Consent Orders: Considerations

In the Family Court, how are Consent Orders obtained?

A Consent Order application and a Minute of Order are required documents to be submitted to the court. You will be required to provide a lot of detailed background information and historical information in your application for Consent Orders.  It must clearly state what orders you are asking the court to make for you. Consent Orders cannot be drafted by the court and most people have their family law solicitor draft the documents instead. As part of your Consent Order application, you provide a lot of background and historical information, as well as your current assets and liabilities. There is a column that shows who keeps what. You must lay out exactly the orders that you are asking the court to make on your behalf in a minute of order.

How does a Consent Order work?

A Consent Order works in the same way as a Court Order. When properly drafted, it lays out precisely what each party will have to do to finalize the property settlement for the future care arrangements for the children. Court Orders must be carefully drafted because if one party does not comply with Consent Orders, the other party needs to be able to apply to the court and ask that it be enforced. Court Orders should be very specific and set out very clearly what each party is expected to do. They then make it very clear to the court that the intern is seeking to enforce an Order.

How long does it take to process consent orders in Family Court?

It may take some time for the court to make Orders based on your agreement after you file your documents. Assuming that all of your documentation is in order, the court will usually make the Orders in four weeks. As well as the time of year, the registry where the documents are filed can affect this timeframe

In the event that consent orders are breached, what happens?

If the family court finds that you have breached a parenting order, then typically the defaulting party is ordered to take part in a post-separation parenting program. The court has a range of penalties that it can impose, and the penalties imposed are usually based on the seriousness of the bridge and how many times the Consent Orders have been violated. In fact, the court has the power to imprison devoting parties, although this is extremely rare.

What are ‘Minutes of Consent’ in Consent Orders?

You submit a minute of consent to the court that sets out all of the orders you’re asking the court to make on your behalf. Both parties must sign each and every page of the document, which is accompanied by an application for Consent Orders, which sets out relevant background information. If the court issues orders in accordance with your Minute of Order, you will receive a sealed copy of your Consent Orders, which then become legally binding and enforceable. The Minute of Order is not legally binding and enforceable until Consent Orders have been made by the Family Court.

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