Clean Break Order
Clean Break Orders
A £56million lottery winner has agreed to pay his ex-wife £2million in an out of court settlement despite the fact that they divorced 10 years earlier.
It is believed that this is the first case of a British lottery winner being successfully sued for a share of the winnings.
The case was settled out of court and therefore the details have remained private. It would, however, appear likely that when the lottery winner, Mr P, divorced his wife approximately 10 years ago, he did not enter into a clean break agreement with his then wife Mrs P.
A large majority of people when going through a divorce choose not to proceed to obtain a Clean Break Order. The reasons are varied, it may well be that the parties did not have many assets to divide and therefore believed that no agreement was needed or the parties had agreed amicably the division of their assets and did not proceed to follow this up with a full Consent Order.
It is believed that this lack of a final order allowed Mrs P to claim a significant amount of Mr P's lottery winnings even though she left Mr P she left Mr P for another man and the divorce was finalised many years earlier.
Clean Break Order
A Clean Break Order is an order, usually contained within a Consent Order, which is obtained at the end of your divorce.
The 'Clean Break' element is an agreement between both parties that neither they nor their personal representatives will make any further financial claim against the other in relation to property, cash, maintenance or pensions both during the parties lifetimes or after their death. It is not possible to make such an agreement in respect of child maintenance payments however.
A carefully drafted document containing such a Clean Break Order ensures that when the divorce is finalised neither party can subsequently attempt to claim more money from the other
If you have recently divorced and did not proceed to obtain a Clean Break Order or if you are currently in the process of a divorce and have agreed an amicable settlement do not hesitate to contact Nicola Codd, a partner at this firm specialising in family law, who will be happy to advise you and, if necessary, assist you in negotiating a Clean Break Order.
Submitted by Nicola Codd on Tuesday 26th April 2011