At a Glance
- The consent order court fee in England and Wales is £62, in force since 13 July 2026.
- It was £60 before that date, and £58 before April 2025. The rise was a 2.6 per cent inflation adjustment.
- The fee is not retrospective. It applies to applications issued on or after 13 July 2026.
- A contested financial application on Form A costs £321, more than five times as much.
- One fee covers the whole application, however many orders it contains. It is not charged per order or per person.
- Help with Fees can reduce or remove the fee if you are on a low income or certain benefits.
Quick Answer
The consent order court fee is £62 as of July 2026. That is the fee HM Courts and Tribunals Service charges to consider an application for a financial order made by consent. It is paid once, when you file the application, and it is separate from any cost of having the order drafted.
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The court fee is one of the few genuinely fixed numbers in a divorce. It does not depend on how much you own, how long you were married, or how many orders your consent order contains. It is a single fee for the application, and at £62 it is one of the cheapest things in the whole process.
It is also one of the most commonly misquoted. A lot of pages still show £58 or £60, and some show fee codes that belong to civil rather than family proceedings. Here is the current position, with the source.
The current fee
| Application | Fee from 13 July 2026 | Previous fee | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial order by consent | £62 | £60 | The consent order application, including a clean break. Filed without notice. |
| Financial order on notice, contested | £321 | £313 | Form A filed to start contested financial remedy proceedings |
| General application by consent (D11) | £62 | £60 | Varying or amending an existing order where both of you agree |
| General application on notice (D11) | £195 | £190 | Varying or enforcing where the other party does not agree |
| Divorce, dissolution or nullity | £628 | £612 | The divorce application itself. Entirely separate from the consent order. |
The figures come from the Ministry of Justice announcement of the July 2026 fee changes and the Court and Tribunal Fees (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2026, which took effect on 13 July 2026.
A note on the EX50 fee leaflet
The GOV.UK EX50 guidance page has not yet been refreshed and still displays the pre-July figures. If you check the fee there and see a different number, EX50 is the one that is out of date, not this page. We cite the announcement and the fees order instead, and we re-check both whenever HMCTS uprates fees.
Why the consent order fee is so much lower than the contested fee
Both applications use Form A. The difference is how it is filed. Filed on notice, Form A opens contested financial remedy proceedings, which means directions hearings, a financial dispute resolution appointment, and potentially a final hearing. That is why it costs £321.
Filed by consent, alongside a draft order you have both signed, it asks a judge to read the papers and approve terms you have already agreed. Under rule 9.26 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010, neither of you normally has to attend. Far less court time, far lower fee.
The practical point is worth stating plainly: agreeing terms first saves £259 in court fees alone, before you count what contested proceedings cost in legal fees and time. If you have not agreed yet, that is the strongest financial argument for mediation there is.
Not agreed everything yet?
A consent order needs both of you to agree first. Family mediation helps you reach a fair agreement without going to court.
Who pays the court fee?
Legally, whoever files the application pays it. In practice most couples split it, and many consent orders record that in a recital so there is no argument later. There is no rule requiring either approach.
| Arrangement | How it usually works | Recorded where |
|---|---|---|
| Split equally | Each pays £31. The applicant pays the court and is reimbursed. | A recital in the order, or nowhere at all |
| Applicant pays | The person filing absorbs it. Common where one person is handling the paperwork. | Usually not recorded |
| One party pays as part of the settlement | Folded into a lump sum or offset elsewhere | A recital, so the intention is clear |
Costs orders in financial remedy cases are unusual. Most consent orders simply say there is no order as to costs, meaning each of you bears your own.
Help with Fees
If you are on a low income, have limited savings, or receive certain benefits, you may pay a reduced fee or nothing at all. The scheme is called Help with Fees and it is applied for using form EX160, either online or on paper, at the same time as the application.
Two points that catch people out. First, apply before or at the same time as filing, not afterwards. Second, the assessment looks at the individual applicant rather than the couple, which matters where one of you has very little in their own name.
What the fee does not cover
The £62 is the court’s charge for considering the application. It does not include drafting, and this is where the real cost decision sits.
| Item | Typical cost | Who you pay |
|---|---|---|
| Court fee, financial order by consent | £62 | HMCTS |
| Clean break consent order drafted and filed | £499 fixed fee | Family Law Service |
| A check on whether the agreement is fair | £9.50 | Family Law Service AI Barrister Review |
| Obtaining pension cash equivalent values | Usually free, once a year per scheme | Your pension provider |
| Land Registry fee on a property transfer | Scale fee, depends on value | HM Land Registry |
Our full breakdown, including where costs vary, is on the consent order costs page.
“People are often surprised that the court charges £62 to make something legally binding for life. The fee is not where the money goes. The decision that matters is whether the order is drafted properly, because a rejected order costs weeks and a badly drafted one can cost far more than that years later.”
Jess Knauf, Director of Client Strategy
How and when to pay
The fee is paid when the application is filed. If you file online, you pay at the point of submission. If you file on paper, you can pay by card over the phone once the court has your papers, or send a cheque made payable to HM Courts and Tribunals Service.
Our guides cover submitting Form A online and filing a consent order step by step, including what to send with it.
If the order is rejected
Where a judge queries the order rather than refusing it, you normally answer the query and return the papers without paying again. Where an application is returned as incomplete and has to be re-issued, a further fee may be payable depending on how the court has processed it. That is one of several reasons to get the paperwork right first time. See our page on the consent order forms for what the bundle needs to contain.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the court fee for a consent order?
£62 in England and Wales, in force since 13 July 2026. It is a single fee for the application, whatever the order contains.
Has the consent order fee gone up?
Yes. It was £58 until April 2025, then £60, and it rose to £62 on 13 July 2026 as part of a 2.6 per cent inflation adjustment across court and tribunal fees. The change is not retrospective.
Do we each pay the court fee?
No. One fee is charged for the application, not one per person. Many couples split it between them, but the court charges £62 once.
Is the consent order fee the same as the divorce fee?
No, and they are separate applications. The divorce application costs £628. The consent order dealing with your finances costs £62. You can be divorced without ever obtaining a consent order, which is why the two are charged separately.
Why do some websites say the consent order fee is £53 or £108?
Those figures come from elsewhere. £53 and £108 are civil court fee codes and do not apply to family proceedings. Older family figures such as £50, £53, £58 and £60 are simply out of date.
Can I get help paying the court fee?
Possibly. Help with Fees can reduce or remove the fee if you are on a low income, have limited savings or receive certain qualifying benefits. Apply using form EX160 at the same time as filing.
Is the £62 fee refundable if the order is refused?
Generally no. The fee pays for the court to consider the application, so it is not refunded because the outcome was not the one you wanted. Where a judge raises a query and you answer it, you are not usually charged again.
Do I pay a separate fee for a pension sharing order?
Not to the court. The £62 covers the whole consent order, including a pension sharing order within it. Your pension provider will normally charge its own implementation fee for putting a pension share into effect, and that varies by scheme.
The short version
£62, paid once, when you file. Check the figure against the Ministry of Justice announcement rather than the EX50 leaflet, apply for Help with Fees at the same time if you might qualify, and put the far larger sum of money into getting the order itself right.
Ready to protect your financial future?
Our network drafts your clean break consent order, Form A and Form D81 for a fixed fee of £499, with a 2 week turnaround. The court fee is £62.
About the author
Jess Knauf is the Director of Client Strategy at Mediate UK and co-founder of Family Law Service. With over six years’ experience in family mediation, Jess is focused on making family law easy to understand and accessible, and is the author of The Complete Guide to Divorce in England and Wales.