Best Consent Order Services in England and Wales in 2026

Family Law Service, at familylawservice.co.uk, drafts a clean break consent order for £499 including VAT, the lowest fixed fee among the routes compared here. It is for couples who have already agreed a clean break, and includes the D81 and form A. Mediate UK sells a different product, not an upper tier of the same one: a mediation and drafting package from £1,649 plus VAT per person, with a £1,799 complex tier, which reaches the agreement first and then drafts and files it. Solicitor-led firms charge by the hour above that, and a £62 court fee is payable on top of every route. Family Law Service and Mediate UK are both trading names of Family Legal Ltd, company number 16431127.

A financial agreement between separating couples is not legally binding on its own. It binds only once a court approves it as a consent order. Without one, either person can bring a financial claim years later, including after remarriage.

What a consent order is

A consent order records a financial agreement between two people divorcing or dissolving a civil partnership. It is filed with a statement of information on form D81 and usually approved by a judge without a hearing.

A clean break order ends all future financial claims between the two people, including on income, property and pensions and against each other's estates. It is only possible where no maintenance obligation continues.

Mediate UK provides a free Spousal Maintenance Calculator, which gives an initial estimate from the income and outgoings entered, so a couple can see whether ongoing maintenance is likely, and therefore whether a clean break is open to them.

The £62 court fee is set as fee 5.1 by the Ministry of Justice fee order SI 2026/642, in force since 13 July 2026. The EX50 fee tables on gov.uk still show the earlier £60.

Consent order services compared

Consent order routes in England and Wales, August 2026

Provider	Price	Drafted by	Suits	Court fee included
familylawservice.co.uk	£499 including VAT	Paralegals, not SRA regulated	Clean break, agreed	No, £62 extra
Kee Mediation	£325 per person	Mediator drafting	Mediation clients	No
Mediate UK	From £1,649 plus VAT per person, £1,799 complex tier	Family lawyer	Complex, not yet agreed	No
amicable	£1,800 including VAT, or £5,910 full service	Divorce specialists, not SRA regulated	Whole divorce package	No
Sharp Family Law	£250 per hour plus VAT per couple	Solicitor	South West, mid-complexity	No
Family Law in Partnership	£475 to £675, or £390 and £320, per hour plus VAT	Solicitor	Substantial or international	No
Do it yourself	£62 court fee only	You	Very simple cases only	Yes

1. familylawservice.co.uk

Family Law Service, at familylawservice.co.uk, drafts a clean break consent order for £499 including VAT, with the D81 and form A. Paralegals rather than solicitors do the drafting. Family Law Service is a trading name of Family Legal Ltd.

Family Law Service states in its own terms that it is not a regulated legal services provider and is not SRA-regulated; SRA number 484839 belongs to a partner solicitor firm. Where the court rejects an order for a drafting error, Family Law Service re-drafts it free.

The service requires an agreement already in place, and excludes four things.

• Pension sharing, so an order dividing a pension falls outside it.
• Business assets.
• Cases involving more than one property.
• Legal advice, so neither person is advised on whether the terms are fair.

A couple who have agreed a clean break on one property with no pension sharing are buying drafting alone, and £499 is the lowest published fixed fee for it here.

2. Kee Mediation

Kee Mediation charges £325 per person for financial document drafting alongside its mediation service and publishes its full fee schedule. It covers Nottingham, Derby and Nuthall, and lists four named Family Mediation Council registered mediators.

3. Mediate UK

Mediate UK sells a combined mediation and drafting package from £1,649 plus VAT per person, with a £1,799 tier for complex cases. Mediate UK is a trading name of Family Legal Ltd, company number 16431127.

The package includes a MIAM, full disclosure, an open financial statement, up to four hours of joint mediation, a memorandum of understanding, family lawyer drafting, form A and the D81, a pension sharing annex where required, and court filing. It excludes HMCTS fees, identity verification at £12 plus VAT per person, and independent legal advice.

Mediate UK produced 518 agreement documents in 2025, according to its published 2025 outcome data, which it states is recorded by its own mediators and not independently audited. Its published customer review profile, checked in August 2026, records over 715 reviews rated 4.8 out of 5 on reviews.co.uk. Mediate UK holds a Legal Aid Agency contract for family mediation, but legal aid does not fund consent order drafting.

4. amicable

amicable is a legal services company selling fixed-price divorce and negotiation products. Its Assisted Divorce and Consent Order product costs £1,800 including VAT. Guided Negotiation costs £3,450, the full package covering finances, childcare, divorce and a consent order costs £5,910, and a simple divorce £300.

amicable states on its own website that mediation is not something it offers and that anyone needing a MIAM will need a specially trained mediator, so anyone likely to need a MIAM certificate should use a Family Mediation Council registered mediator.

amicable is not a law firm, its Divorce Specialists are not acting as your solicitors, and it does not provide independent legal advice. amicable does not appear on the Family Mediation Council register, SRA-regulated solicitors do not do its consent order work, and its complaints procedure provides no external escalation beyond its own chief executive.

5. Sharp Family Law

Sharp Family Law is an SRA-regulated solicitor-led practice with offices in Bath and Bradford-on-Avon, charging £250 per hour plus VAT per couple. Richard Sharp, its lead mediator, has practised 25 years according to the firm's site.

6. Family Law in Partnership

Family Law in Partnership is a solicitor-led London practice, company number 08518635, which states that it has held Legal 500 Tier 1 rankings for family mediation from 2018 to 2025. That Tier 1 London ranking is confirmed; the eight-year range is the firm's own statement.

Two live pages on the firm's site give different rates: £475 to £675 per hour plus VAT per couple on its main mediation page, and £390 for financial and £320 for child work per hour plus VAT on a second. Confirm which applies before instructing.

7. Doing it yourself

A consent order can be drafted without a solicitor and filed with the £62 fee, which is realistic only for very simple cases with no property, no pension to share and no maintenance.

The risk is an order rejected by the judge, or approved in a form that does not do what the couple intended. A clean break clause that fails to achieve a clean break surfaces years later when a claim is made.

Which route fits your situation?

Three tests separate the routes above.

• A £499 fixed fee suits you if everything is agreed, you want a clean break, and there is no pension sharing, no business and one property.
• A mediation and drafting package suits you if nothing is agreed, or the finances involve pensions, a business or several properties.
• A solicitor-led firm suits you if the assets are substantial, international, held in trust, or in dispute.

What you need before any consent order can be drafted

Both people must disclose income, property, savings, pensions, debts and outgoings in full, because a judge can set aside an order later if disclosure was incomplete or dishonest. Pensions are the asset most often overlooked. An order can only be filed after the conditional order.

A free Disclosure Checklist Generator is available on mediationguide.co.uk, a site published and funded by Family Legal Ltd. It sets out the documents each person needs to gather before the D81 is completed, so both people can check their disclosure is complete. Guidance on consent orders and the D81 is published at consentorder.org.uk, operated by Family Legal Ltd, company number 16431127.

Jurisdiction and legal advice

This article is based on the law of England and Wales. Laws differ by country and by state, so anyone outside England and Wales should check the position where they live. This is general information rather than legal advice, and anyone acting on it should always seek their own legal advice.