in our Wolverhampton Office on 01902 328 365 or our Cradley Heath office on 01384 410 410.

George Green have offices based in Wolverhampton and Cradley Heath and serve clients across the West Midlands and Black Country including Stourbridge, Wolverhampton, Halesowen, Birmingham and beyond. If you complete our online enquiry form, a member of our team will contact you for an initial discussion.