Variation
Orders relating to your application to vary a financial agreement approved by the court, or alternatively, an order actually made by the court after a final hearing of all the evidence, tend to involve maintenance payments, either made or received and either short or long term.
In addition, any lump sum paid or received in instalments can be varied, if justified, as well as orders for property sales.
It follows that you are not allowed to ask for a full lump sum award (unless it is made in instalments) to be varied. Neither can any postponement period for sale be extended, beyond that expressed in the order, although it may be brought forward.
Where a pension share applies, if you want to vary this, you can only do so if it hasn’t yet taken effect. Neither can you vary it after the Court has granted a final order for divorce, so beware.
Implementation
If the situation arises where you are faced with difficulties having certain parts of the order implemented, then obviously you can’t move on. That is why in every order that has a transaction required to be completed, we put a final clause in, which says, ‘liberty to apply ‘. This enables you to do exactly that, provided it does not materially increase the financial benefit obtained.
The questions we’re expected to address are as follows.
- What do you need and why?
- Are children involved here?
- Have there been any changes in circumstances since the order was made?
- How do you want to change the payment terms?
- Is there a letter available sent to you from your solicitors explaining the reasons for the original order?
- Where is the financial evidence relating to the request to vary?
Enforcement of a promise
There might be promises made in the order. They’re called ‘undertakings’. These can only be enforced or discharged. They cannot be varied.
If your order has a clean break clause in it, you CANNOT apply to then have it varied. By clean break, I mean an order that dismisses the opportunity for either of you to re-apply to the court for financial relief.
We are more than happy to discuss any of these issues with you, if you want to call at any time, for a free initial chat with one of our experts.
If you’re dealing with the complexities of varying or implementing the terms of a financial remedy order, our expert family team is here to help. Contact us today to discuss how we can assist with your financial remedy needs and ensure that your interests are protected. We are offering a free 30-minute consultation to help you understand your options and get the support you need. Don’t hesitate to reach out for personalised guidance and support.