Understanding the clean break principle in divorce proceedings

What is the clean break principle?

The clean break principle is the idea that divorcing couples should sever their financial relationship completely when it is fair to do so and move on with separate lives.

Section 25A of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 places a duty on the Family court to consider whether the financial obligations between the parties can be ended as soon as it is just and reasonable to do so.

Minton v Minton [1979] AC 593 set out the principle, with the House of Lords describing the aim of allowing each party to a failed marriage to begin a new life free from the financial ties of the old one.

In practice, the principle is delivered by a clean break order, which is a set of provisions in a financial consent order that dismisses the claims each of you could otherwise make against the other.

It reflects two connected ideas: that a former spouse should become self-sufficient where possible, and that finality is worth having. The law does not force this outcome on anyone who genuinely cannot manage without support, but where finality can be achieved fairly, it prefers it.

What a clean break order does

A clean break order ends the financial relationship between you and your ex-partner for good. Once sealed by the court, neither of you can claim spousal maintenance from the other, make a claim on the other’s capital or property, share the other’s pension, or bring a claim against the other’s estate on death.

The effect of a clean break order reaches into the future. The income you go on to earn, the savings you build, a rise in the value of your home, a business you grow, an inheritance you receive and even an unexpected windfall are all placed beyond your ex-partner’s reach.

What a clean break ends and what it does not

A clean break ends the claims between the two of you, but it does not end everything, and one distinction matters more than any other. The order closes the financial claims you and your ex-partner could bring against each other.

It ends future spousal maintenance, so neither of you can claim income from the other. It ends the capital and property claims between you, the pension sharing claims each of you could otherwise make, and any claim against the other’s estate on death.

It does not make decisions on your obligations to other people.

Child maintenance remains payable for any children, through the Child Maintenance Service or a court order, and your wider financial responsibilities to your children continue. Anything the consent order itself gives you, such as an agreed lump sum or a property transfer, still stands.

Joint debts and obligations to others also remain, unless the order deals with them. The distinction that matters most is simple. A clean break ends what passes between the two of you, not what you owe your children.

The types of clean break

A clean break takes more than one form, and the right one depends on your circumstances. These are the different types of clean break orders a court can order:

• An immediate clean break dismisses all claims between you at once, so the financial relationship ends the moment the order is sealed.
• A deferred clean break keeps spousal maintenance in place for a fixed period, long enough for one of you to adjust, after which all claims end.
• A capital clean break divides the assets once and for all, with no ongoing maintenance and no future claims on either side.

The type of clean break most suitable for you depends on the assets, the length of the marriage and whether each of you can be self-sufficient.

When a clean break is possible and when it is not

A clean break is possible where both of you can stand on your own feet financially, and harder where one of you cannot. Where there are enough assets to divide fairly and both parties can be self-sufficient, through work, capital or both, an immediate clean break is usually achievable and is what the court prefers.

Where one party genuinely cannot manage without support, because of a long marriage, caring for young children, ill health or age, a full immediate clean break may not be fair.

Miller v Miller; McFarlane v McFarlane [2006] UKHL 24 confirmed that the clean break must give way where fairness requires continued provision. In those cases, a deferred clean break, ending after a period of maintenance, is often the answer. Whether a clean break is right for you depends on the agreement you have reached and on your circumstances.

Why a clean break matters

A clean break matters because, without one, a divorce leaves your finances open indefinitely. Ending the marriage does not end the financial claims between you, and there is no time limit on bringing them.

Wyatt v Vince [2015] UKSC 14 allowed a former wife to claim against her ex-husband more than twenty years after they separated, because
no order had ever dismissed her claims.

From our experience drafting financial orders, this open-ended claim is the risk divorcing couples most often overlook. A sealed order closes that door. It gives you certainty, protects everything you build after the divorce, and lets you move on knowing your ex-partner cannot return for more, the security that a divorce on its own can never provide.

Get your clean break financial order online

Our SRA-regulated solicitors draft your clean break financial order to the standard the court expects. You will then simply submit this to the court to give your financial settlement the finality a divorce alone cannot.

Our fee for a clean break order is £159 fixed fee, and the court fee is £62 as of July 2026.

Call our clean break order solicitors today on 01793 939163 or request a free callback using the form on this page.

This page was written and reviewed by the solicitors at Consent Orders Online, who are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and draft clean break financial orders every working day. This page is general information about the law of England and Wales, not legal advice on your case.